Everyone should be able to participate in the information and knowledge society on an equal footing – and we at Deutsche Telekom want to make our contribution to this. We develop products with a focus on digital inclusion and are committed to media literacy and better interaction on the internet with various projects and initiatives. We also promote the voluntary commitment of our employees and support non-profit organizations in the fields of education, science, culture and sports through donations and volunteer work.
Our focus areas
Focus on digital society
The internet offers us endless possibilities: searching for information, communicating with friends and family, shopping, working and being entertained. Many digital applications are indispensable today. Nevertheless, there are still people who cannot participate fully in the digital world. We are committed to giving them access to the digital society.
At the same time, we are meeting the challenge that the internet is increasingly being used to spread hate and disinformation. With various initiatives, we therefore promote fair and respectful coexistence in the digital society: against opinion manipulation, exclusion and hate on the internet and for values such as equality, tolerance, equal opportunities, diversity and social cohesion.
In the reporting year, we revised our strategic approach to promoting digital inclusion and adapted it to current social and technological developments.
For more information, see Digital inclusion and Digital values here in the CR report.
Focus on the environment
The promotion of climate and environmental protection is part of our CR strategy – and also a focus of our social engagement. Some examples: the voluntary commitment of our employee networks, for example to strengthen the circular economy, the financial support of environmental organizations and membership fees to foundations for climate protection. You can find more information about the commitment of our employees under Employee initiatives.
Further voluntary and financial commitment
In addition to our focus topics, we also support other initiatives with different focuses. For example, we promote charitable and ecological causes through donations to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or through the voluntary commitment of our employees. In acute crisis situations, such as environmental disasters, we act immediately – especially in the regions in which Deutsche Telekom itself is active.
For more information, see Voluntary and financial commitment in this CR report.
Measuring success: KPIs “Community Contribution” and “Beneficiaries”
Since 2015, we have been measuring our entire social engagement using the two KPIs “Community Contribution” (formerly: “Community Investment”) and “Beneficiaries”. Social engagement includes all voluntary and public welfare-oriented activities that we, our employees or partners implement beyond our core business. Activities without charitable motivation, purely economic measures or legally or contractually binding services are not included.
In the calculation, we are guided by the methodology of the Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) with the aspects “Input” (effort/commitment) and “Impact” (change). The KPI “Community Contribution” is the “Input”, while the KPI “Beneficiaries” represents the “Impact”.
“Community Contribution”
The KPI “Community Contribution” reflects Deutsche Telekom’s commitment in terms of finances, personnel and material resources. It includes donations in kind, monetary contributions, overhead costs and time contributions. We determine time contributions based on the volunteer hours of our employees that were completed within working hours as part of our corporate volunteering (monetized on the basis of an average hourly wage). We evaluate benefits in kind on the basis of lost sales.
KPI “Community Contribution” (Input Split)
in €
Data is partly based on estimates, assumptions and projections. If information is not available by the closing date, projections are made to determine year-end values. Figures are partly rounded.
In 2025, we focused 94.6 % (EUR 977 million) of our commitment on the area of “digital society”. These include activities that improve access to digital technologies, increase their affordability or increase digital skills – such as the provision of discounted devices, social tariffs and programs for the safe and responsible use of technology.
A further 0.2 % paid into the area of “environment”, 0.2 % into the area of “crisis response” and 5.1 % into other topics.
KPI “Community Contribution”
in €
“Beneficiaries”
The KPI “Beneficiaries” shows the number of people who benefit from our commitment, both in the field of digital society and in environmental and crisis response measures. Our activities, primarily in the area of digital inclusion, enable beneficiaries to learn, for example, new skills, change attitudes or behavior or improve their everyday lives. In addition to direct beneficiaries, we also consider indirect beneficiaries according to a fixed key; this is the case, for example, with a multiplier concept (when one person passes on his or her knowledge to many others), or when a discounted connection is used by several people.
In 2025, around 41 million people benefited from our measures (2024: 38 million).
KPI “Beneficiaries”
number of persons
Our goal is for more than 80 million people to benefit from our commitment to promoting the digital society in the period between 2024 and 2027. You can find more information on this under Digital inclusion here in the CR report.
Looking ahead
Social engagement has been a central pillar of corporate responsibility since Deutsche Telekom was launched more than 30 years ago. In the future, we want to focus even more strongly on where we can make a social impact with our products, services and core competencies in order to contribute to positive change in society. Our claim remains: We are only satisfied when everyone is involved.