Author Archives: Rachel Thompson

UK Government Cracks Down on… Philanthropy?

The UK government’s mantra, in these times of high unemployment, inflation and low growth, is “We’re all In this together.” And as public-sector spending cuts begin to bite, the government has been keen to show that they expect the very wealthy to do their part. Hence last month’s Budget included, alongside a modest reduction in the top rate of personal income tax, an emphasis on tightening tax loopholes available to wealthy people, particularly in relation to stamp duty on very expensive residential properties. It also included a new ceiling on tax relief for the wealthy: from next year, tax relief above £50,000 in any one year will be capped at 25 percent of income in that year. This would limit, say, a person earning $10 million from claiming tax reliefs of more than £2.5 million; or a person earning £500,000 from claiming tax reliefs of more than £125,000. At first glance, at least to those 99 percent of Britons who earn much less (the UK’s median income is £25,000 a year), this seemed to provide still generous room for tax relief to high-income earners.
Posted on Monday, April 30th, 2012 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  CR in Europe Philanthropy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Working With India’s Differently Abled

India – the world’s largest democracy and Asia’s third-largest economy --  is also a major source of innovation in CSR and development, from Tata’s pioneering work in making technology available to small farmers to the wide range of business-sponsored public health campaigns one sees on the billboards and airwaves every day.  APCO Worldwide’s managing director [...]
Posted on Monday, March 5th, 2012 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration CR in Asia | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Europe and the missing debate on economic sustainability

As Europe’s governments inched toward a long-overdue grand bargain on dealing with the Eurozone debt crisis, I’ve been struck again by several curious lacunae in the way this crisis is described by its major players. Language matters, as it shapes our understanding of what’s happening and also the prospects for responding with shared purpose. Here [...]
Posted on Monday, October 3rd, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Communications | Leave a comment

Rioting and Responsibility in the UK

The street violence in parts of London and several other English cities in the past week has brought an outpouring of analysis and opinions on the underlying causes. From poverty and inequality to poor parenting and teaching, from welfare cuts to racism, and the collective impact of all of these on a generation of young people. These are indeed features of our society – but it is not yet clear whether they are causal factors in what happened, which included the killing of several people, the torching of shops and houses, and semi-organized vandalism and stealing.
Posted on Friday, August 12th, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Community Engagement | Tagged , | Leave a comment

From CR to Sustainability Leadership

For me, one of the more frustrating aspects of the past year was the revival of “CSR skepticism” in certain quarters of the business media in the wake of several major corporate mistakes and crises in the banking, energy and auto sectors. After all, when there is insufficient “corporate responsibility,” there are two main options: more corporate responsibility or more regulation (or both) -- but not a return to the 1980s philosophy that business should focus only on maximizing profit and leave externalities to governments and society.
Posted on Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  What's Next for CR | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not Just Today: Every Day

Following our colleague Emily’s earlier round-up of coverage of International Women’s Day in the leading U.S. social media and traditional media, I wanted to share some perspectives from Europe and Afghanistan.Last evening in London, I had the opportunity to meet and listen to some remarkable women from Afghanistan: Dr Habiba Sarabi, the Governor of Bamyan [...]
Posted on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Economic Development Women and Girls | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy International Corporate Philanthropy Day

Today is International Corporate Philanthropy Day, and if you live in the United States, you’ll probably see or read a news spot about it. In New York, the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) is organizing a CEO conference and a joint event with the United Nations, and the Empire State Building is specially lit in CECP colors. Many other events are being held across the country, organized by member companies such as Moody’s to publicize what they are doing to mark ICP Day.
Posted on Monday, February 28th, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  CR in North America Nonprofit Operations and Communications Philanthropy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shared Purpose Writ Large in Tunisia and Egypt

When we named this blog “Shared Purpose,” we had in mind the importance of business having a wider purpose than profit-generation alone: i.e., a shared interest and responsibility with the rest of society to help bring about a more sustainable world. These past weeks, watching the people of Tunisia and Egypt exert their shared purpose through massive, peaceful, non-sectarian demonstrations, I’ve been reminded of two verities, amid the great uncertainties, about the bigger picture of what “shared purpose” means and involves.
Posted on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Community Engagement CR in Europe What's Next for CR | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Test for Responsible Business: Show Us the Money

It’s one of the most famous lines in the movies: “Follow the money … Just … follow the money.” These days, with a third of the world living on $2 a day, a third learning what zero growth or thereabouts looks like and the other third rattling along at 8-percent to 10-percent growth with massive resource depletion and rising inequality, the emerging call to big business and wealth-holders generally is becoming louder: Show us the money. How did you make it, what are you doing with it and who benefits from all this wealth you create?
Posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration CR in Europe | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

British Prime Minister Calls for More CR as Part of “Big Society” Agenda

Back in April, when David Cameron – now the British prime minister – launched his Conservative Party’s election campaign with a pledge to make Britain a “Big Society” through greater community empowerment and volunteerism, the idea was widely criticized as confusing, poorly conceived or simply code for public service cuts.
Posted on Friday, December 3rd, 2010 By Rachel Thompson
Catogories  Communicating CR CR in Europe What's Next for CR | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments