Category: Philanthropy

Abstract

In this paper, seven specific questions regarding the future of fundraising will be answered and discussed through outside research. Questions that will be discussed and answered include, Who will replace the Greatest Generation as the most generous benefactors? What ethical challenges will fundraisers face that are the same or different than today? What skills and talents will fundraisers need in 10 years? Today, most major gifts are secured face-to-face. What role will social media, artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing, etc., play in fundraising for significant gifts? Will direct mail—still the #1 way to fundraise from mass audiences—be dead? If so, what will replace it? How will Millennials—all of you—change fundraising practices and donor engagement strategies? What will be the best way to secure gifts and form long-lasting relationships from the largest living generation as they move into gift-making capacity? The number of Americans who contribute to philanthropy is shrinking. What will happen to the nonprofit sector? Will it contract as more nonprofits go after a smaller market of potential donors? Due to technological changes and the rise of new generations taking the lead in becoming the most generous benefactors, fundraising practices are ever changing and there will be an increased need for fundraisers to keep up with the new changes and challenges in the industry.

Who will replace the Greatest Generation as the most generous benefactors?

Currently, Baby Boomers are the leading and most generous benefactors in philanthropy. Baby boomers were born between 1944 and 1964 and they are currently aged between the range of 55 to 75 years old. Based on The Institute’s report, the average American donor is 64 years old and it’s predicted that baby boomers will remain the most generous benefactors for the next several years (Kiger, 2019). According to a poll conducted by Edge Research on behalf of the Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact, its estimated that the baby boomer generation as a whole donated around 58.6 billion to non profits in 2017 (Kiger, 2018). Additionally, according to a survey (What survey?)of 1,339 donors, it was found that baby boomers contribute the most to charities accounting for 41% of all contributions in 2017 and contribute to four charities on average (Kiger, 2018). This number has declined in recent years from the average baby boomer donating 1,212 in 2013 to 1,061 in 2017 (Kiger, 2018). Although, according to a survey, 60% of baby boomers reported that they plan to contribute at the same rate next year, while 12% said they plan to increase the amount of their donations (Kiger, 2018). “Thirty-five percent of boomers make contributions through charity websites. Some 27 percent give by mail, while 11 percent use social media websites to make contributions. Three percent give via text messaging.” (Kiger, 2018).”

While Baby Boomers are predicted to remain the highest contributing benefactors in philanthropy for the next few years, it is said that Millennials will soon replace Baby boomers as being the most generous benefactors. Millennials were born between the years of 1981 to 1996 and are currently between the ages of 22 and 35. Even though Millennials are not technically in their prime donating years, and won’t be by 2030; Millennials are still predicted to be the leading non-profit contributors in the future. “According to Blackbaud’s “2018 The Next Generation of American Giving” report, Boomers and Gen Xers contribute 41 percent and 23 percent of total giving, respectively, compared to 14 percent by Millennials.” (Smith, 2018). Even though Millennials make up 14% of total charitable giving, Millennials contribute 33% of their donations to caused-based crowdfunding sites (Bourque, 2019). Bourque reports that Millennials are 70% more likely to donate to caused-based crowdfunding than Baby Boomers and Gen Xers (Bourque, 2019). As previously stated, Millennials have not reached their prime donating years and do not yet have the disposable income that Baby Boomers and Gen Xers have. That doesn’t mean that Millennials aren’t willing to contribute on a smaller scale, especially when they know exactly where their hard earned money is going. Eight out of ten crowdfunding donations are made through a mobile platform (Bourque, 2019), which is in line with how Millennials function and communicate. Baby Boomers are not as accustomed to or comfortable with donating through social media or other media based platforms (Bourque, 2019). According to Bourque, Millennials have distinct requirements and expectations that need to be met before following through with a gift. Millennials expect specific facts about the organization, it’s practices and people, as well as the people on the receiving end of their donation. They expect their giving process to be interactive; they want photos, videos, and confirming results pertaining to their donation. Additionally, Millennials are more active in regard to social media and they are far more likely to repost information regarding a fundraising opportunity than any other generation (Bourque). With the rise of crowdfunding, which is growing an average of 40% to 50% annually, with Millennials being the top contributors, it is predicted that not only will Millennials take over the Crowdfunding movement, they will also become the leading and most generous benefactors because of it (Bourque, 2019).

What ethical challenges will fundraisers face that are the same or different than today?

Today, there are many ethical challenges that fundraisers face. According to Hrabik, the number one reason why people don’t donate is because they lack trust in the organization (Hrabik, 2016). Stewardship, an ethical issue fundraisers face today, will be a core requirement to fruitful fundraising in the future. Donors, in growing numbers, continue to expect accountability and assurance that their money is actually going to their chosen cause. And, they need confidence there is no unethical rerouting use of their money for things not reflecting their values, ethics and intended, specific cause. With Millenials predicted to take the lead as the future most generous benefactors, and with caution and discretion at the core of deciding how and where their money is allocated, stewardship will be paramount to future fundraisers as it relates to the values of their donors. Honesty and transparency are among this growing list of ethical concerns facing donors. They seek well-vetted organizations to better ensure legitimacy and integrity. Social and environmental responsibility are also of great concern to Millenials; they don’t want to contribute to any inadvertent harmful side-effects. With technology, crowdfunding and other media platforms becoming more popular, there is a transparency and immediate disclosure of activities that can serve to promote or destroy the credibility of organizations and individual people. Accountability and ethical practices are a growing concern for donors and a growing requirement for fundraisers. Donor money that is exploited and misused and in the news media, is an issue that legitimate fundraisers face today and may continue to have to overcome in the future. According to Tim Burchill, executive director of The Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership at Winona, Minn.-based St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, it is up to the organization to decide what classifies as tainted money (Burchill, 2006). Although, with the rise of technology and crowdfunding, it will be seemingly more difficult for organizations to know exactly where the money is coming from. Another critical ethical issue is privacy, it is important to properly use, distribute and record donor information. One could suggest that Privacy will become an even larger ethical issue in the future considering the use of online transactions for donor contributions. In the future it will be even more important that fundraisers protect donor information, with the already little privacy there is online.

What skills and talents will fundraisers need in 10 years?

With the rise of technology, it will become increasingly crucial for fundraisers to be able to gather, understand and analyze data. According to the JustGiving blog, Amar states that just understanding and knowing how to operate Excel Spreadsheets will not be enough in the future (Amar, 2016). There will be an increased need for donors to understand how to navigate media platforms, collect data digitally and find new ways to reach larger audiences through data collection. According to De Gregorio, ‘In my view fundraisers of the future need to be fully fluent in the basics of community building, measuring response and impact, as well as the classic skills of telling stories to move people to give or take action.” Fundraisers will need to be more well-rounded in order to develop long lasting relationships with donors. Because technology is going to have a huge impact on how fundraising operates, there will be an increased need for developing personal relationships with donors even if it’s behind a screen. According to “Mandy Johnson, Director of Partnerships at Change.org, ‘Regular, personalised communications and access to extensive detail of how the charity is investing each donation used to be a privilege reserved for major donors.” Now with the rise of technology, this information is becoming more readily available and as a result, potential donors expect this kind of information and further communication with their fundraiser. In the future, there is a potential for donors to donate mobily more often which also creates a strong need to create valuable experiences for donors who fundraisers meet with face-to-face.

Today, most major gifts are secured face-to-face. What role will social media, artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing, etc., play in fundraising for significant gifts?

Millennials currently donate the most through crowdfunding, although their donations are usually smaller gifts. With the rise of social media, artificial intelligence and crowdsourcing, it predicted that it will be more common for an individual prospective donor to donate mobily than face-to-face. Although, face-to-face interaction is seemingly going to remain the most popular way to secure significant gifts from donors. In regard to social media, fundraisers can take advantage of this opportunity by leveraging data analytics to better market and reach potential donors. According to Pearman, charities with slim budgets can optimise their marketing efforts and adjust their tactics in real time by what is attracting potential donors (Pearman, 2014). Although, these tactics can be used for any charity and or organization and be used to better reach potential donors. This will allow organizations and charities to receive the feedback necessary to fulfill the needs of potential donors and relay information that is having the most impact. Social media is a great way to reach potential donors, although, one could suggest that face-to-face interaction for large donations will be necessary due to the lack of trust that many potential donors feel when donating significant gifts online. In regard to artificial intelligence, donors want to make fast decisions, although when making a difficult decision like what organization or cause to donate to and how much artificial intelligence can help donors make these decisions. “As Daniel Kahneman argues, brain slows down while making difficult decisions. When information is easily available, AI can offer faster insights, and even faster decisions.” Based on a donors interests, algorithms can match these donors with organizations that fit their values and interests. Potential donors could even help donors find organizations that match the amount of money they want to donate. Kaheman argues that, “They may even set some money aside and let the algorithms figure out the ideal disbursement of the money.” In regard to Conversational UI, a better user interface can be used to help potential donors navigate specific websites, highlight important information and provide a chat bot to answer questions. The chat bot can then transfer the prospective donor to a real-live gift officer who can further help the donor. According to Frankfurt, “Employing technologies with cognitive insight allows fundraisers to better understand data, optimize donor acquisitions, recommend next engagement steps and levels and generate personalized messages to deliver to a large population.” Personally, I believe that artificial intelligence, like social media analytics, can provide fundraisers with information at a faster and more efficient manner while also providing potential donors with quick and easy interface. Although, face-to-face interaction will seemingly still be incredibly beneficial and potentially more common for potential donors seeking to donate significant gifts.

Will direct mail—still the #1 way to fundraise from mass audiences—be dead? If so, what will replace it?

There are a lot of positive’s to fundraising through direct mail. Direct mail is an effective and low-cost way for fundraisers to reach their target donors. It is also an effective way to weed out those who have no interest in donating. According to Garecht, “In a 2010 nonprofit fundraising study called Heart of the Donor, 61% of all people who said they donated to charity in the past year reported making at least one of those gifts through direct mail.” This is a high number considering the fact that most people communicate online, through social media and more interactive platforms. A con to direct mail is that it is becoming increasingly common for people to feel like direct mail consists of mainly bills and junk mail (Garecht, 2011). According to Garecht, “The 2010 Campbell Rinker Donor Confidence Survey showed that 37% of people who gave to charities online did so because they received a direct mail letter from the charity, looked them up online, and made a donation on the nonprofit’s website.” It seems that the best way to communicate with Millennials, who are the next generation to become the most generous benefactors, is to mainly communicate through online platforms and through face-to-face interaction. Communicating to donors through social media and other online platforms is also an easy, cost effective way to reach donors and may have a chance of taking the lead over direct mail. According to Nick Ellinger, VP of Marketing Strategy, DonorVoice, states that “…31% of first-time offline donors will retain information from direct mail. While Only 25% of new online donors will.” MRI’s also found that physical materials like receive physical mail, leaves a deeper footprint on the brain creating a more emotional response leading to a better ability to retain the information received. Direct mail should still remain one of the most effective ways to reach donors considering that people who received direct mail were more likely to go online to do more research and continue their donation process from there. Especially because of the emotional response that donors receive as a result. The real question for fundraisers in the future will be how they want to go about the direct mail process and seek whether or not it benefits them. Direct mail doesn’t work for everyone but it has proved to be an effective way to reach donors for years and it is not dead yet.

How will Millennials—all of you—change fundraising practices and donor engagement strategies? What will be the best way to secure gifts and form long-lasting relationships from the largest living generation as they move into gift-making capacity?

Millennials are tech savvy and use digital platforms to engage with others. Many Millennials use media platforms to stay updated in the news, learn about new causes and are especially intrigued by what their peers post on social media. They are also more likely to trust their own experience as well as what their friends and family value, and or post on social media. They also value speed, efficiency and an easy transactions. According to the 2016 Millennial Impact Report, “More than one-third of millennials surveyed had donated to charity within the past year. Nearly all had used social media to research or post about social causes within the past month. However, they tended to avoid conflict when researching or discussing social causes.” Fundraisers will have to focus on staying up to date on their social media platforms and focus on fundraising campaigns centered around social media apps and other online platforms. To build long-lasting relationships with Millenials, fundraisers will need to focus on creating a trust worthy presence. Millenials are more likely to trust their friends and family over traditional experts (TechSoup Staff, 2018). Fundraisers will need to provide an easily accessible visual experience that can be reached on many different platforms (TechSoup Staff, 2018). Fundraisers will also need to provide specific information regarding the organization along with specific information about where exactly their money is going. Another important factor in building relationships with Millenials is to have the ability to create meaningful experiences for potential donors. Millenials are less interested in formal dinners or auctions to gain their attention. It would be beneficial for fundraisers to focus on value experiences such as a half-marathon, a sporting event, musical event or a dance.

References

1. Will Millennials Be the Most Generous Generation? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.waccamawcf.org/news/will-millennials-be-the-most-generous-generation/
2. Kiger, P. (2018, May 07). Boomer Generation Is The Most Charitable, Study Finds. Retrieved from https://www.aarp.org/money/budgeting-saving/info-2018/boomers-most-charitable.html
3. Smith, E. (2018, June 06). Are You Ready for the Next-Generation Donors? Retrieved from https://www.nonprofitpro.com/post/are-you-ready-for-the-next-generation-donors/
4. Santicola, A. (2006, September 12). Seven Ethical Challenges for Nonprofits. Retrieved from https://www.nonprofitpro.com/article/seven-ethical-challenges-nonprofits-36563/all/
5. The Direct Mail Fundraising Debate: Does it Still Work? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.thefundraisingauthority.com/fundraising-by-mail/the-direct-mail-debate-does-it-still-work/
6. Ways Artificial Intelligence Will Disrupt Nonprofit Fundraising. (2018, November 27). Retrieved from http://nandeshwar.info/data-science-2/ways-artificial-intelligence-will-disrupt-nonprofit-fundraising/
7. Pearman, I. (2014, January 23). How social media can change the face of fundraising. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2014/jan/23/how-social-media-can-change-fundraising
8. Frankfurt, T. (2018, April 03). What Does Artificial Intelligence Mean For Nonprofit Organizations? Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/04/03/what-does-artificial-intelligence-mean-for-nonprofit-organizations/#4e4034718dd4
9. Staff, T. (2019, March 15). 7 Steps to Fundraising from Millennials: Getting Them to Give. Retrieved from https://blog.techsoup.org/posts/7-steps-to-fundraising-from-millennials-getting-them-to-give

The Gurdwara is a place where Sikhs will gather to worship the Guru Granth Sahib which is their form of holy book (Religions – Sikhism: The Gurdwara, 2009). The Gurdwara allows the Sikh community to learn spiritual wisdom, faith, ethics customs and traditions (Religions – Sikhism: The Gurdwara, 2009). Aside from its spiritual value, the Gurdwara is also recognized as a Community Centre, which offers food, shelter and companionship for those who need it (Religions – Sikhism: The Gurdwara, 2009).

After each religious service, it is tradition for all members of the Sikh community to gather and attend a Langar (Pluralism.org, n.d.). No Sikh will leave without partaking in this communal meal. This free meal is an example of giving and is a way in which Sikhs express the equality of all its members. Despite being a Sikh, anyone who visits the Gurdwara is welcomed to take part in the Langar. This shows that despite sex, colour, religion, and economic status all are welcomed and valued in the community. This tradition symbolizes the Sikh’s rejection of prejudice (Grace, 2016). When preparing the meal for Langar all member including women, men and children are encouraged to participate (Grace, 2016). The meal itself is vegetarian (Pluralism.org, n.d.). This is because the Sikhs recognize that vegetarian is the universal and widely shared meal across all religions and it thus further represents inclusivity and equality (Pluralism.org, n.d.). Once the meal is prepared it is place in front of the holy book knows as the Guru Granth Sahib (Grace, 2016). Once being blessed the food is then equally distribute to all visitors and community members.

Philanthropy is defined as a generous donation to a good cause (Philanthropy, n.d.). In the Sikh religion, one can see how the Langar is a community donation in which everyone participates in creating a meal so that all visitors and community member can be fed. The Langar involves “giving back” in several ways. For example, the Sikh community members who cook the meal offer their time and skill to create a meal to give back to the community. Some community members and local Sikh businesses donate the food itself. Breaking down the ceremony one can see how each component involves the donation of time, money and resources but benefits the community in a big way. By welcoming all, the Sikhs are demonstrating how important it is to not just give back to their own kind but to offer a hand to those who are not of the Sikh religion. By only cooking a vegetarian meal, despite not being vegetarian shows the effort, which is put in to truly, make the meal universal and equal for all.

Resources

1. Grace, (2016). Here’s The Rich History Of Langar, The Sikh Tradition Of Selflessly Feeding Thousands Of People. Retrieved from https://www.scoopwhoop.com/History-Of-Langar/#.rk452t1tk
2. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://pluralism.org/religions/sikhism/the-sikh-experience/langar-the-communal-meal/
3. Philanthropy | Definition of philanthropy in English by Oxford Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/philanthropy
4. Religions – Sikhism: The Gurdwara. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/ritesrituals/gurdwara_1.shtml

Capitalism in the 21st century has resulted in dividing the rich and the poor. A majority of the population falls under the working class and sustain on either daily wages or monthly. Philanthropy is an idea which could help the rich make efforts to ensure the wellness of the poor. Over the years many philanthropists have been making efforts to help the poor and needy. These efforts have proved to be successful and have changed the life of many individuals. Currently there are many orphanages and physically challenged communities who are desperate for some financial help but the welfare programs that are organized for them by the government are either very slow in terms of progress or are not effective at all. On the other hand if the philanthropists had to donate towards such welfare programs, it would be more effective as the funds donated are directly used towards welfare without any delegation.

The resources used by philanthropists are not divided or given to any third party. In addition, the philanthropists are usually powerful individuals in the society and the funds that they donate are directly for a cause which cannot be used otherwise. Philanthropists could be very useful during the times of a natural disaster. This is because when the government releases funds during a natural disaster, it might take certain amount of time to get hold of the funds due to the long and time consuming procedures that are to be followed. On the other hand, the philanthropists could immediately use their assets towards benefiting the poor without following any governmental procedures which is usually time consuming and slow. Bill Gates is a philanthropist who has donated billions of dollars to the poor and needy.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife has also been contributing towards the welfare of the people. Stephan Curry, a professional NBA player and his wife have also been using their time to help the poor. Michele Obama has also initiated many welfare programs to help the people in need. This is a wake-up call for all the individuals who are in the upper class of the societal hierarchy. The poor have no education, food or shelter and these individuals are usually employed by the upper class. To ensure the welfare of such people is very important as capitalism cannot survive without the working class.

Philanthropy can be used as a tool to ensure a balance between the rich and the poor. If the rich make serious efforts in working towards the welfare of the poor then the working class would feel protected and ensure full productivity in the work place. Philanthropy can not only benefit individuals but the idea also can be used to ensure welfare of an area. Using these resources to ensure the welfare of protected wildlife areas is also very beneficial to the world as the instances of poaching or hunting can be reduced. Education sector can benefit from philanthropists as there are a lot of young children who have not been given adequate education to sustain in the present society.

The philanthropists could use their resources to improve the quality of education by recruiting the right teachers for a reasonable price. The infrastructure could be developed to make the students interact in a safe and friendly environment. A philanthropist could also use the resources to educate a lot of individuals who in the future would try to do the same. In a capitalistic society, the rich are usually blamed to exploit the poor in order to make more profit. This idea has been imprinted in the minds of the working class. By making efforts to benefit the poor, the capitalists could gain the trust of the working class and move towards a progressive society.

These efforts for welfare should not be a cover-up to in turn exploit the poor but it should be used as a tool to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Philanthropy can change the world because of the idea itself. These are efforts made by people to ensure that the needful are not neglected and are given the basic facilities to sustain in the present society. Philanthropy has the potential to help in a lot of other areas. Thus anywhere there is a problem, philanthropy might have a solution.

Introduction

In the business and corporate world today, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a principle that is both expected and required from an ethical point of view. Organisations are required to fulfil CSR through four main elements, namely, economic, legal, ethical / moral and philanthropy.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept that is expected from all organisations and business entities that they should contribute to the wellbeing of society, community and not be purely focused on maximizing profits. This responsibility can be ‘negative’, meaning there is exemption from blame or liability, or it can be ‘positive,’ meaning there is a responsibility to act beneficently. (Arrawatia, 2011)

According to the Green Book of European Commission (Nielsen, 2001), Social Responsibility is a concept whereby the companies decide, on their own accord, on a volunteer basis, to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. On that basis, the company management should not be just motivated for the interests of their shareholders, but also for all other stakeholders both directly and indirectly effected, example, employees, communities , customers, vendors, governing authorities, competitors and society at large. Hence the concept of social responsibility could be understood from two different angles, namely, from an internal perspective of the employees and from an external perspective, the other stake holders which by the actions of the organisation, may affect the environment, business partners and the surroundings. (Fontaine, 2006)

Of late, Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming a marketing strategy or “green washing” amongst corporations as an aspect of misleading consumers, mainly due to the lack of product distinction and the tendency for consumers to choose a product from an organisation that provides a well-connected or better engagement with the consumers and other stakeholders. (Solvalier, 2010) The corporations that embrace Corporate Social Responsibility can obtain viable advantages compared to their competitors, such as better brand image, better encouraged employees, good profits and better support from local communities, which sums up an important element in supporting both the organisation and the product.

During current times, when governments have impaired or lower ability in their spending, the corporate sector is seen as playing an important supportive role in sectors as culture, arts, science, sport, health, among others through a wide range of activities of extending financial support, such as, donations, sponsorships, patronage and cause related marketing (SMART Company, 2005).

However, Corporate Social Responsibility practices has also been a subject to argument and criticism, considering that there is a strong business interest in this practice.

Business and Stakeholders

Business means constant engagement and contact with all stakeholders. There are various kinds of stakeholders, from vendors, to suppliers, to customers, to shareholders, to creditors and more, and each one of them needs a different and specific requirement, needs and strategy in order to make them want to work with an organisation.

Nevertheless, there are also numerous ways to try to influence them that an organisation is the better one to conduct business with (Rabinowitz, n.d.).

As we’ll will see in the future, Corporate Social Responsibility should never be ignored by company business managers, since for consumers and other stakeholders, the major binding factor attracting them to support the product of a company, is the company’s own market reputation, and its acceptance by others is that they are keeping an operational strategy that bases on sustainable development (Victoria University – Melbourne , 2013).

Caroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid

Economics Responsibilities

Economics responsibilities in the context of Corporate Social Responsibilities is the right of an organisation or company to be able to conduct its business to increase the wealth of its shareholders, repay its creditors whilst producing goods and service that is of value to consumers and society in the context of sustainable development. (GONÇALVES, 2019)

Positive impact – Economic responsibilities

From a positive impact perspective, in the case of Google Inc, as the company went public listed in 2004, it considers investors as the major stakeholder in its activities. This is to ensure that the company grows its investment and becomes profitable for the shareholders. This ensures the shareholders as the main stakeholder in the company, is than able to determine and enhance the level of capital investment into the company, which eventually enables greater funding to conduct business. (MEYER, 2017)

As Google Inc focuses on Corporate Social Responsibilities, by proving useful products to consumers, which in return satisfies consumers and other stakeholders. With this usefulness of the product, it makes them popular with other stakeholders and consumers, which leads to greater profits to the company and simultaneously satisfies Google’s investors with regards to return of investment.

Google Inc implements several key actions with regards to good Corporate Social Responsibilities, which includes Data Centres which use less power. This 50% less energy used compared to other similar data centres, contributes enormously to energy savings and towards the Green Economy concept. This reduction in environmental impact inspires consumers that Google Inc is contributing to sustainable development, which creates brand loyalty amongst consumers.

Consumers continuous support for Google products translates to better investor earnings and profits and the company can remain profitable.

Negative Impact – Economic responsibilities

In July 2018, Google Inc was slapped with a penalty of USD $5 billion fine by the European Union for using its Android phone software to stifle competition (D’Onfro, 2018).

Under the European Union anti-trust law, Google Inc was found guilty of mandating phone manufactures to exclusively pre-install Android software on their phones. Under the anti-trust law, it is illegal for Google Inc to pay phone manufacturers to exclusively install this Android software and applications, which Google did between year 2011 and 2014.

Impact to Google Inc shareholders is the financial impact of such a hefty fine and the potential risk of eroding its brand image. This is further coupled with expected opportunity loss to its advertising model, as Google makes most of its profit selling targeted advertisements (McGrath, 2018).

Legal Responsibilities

Legal responsibilities in Corporate Social Responsibilities is generally defined by laws that are enacted by governments of a sovereign state. These laws are in statutory sense and can be by international or national laws. Also included are both soft law and hard law, public regulations and corporate self-regulations (Buhmann, 2004)

Legal fulfilment is straight forward and simple for all companies as the laws and regulations are stipulated and available for compliance. Any company or organisation must comply in accordance to the regulatory requirements, failing which the company will be deemed as having flouted the law and it will constitute a criminal action. This will hurt the core of its business and subsequently affect profit (Dreveborn, 2010).

Positive Impact – Legal Responsibilities

From a positive impact perspective, Levi Strauss & Co, an apparel manufacturer has demonstrated compliance to Occupational Health & Safety Act requirements by implementing various standards and guidelines. This is published through the company’s Sustainability Guidebook – Safety Guidelines and is implemented across all its subsidiaries worldwide (Levi Strauss & Co, 2017).

This Safety Guidebook spells out the company’s Environment, Health & Safety policies and requirements.

The Safety Policy has been transmitted and made available to all employees including their business partners and vendors. This Safety Guidelines includes the setup of Safety Committees for Hazard Assessment, Risk Assessment and Hazard Control. Included in detail is Emergency Preparedness covering Aisles & Exits for quick and safe evacuation from their factories in case on an emergency. As part of the local regulations in their factory located in India, they are mandated to provide exit signages in English, but as part of the company’s good practise, Levi Strauss & Co have decided to include dual language exit signs, that is the mandatory English sign and additionally an exit sign in the Local Language. This practice, of incorporating local language signages, being higher than the legislative requirements, indicates the company’s commitment towards employee safety and benefits.

Translating this good Corporate Social Responsibilities for employees will result in a more engaged work force and better employee retention. The company will also be considered an employer of choice when recruiting new personnel (Cheeseman, 2016).

Negative Impact – Legal Responsibilities

In year 2015, it was revealed that Volkswagen was caught selling their vehicles with the engines emitting nitrogen oxide 40 times above the legal limit (Dans, 2015).

This is a failure of Volkswagen from legal responsibilities by masking the fact that their diesel engines which had undergone extensive testing, using software to mask the engine impairments, was in fact emitting toxins, above the allowable limit and poisoning the environment.

The company’s aim was to merely market its product, with lower production cost as the engines were built with less than stringent legal requirements. This gave the company an unfair advantage over their competitors who were diligently spending more to comply to the legal requirements of emission control.

Volkswagen had failed in keeping their sustainability promises by neglecting their legal responsibilities (ERM Group Company, 2018). Their action has caused excessive environmental pollution and clearly indicates a lack of self-regulating function with the management and developers of the engines.

Ethical Responsibilities

Ethical responsibilities under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibilities is expected by companies, whereby they will need to follow the generally held beliefs about behaviours in the surrounding community or society. This is setting a higher bar for making contributions in a positive manner for society (Sarokin, 2019).

Ethical responsibilities are about focusing on the cultural, political and diversity of the surrounding communities, engaging in fair price products, fair wages to employees and anti-bribery policies. This responsibility is generally about being conscious of the influence to society and other stake holders.

Positive impact – Ethical Responsibilities

LEGO Group company has a group policy transmitted and practiced through Expected Ethical, Social and Environment Conduct Letter. This includes Anti-Bribery & Corruption, Anti-Trust Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering policies. Their policies are further expanded by the published Code of Ethical Business Conduct (LEGO Group, 2017).

All employees are required to undergo e-learning training courses on business conduct and anti-corruption every alternate year. By mandating this training to all employees, LEGO Group ensures that their employees understand and practise good ethical business conduct to ensure that their work habits and engagement with suppliers and vendors does not infringe bribery or gives the company an unfair advantage over its competitors. The requirement of having to attend re-training every 2 years, further emphasises the commitment of management that all employees should be continuously trained on ethics & compliance so as to remain current with their business practices.

Negative impact – Ethical Responsibilities

Nestle was recently earmarked as the top five unethical companies as voted by Ethical Consumers readers (Hunt, 2018).

Nestle has been irresponsibly marketing baby’s milk powder in developing countries as being equal to mother’s milk. This was specifically focused on the poor and under educated mothers in these developing counties.

Mothers in these countries were encouraged to feed their babies with instant milk powder formulas and in order to mix this milk, the less educated mothers were using water that was polluted to mix the milk formulas. Given the level of poverty amongst these citizens, they did not have the means nor the facility to boil the water first before mixing the formulas. Nestle, even though they were fully aware of this situation, continued to aggressively promote instant milk powder to these rural poor all in the pursuit of filling their coffers.

This is an obvious case of mis-representation of facts with regards to the lesser benefits of instant milk formulas versus the natural nutrients of mother’s milk. Nestle’s action is paramount of an example of an organisation compromising their ethical values and responsibilities to merely fulfil shareholders profits.

Philanthropy responsibilities

In Corporate Social Responsibilities, philanthropy is considered an important element for companies conducting business. Philanthropy is not just giving out donations to charity, rather its about investing to bring about social change for the long-term benefit of society. Philanthropic investment may not necessarily be in the form of financial aid, but rather, it can be in term of time and knowledge shared to improve the long-term wellbeing of the community (Baines, 2016).

Positive impact – Philanthropy responsibilities

General Electric company in year 2016 had contributed USD $88 million to various community projects and educational programs through their company’s foundation called GE Foundation (Vilas, 2017).

Through this GE Foundation, they developed an initiative for education and skills, called, Developing Futures and Developing Skills. This initiative is focused at 14 to 24-year-old students in the aim of developing them to become globally productive citizens by providing them exposure and learning experiences that are required to equip them with skillsets to become the work force of tomorrow.

This learning experience for the students enables them to acquire various levels of knowledge and skills by implementing a competency-based learning methodology. This skill acquisition will enable these students, in the future, to be employed both domestically and globally in niche markets requiring specific skills.

By this implemented program for young students, General Electric is directly contributing to the long-term benefit of society by training students for future job market needs and General Electric may themselves benefit by some of them being employed in the company.

Negative impact – Philanthropy responsibilities

Unilever has been accused with “green washing” and hood winking society at large by claiming to provide sustainable development for poor and needy countries but on the other hand they have exploited the labour force in these very countries. It has been accused by Indian, South African and Kenyan governmental officials and non-governmental advocates for abusing human rights, labour rights and environmental protection. These officials have claimed that Unilever has only given lip service with regards to sustainable growth in these under-developed countries as they have ignored a large number of complaints from workers, including sexual harassment of Unilever tea workers in Kenya (Barber, 2017).

Unilever has so called, invoked a campaign on philanthropy responsibilities by claiming to be committed to helping poorer nation and less developed counties but in fact have failed to live up to their promises by blatantly abusing the rights of workers in these nations all in the name of increasing their profits for the benefit of the investors.

The role which philanthropic foundations can play in the sphere of international relations has gained major attention recently, accompanied by large donations given to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (especially the $31- billion donation from Warren Buffet). Thus, there are some speculations on the possible changes in the sphere of private foundations that can be compared with the official flows of governmental capital targeted towards development.

Within the landscape of changes philanthropic foundations like the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller foundations now play a significantly larger role than they used to, working on major issues of international development through an array of different mechanisms ranging from governmental partnerships to direct operations. It is anticipated that this trend will continue to develop, with non-governmental organizations as well as the civil society organizations cooperating with private philanthropic foundations. The foundations investigated on this topic include the Gates Foundations and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Cons and Contributions

Global Health Program

Bill and Melinda Gates have become major players in the sphere of philanthropic donations all over the world. Since the very beginning of the foundation’s development, it continues to make donations over three billion every year, putting a focus on the gap between the health services that exists between rich and poor countries. Among the many goals of the organization are the battle against polio, malaria, as well as taking control over the spreading of HIV and diseases like tuberculosis (Mathiesen, 2015, para. 3).

From the beginning of the twenty-first century, partly with the help of the foundation, four countries managed to battle malaria. Mortality rates from the illness have dropped by forty-two percent, presenting a possibility to eradicate malaria in the course of a generation. Foundation’s next major contribution is connected with eliminating polio in India – in the year 2014, the Gates Foundation officially announced that India was free of polio (Mathiesen, 2015, para. 8).

With the help of an extensive program that included two million vaccinators, that worked in cooperation across India. Such success is crucial since even in 2009 India witnessed more that a half of the cases of polio from the entire world. Thus, this can be viewed as one of the most significant health achievement which provides a prospect of eliminating polio all over the world.

The foundation has developed the Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Cooperation between the European Commission and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at research, innovation, and science. The Memorandum outline main objectives of strategic cooperation between the EU and the Foundation in which the two parties should work “in concert as partners” (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2013, p. 3).

One of the objectives is tightly linked to the sphere of international relations as a whole since it includes providing assistance and support by means of sharing and analyzing technical data, views on appropriate funding budgets approaches to various types of information. Such cooperation is similar to the way governments cooperate towards achieving a specific international relations goal.

The second objective to be mentioned is to encourage the United States of America, the European Union, and African states to induce research as well as the cross-sector technological development to help resource-constrained countries to attain new and improved mechanisms to battle with the disease. With an aim to enable a fast and efficient development of vaccines and drugs in the African region, and getting control over maternal health in cooperation with the EU and the US the foundation has put itself in a place of a significant international relations player that can positively influence the lives of people living in under-resourced countries (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2013, p. 3).

Furthermore, Gates Foundation possesses potential for reducing and eliminating poverty in Africa by means of inducing science, technology, and self-development with the help from other influential international players.

Global Development Program

Apart from putting major contributions into the development of the international development of health, the Gates Foundation is also working towards a goal of helping the poorest people in the world cope with their lives and lift them out of the extreme burden of poverty and hunger. The five areas of focus in this regard include agricultural development, financial services for the population in poverty, hygiene and sanitation provision, establishing global libraries and special initiatives.

Due to the fact that the majority of populations in poverty live in rural areas and solely depend on agriculture as the primary source of food, the foundation decided to cooperate with small farmers in the poorest African regions to boost their ability to produce more agricultural resources thus provide increased income for their families (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2011, p. 8).

The financial services for the poor include a number of financial services, loans, savings accounts, insurance, and other services to aid people in poverty improve their lives. The foundation works to provide the poorest people with different types of financial services that are not widely available to them. These services will be beneficial in enabling poor people to live a healthier life and be more productive in their household security as well as risk management.

Unsafe drinking water as well inadequate sanitation offer the largest risk for illnesses and spreading diseases in the developing countries. Thus, the Gates Foundation also focuses on partnering with stakeholders to aid millions of people get access to sustainable sanitation facilities and thus improve the overall qualities of their lives.

Establishment of global libraries is linked to the lack of access to the Internet and other educational resources, leaving poor populations without any powerful mechanism for education, business development, and other opportunities for improving their lives. The Gates Foundation is cooperating with global partners in technology to provide widespread access to computers established in public libraries (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2011, p. 12).

Lastly, the Gates Foundation explores many other ways for the poor populations in the world get away from the burden of hunger and poverty. To this respect, it makes focused investments into the partnership with stakeholders that can also have a positive impact on the poorest populations’ lives. Furthermore, the foundation helps international agencies deal with responding to various natural disasters in the form of shelter, food, and water. To conclude, the foundation continues exploring other various initiatives targeted at improving the lives of the poorest populations throughout the globe.

The Issue of Accountability

Despite the fact that the Gates Foundation does good work around the globe thus influences the sphere of international relations, the issue of accountability is what is concerning the most. While the strategies of the company are annually reviewed and assessed, the system in which the foundation operates cannot be called democratic. Depending on what Bill and Melinda want, the foundation acts in accordance with their opinions and objectives.

The funding of the foundation operates in a sphere of interconnected organizational networks across all sectors of academia and non-governmental organizations. Such a method of operation provides a group think method; however, the foundation is often accused of diminishing the diversity of scientific approaches, catering to only those scientific methods it agrees with. Thus, the organization is accountable only to itself, without trying to broaden its spectrum of knowledge and scientific approach.

The Rockefeller Foundation. Contributions, Cons, and the “New World Order”

Created in 1989 by David and Peggy Rockefeller, the foundation focused its work on the sphere of arts with an intense focus on engagement; environmental improvements with a focus on sustainability and climate change; providing better criminal justice through the support of programs that target the provision of a humane system of criminal justice. Nowadays the Rockefeller Fund develops various programs on providing economic justice for women as well as the improvement of their employment opportunities.

Furthermore, the Foundation provides substantial support for organizations participating in the policy development. Thus, the Rockefeller Foundation works towards the encouragement of civil participation as well as support organizations that want to hold governments accountable to their citizens, gaining influence in the sphere of international relations (Szanto, 2011, p. 20).

Climate Change and Agricultural Challenges

The majority of current work of the Foundation is targeted at dealing with the impact of climate change on the global community with the help of encouraging innovation to meet the existing challenges. The modern world is largely challenged by food insecurity caused by the shifting patterns of water, a search for the solution of alternative energy, as well as quickly changing dynamics of the global market.

Seeing that the infrastructure of large cities is surrounded by urban migration as well as the growth of viruses that become much more resistant to vaccines, the foundation is developing plans for bringing cross-disciplinary experts together to develop innovations.

By recognizing that the African region is greatly challenged by agricultural issues, the Rockefeller, and the Gates foundations cooperated to establish an Alliance for a Green Revolution in the region. Through the means of bringing governmental leaders, experts in agriculture, and policy makers together, the Alliance aims at creating a secure future for the small farmers of Africa. Aiming to reduce food insecurity in Africa at the same time with increasing the income of agricultural smallholders, the Alliance has occupied an important place in the sphere of international relations as a major influencer of improving the lives of millions of people (The Rockefeller Foundation, 2011, p. 7).

Dealing with Healthcare Challenges

The Rockefeller Foundation recognizes that insufficiency of the global resources with regards to dealing with healthcare challenges. Experts that work in the sphere of human as well as animal health care, are often uninformed about the work of each other and the rapidly spreading diseases from animals to people. To this respect, the Rockefeller Foundation has established the Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network in Asia which encourages the collaboration of leading medical professionals to slow the spreading of various diseases. Apart from the financial support, the foundation provides assistance to support the creation of innovative technologies for tracking the patterns of outbreak patterns (The Rockefeller Foundation, 2011, p. 20).

The foundation sees grand opportunity in promoting strategies that encourage the development towards achieving the aim of better heath care outcomes. For this reason, the Rockefeller Foundation focuses on “transforming health systems by brokering new partnerships, searching for sustainable solutions, and fostering innovation” (The Rockefeller Foundation, 2011, p. 17).

Cons and the “New World Order”

While the Rockefeller Foundation is one of the primary stakeholders in the sphere of international relations with regards to improving the lives of people throughout the globe, it still has some disadvantages that can be improved in the future. For instance, there is an issue of the moral hazard which is connected to the lack of clarity about what choices are rational and which are not. Such choices relate to perceived patronage and associated dangers of the patronage. Similar to the issue of accountability in the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Fund also faces uncertainties as to how to make sure that the invested funds are spent on the set objective.

The concept of the “New World Order” has been widely used by its supporters in various federalized governments throughout the world. The Rockefeller family is also associated with the term, which was supported by David Rockefeller, the last member of the family who said: “Some believe the Rockefellers are ‘internationalists conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I’m proud of it” (Burr, 2016, para. 5).

Thus, the idea of the New World Order is linked to dissolving the global borders between countries to create a totalitarian global government that replaced the sovereign nation states. While the majority of information about the creation of the New World Order was kept secret in the past, nowadays the ideas and intentions are pretty clear. However, it is important to note that the members of the government that participated in plotting the conspiracy of a unified totalitarian government were the people chosen by countries’ citizens.

Had the plot was widely known to the general public before, it would have never been planned for long, as mentioned by David Rockefeller. However, Rockefeller admitting to fooling people can be viewed as unethical. Overall, the actions of New World Order conspirators cannot be attributed to honest people wishing better to the world; to some degree, the Rockefeller Foundation could have been created to cover for the actions of the family to create a plot for the unified government.

Concluding Remarks

To conclude, philanthropic foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation possess the full capacity to become major players in the sphere of International Relations with regards to working in cooperation with global stakeholders towards improving the lives of people around the world. The number of funds foundation spends on research and provision of help to the populations in need often exceeds the amounts spent by countries’ governments.

Furthermore, the cooperation with non-profit organizations as well as professionals in the sphere of research reinforces the role philanthropic foundations play on the global scale. Despite the issues with the accountability, philanthropic foundations of any scale remain effective methods for improving the lives of populations in need, providing them with shelter, adequate education, food, improvements in the sphere of education and healthcare.

References

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (2010). Every person deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life. Seattle, WA: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (2013). Memorandum of understanding. Web.

Burr, E. (2016). David Rockefeller says conspiracy about ‘One World Order’ is true. Web.

Mathiesen, K. (2015). What is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? Web.

The Rockefeller Foundation. (2011). The Rockefeller Foundation annual report. Web.

Szanto, A. (2011). Rockefeller philanthropy: A selected guide. Sleepy Hollow, NY: Rockefeller Archive Center.

Overview of the program

Through social entrepreneurship, well-being and human development among people of the world become possible. It is not only humane to establish a philanthropic program, but also a great idea of improving the planet. This report describes a set of ideas to come up with a way of supporting philanthropic organizations established in the third world to help impoverished children.

Volunteers from all corners of the world will be invited to provide community services such as education, family help, counseling, health services, and capacity-building programs in the communities (Leadbeater 1997, p. 121). Volunteers will gain vast experience from the exposure to different cultural backgrounds and professions.

Purpose of the volunteering Programme

The program attempts to provide a solution to the needy in underdeveloped countries. This program will organize a way of working with the communities at the local level. Instead of students staying idle during their long summer vacation, the program will be inviting those who are interested in volunteering in abroad countries (Schaper & Volery 2007, p. 39).

Through the program, volunteers will gain vast experience in an international charity organization setting. At the same time, they will offer their donations to help underprivileged children from third-world nations. This will be a very distinguished chance for students since they will come to interact with different cultural setups when volunteering in local communities.

The program intends to invite students who are on a long vacation, jobless graduates, graduates who need related working experience, retired people, and so forth. Instead of students and other people staying idle, they can help change the world in a philanthropic way through this volunteer program. The program will be helpful to both the volunteer and the needy children.

The approach used to develop the program

The program is being organized in collaboration with universities. It will encourage taking gap years to improve students’ academic performance and experience. Mostly, college students will be using the long holiday to enroll for volunteer-ship in abroad countries (Thompson 2002).

Volunteering abroad in countries is a commendable way of gaining a working or professional experience while working to help underprivileged children. Students who wish to volunteer will have a chance to learn about cultural diversity and different attitudes toward life because of the exposure to varied cultures (Grave & Zacharakis 2008, p. 131).

Volunteering is a great way of developing personally, professionally, and even ethically. One can develop professional skills, self-esteem, and confidence. This is also an opportunity to discover one’s self and also to form personal identity.

This volunteering program will ensure that underprivileged children in third-world nations are taken care of. The volunteers will engage in different projects. Major projects include capacity building among young children through education, counseling of the children, teaching, and guiding, visiting the sick, health care, and religious guidance (Timmons & Spinelli 2007, p. 74).

Donations will be made. Possible donors will be encouraged to send their donations in form of food, clothing, money, and so forth. Money is normally needed in charitable organizations to maintain the underprivileged children, pay school fees and maintain the organization’s administration (Nicholls 2006).

Application for the volunteer position will be done through an online procedure on the program’s website. Qualifications will be specified and the shortlisted people will be interviewed and evaluated by the program officials. This process is mandatory as the program intends to involve only serious people who have a philanthropic heart.

Conclusion

The program will work in collaboration with different philanthropic organizations active in the underdeveloped world, public and private universities across the U.S.

Reference

Grave, B & Zacharakis, A 2008, Entrepreneurship, Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ.

Leadbeater, C 1997, The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur, Demos Publishers, London.

Nicholls, A 2006, Social Entrepreneurship: New Models of Sustainable Social Change, Oxford University Press, New York.

Schaper, M & Volery, T 2007, Entrepreneurship and small Business, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, Milton QLD.

Thompson, J 2002, ‘The World of the Social Entrepreneur’, International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol.15 no. 5, pp. 412-31.

Timmons, J & Spinelli, S 2007, New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21^st Century, McGraw-Hill/Irwin Publishers, Boston MA.