In an e-mailed statement, the Canadian Cancer Society said it follows a policy when dealing with corporate partnerships to avoid conflict of interest and other ethical issues. The policy states that corporate donors must be a good “reputation match” and that the cancer society won’t explicitly endorse a product. The statement said six per cent of the group’s donations in 2008-2009 were from corporations, a figure that does not include corporate sponsorships of events or other activities.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation said in an e-mailed statement it approves each corporate donor on a case-by-case basis and is grateful for all financial support. The statement noted that corporate money has helped pay for 500 automated external defibrillators in Canadian communities.
But observers say non-profit groups need to carefully consider the message they’re sending when they lend their name to a for-profit company or take funds from a corporation that clashes with its goals.
“It may end up convincing people that that name represents something healthy or positive when it doesn’t,” said Chris MacDonald, a philosophy professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax and author of the Business Ethics Blog. “If I were a key stakeholder of a health charity and found out it was aligning itself with an unhealthy product, I’d worry about the stability and the future of that charity and for its reputation.”
The problem, according to Mr. Gill, is that few charities know how to properly harness relationships with corporations in order to further their cause. Instead of simply taking donations or sponsorship dollars, non-profit groups should engage with the corporate sector and challenge their practices, he said.
World Wildlife Fund Canada regularly works to change the behaviour of some of its corporate partners. Last year, the group secured a promise from Loblaw Cos. Ltd. to procure all seafood sold in its grocery stores from responsible, sustainable sources by 2013. The company also donates money and part of the proceeds from its five-cent plastic bag fee to the organization.
“[Businesses] are part of the problem and part of the solution,” said Hadley Archer, vice-president of strategic partnerships at World Wildlife Fund Canada. “We really feel that engaging the business sector is fundamental and critical to tackling some of the conservation challenges we have in front of us.”
