questionnaire asks how we contribute to the local community, what do they mean by this

Local community is a catch-all category without a fixed definition

This question has no fixed answer, because "involvement with the local community" is not a separately defined concept in the VSME basic module. It is a collective term that customers use for various matters: sponsorship of a local event, internship positions for students from the region, cooperation with a neighbourhood initiative, or simply: how much personnel and turnover remains local. Before you fill in anything, it is therefore useful to check whether the questionnaire itself provides an explanation. Sometimes there is a footnote that frames the subject to, for example, "social contributions in euros" or "number of local cooperation agreements". Without that explanation, the question is too broad to answer with a simple yes or no.

If there is no explanation, the safest route is to report what is factually established: sponsorship amounts from the accounts, number of internship or apprenticeship positions, or participation in a concrete project. If you have not recorded anything, then "no" or "not yet filled in" is a more honest answer than an estimate. This subject often also relates to questions that are asked separately, such as the male-female distribution within the workforce or occupational health and safety policy — check whether these are not asked twice under a different heading.

Where this comes from: VSME does not recognise it as a separate data point

The VSME basic module of EFRAG, drawn up under Directive (EU) 2022/2464, names social and governance indicators such as staff composition, working conditions and human rights policy, but has no separate data point "local community". Customers who ask for this anyway often borrow it from a broader sustainability standard or from their own procurement policy, not from the basic module itself. This means that for this specific subject you cannot fall back on a fixed EFRAG data point, and that you are dependent on the definition that the customer himself provides in his questionnaire.