September 23, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
Promoting Corporate Citizenship: Opportunities for Business and Civil Society Engagement
Edited by Laurie Regelbrugge
Fifteen authors contributed essays to this book, which examines how businesses can improve society by working more closely with government, individuals, and philanthropic organizations.
“Long-term corporate self-interest alone dictates the need for actions and investments that are socially and environmentally responsible and appropriate,” says Ms. Regelbrugge, chief operating officer of Civicus, which published the book.
Last year Civicus began a project to bring corporations into discussions about “civil society” — the concept of citizens’ banding together for the betterment of public life — and this collection contains the advice of project participants.
For example, Peter Shiras and Roberto Senderowitsch of Independent Sector describe plans for a corporate-citizenship project in North America. One of their ideas is a tax break for companies that give to social causes in neighboring countries.
Other authors include Christopher Pinney and Maxwell Brem, directors of the “Imagine Program” at the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, who summarize existing international, national, and local programs that meld business interests with the common good.
An appendix provides contact information for several organizations worldwide that Civicus recommends as resources for studying corporate giving and other issues related to philanthropy. The book was released to coincide with an international assembly this month sponsored by Civicus, which lists the changing role of business as one of the meeting’s themes.
Publisher: Civicus: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, 919 18th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington 20006; (202) 331-8518; fax (202) 331-8774; http://www.civicus.org; 136 pages; $12 for Civicus members, $15 for non-members; I.S.B.N. 1-929842-00-7.
