Social Capital and Corporate Volunteering: A Study in a Cooperative in Southern Brazil

Cooperatives are recognized for their substantial involvement in the communities where they operate, governed by principles and values that serve as guidelines for action management. The main objective of this work is to analyze corporate volunteering as an action of corporate social responsibility and its relationship with social capital and cooperative principles. The research employs a qualitative approach through a case study, combining data collection methods such as documents and interviews. Interviews and focus groups were transcribed, and MaxQDA Analytics Pro 2022 software was used for information analysis. All components involved in generating social capital were identified and described according to the theoretical model, highlighting the strong presence and influence of cooperative principles, thus enhancing the generation of social capital through corporate volunteering practices. The presence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aligned with voluntary actions was also noted, generating social capital with value for participants. Our results also demonstrate that corporate volunteering serves as a response to the challenges of COVID-19, thereby reinforcing the idea that companies with more substantial social capital have a greater capacity to respond to social challenges. As a suggestion for future research, it is recommended to explore other aspects that can strengthen social capital in cooperativism, such as values and principles in isolation and complementary projects to volunteering, also studying the generation of social capital through corporate volunteering in other organizational contexts.