Most foreign companies have well-established positions and philanthropic practices in their own headquarters neighborhoods. Normally they distribute 1% or more of total profits to well evaluated and analyzed charities in their home country and home state.

Compared to the companies they compete with abroad, run by domestic business men say in Brazil, their attitude toward charity and social responsibility is much more advanced and sophisticated. They are truly corporate citizens except for one small detail.

Most of the charitable activity is centralized around headquarters, and most of the charity goes to local organizations near home, not to charities in the countries were their subsidiaries made those profits.

We believe that this is mainly due to simple oversight. The donations and grants department is not yet aware of how much money is being made abroad, that they are spending in the United States and Europe 1% of profits made abroad, not locally as it always was before globalization.

Since charity is in many cases a good-neighborhood policy, spending 1% of profits where those profits where made, regardless of the country, is a rule of thumb that we believe most CEO's would readily adhere to. In fact, the fundamentals of charity and helping the needy would warrant spending say 1.5% in emerging countries, not zero as in many cases.

In Brazil, this is something we believe can be easily changed. Most companies realize that it is a simple case of oversight and training of foreign staff.

Global profits with global corporate responsibilities.

Stephen Kanitz stephen@kanitz.com.br