Nina has been working in Corporate Communications at CHECK24 since February 2021. As part of the CHECK24 Helps initiative, she oversees social commitments and is responsible for monitoring policy and legislative developments. In the interview, you can find out the initiative's goals and what has already been achieved.
Hi, I'm Nina, 28 years old, and I've been working at CHECK24 in the Corporate Communications department since February 2021. Before that, I went through the classic path for communication professions: I studied Communication and Economics for my Bachelor's degree and Media and Political Communication for my Master's degree. After that, I did a traineeship at a PR agency, and from there, I went to CHECK!
My area of responsibility is very diverse. I appreciate that about this field of work, especially the corresponding structure here at CHECK. I would roughly divide my tasks into two areas:
1) our comprehensive social commitment (CSR) with the CHECK24 helps initiatives and
2) political issues.
The first area is looking for suitable partner organizations and discussing possibilities for support or cooperation with long-standing partners. In addition, of course, there is the communication of these commitments - both internally and externally. In the second area, my focus is on monitoring political and legal developments - for example, I look at which new regulations could be relevant for us.
The initiative was founded in 2016 and has supported numerous projects with almost 5 million euros. The focus is on helping disadvantaged children and young people as well as nature. The initiative has three pillars:
1) Customers can donate their points collected at closing for our major partner organizations, such as "A Heart for Children," in the points donation program.
2) In the sponsorship program, we support regional organizations such as Berliner Straßenkinder e.V. (Berlin Street Children).
3) In the employee engagement program, we support the voluntary work of our employees - because voluntary work is an indispensable pillar of society.
We want to live up to our responsibility as a company - for a sustainable society and to protect our livelihoods. This includes, for example, working with our partners to help improve the educational and future opportunities of disadvantaged children and young people. In the area of nature, the first step was to start with ourselves - in other words, to determine our “footprint” and implement measures to reduce emissions. We’ve been doing that since 2021.
Since nature conservation works best with joint efforts, we have integrated some green solutions into our products for our customers in recent years (e.g. green electricity and tree planting). In addition, we give them the opportunity to donate their bonus points to WWF Germany projects. Together with the German Landscapes Foundation (SDL) and the German Forest Protection Association (SDW), we have planted 100,000 trees in Germany over the past 1.5 years.
Steep learning curves are guaranteed at CHECK24 - I always learn something new here!
Nina, Corporate Communications Manager
There were a few. I think of three examples: Last year, we filmed a funny one-shot in our CHECK24 studio for the ZDF "Ein Herz für Kinder" (A Heart for Children) fundraising gala. That was something special for me. Furthermore, with RTL - Wir helfen Kindern, we organized a forest day in the Grunewald for the kids of the Berlin Ark, where they planted a tree with the SDW and learned a lot about our native forests. And last but not least: a tree planting campaign with the Brandenburg Minister for the Environment and Climate Protection as part of our 100,000 Trees Initiative.
For me, CHECK24 means permanent learning and further development. We don't rest on our laurels and constantly think about what we can improve. Steep learning curves are guaranteed here. In addition, you quickly take responsibility for your topics/projects. And what I appreciate most is the speed paired with healthy pragmatism. I have never encountered endless coordination and approval processes here. It's great that we work directly with the CEOs here and that they don't sit somewhere isolated in huge individual offices.