Changing Our World Presents New Report on Corporate Philanthropy

Press release (Dec. 3, 2012) — Changing Our World Inc. presents findings from its 2012 Fellowship in its report, The New Chessboard: The Changing Landscape of Business and Society.

Corporate philanthropy is evolving in groundbreaking ways. Corporate philanthropy and responsibility has gone from being a voluntary, marginal effort by companies to a more institutionalized toolkit of different approaches that are integrated within a company’s core strategy. This is a major shift that commands deeper integration of business and community activities and a stronger focus on business profits within the philanthropic space. Economic challenges of the last four years, as well as global industrial integration and the emergence of global corporate actors whose roots are in emerging and not Western economies, promise a corporate future that may be very different from the past — the game is evolving.

The chessboard on which corporate social engagement takes place is growing and its dimensions are changing. New pieces are being added to the board, old pieces are following new rules, and new strategies are being developed for how to move pieces in a productive manner. All of this change may fundamentally alter the very definition of corporate engagement and the culture within which it takes place.

With an eye on the business world of 2025, the report looks at contemporary business from a global macroeconomic lens, organizes itself around five global megatrends, how those trends will profoundly alter the landscape on which corporate social engagement currently exists, and what this adjustment means for corporate and nonprofit leaders of today and tomorrow.

Dr. Susan Raymond, report co-author, economist and Changing Our World’s executive vice president, says, “There is tremendous growth potential for deepening and expanding the relationship between corporate social engagement and global problem solving. The theory of the relationship is clear, but bringing that theory to a new chessboard will require a deep reservoir of professionals who can play on the complex environment of that chessboard, and in doing so, attract more and more corporate and nonprofit pieces into the game.”

Download the report at no cost at www.changingourworld.com/FutureCSE.