{"id":2886,"date":"2026-01-13T09:15:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T09:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/senza-categoria\/dear-ceos-do-not-give-up-on-sustainability-look-to-philanthropic-investments\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T11:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T11:44:40","slug":"dear-ceos-do-not-give-up-on-sustainability-look-to-philanthropic-investments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/news\/dear-ceos-do-not-give-up-on-sustainability-look-to-philanthropic-investments\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear CEOs, do not give up on sustainability: look to philanthropic investments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In a time of regulatory obscurantism, an open letter to European businesses: this is the moment not to give up, but to demonstrate consistency in the commitments made to sustainability.<br\/><br\/>How? By looking to philanthropy, a driver of reputation, credibility, and talent attraction: playing out their entire role as leaders of the <em>stakeholder economy<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<p>On December 16, 2025, the European Parliament definitively approved the so-called Omnibus I package, a proposal to simplify European regulations on corporate sustainability that has been widely debated over the past year, thus establishing a substantial scaling back of both the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The de facto deregulation of sustainability reporting concerns the number of companies that will be covered by the regulation (drastically reduced), the sectors involved (also reduced), and the scope of obligations throughout the supply chain (significantly lightened). As for <em>due diligence<\/em> duties, the timelines for compliance with the regulation have been pushed forward, obligations to implement climate transition plans have disappeared, and maximum sanctions have been reduced to ridiculous limits (maximum 3% of the company&#8217;s or group&#8217;s global turnover).  <\/p>\n\n<p><br\/>A step backward, as many have argued, from what could have been achieved, not only as a political message. Because, as we know, in certain sectors, the hope for change cannot rest solely on the foresight of leaders, but on regulatory compliance. From this perspective, for those working on and for sustainable transition, this deregulation is a defeat, which also carries a great contradiction, considering the European commitment, confirmed on November 5, 2025, to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. The commitment remains, but the tools to achieve it are being diluted, watered down, postponed.   <\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>What can businesses do, then?<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>It is likely that those just beginning to address sustainability will feel legitimized to slow down. But what happens to those that have already invested in the transition process, that have already initiated the internal cultural change processes necessary to guide an ecological and just transition? Those businesses, in essence, that have not limited themselves to <em>green- or social-washing<\/em> practices, but have demonstrated their commitment by initiating consistent and substantial investments?  <\/p>\n\n<p>These are the businesses that invite us to look at the better side of this debate. First and foremost, they are businesses that know well that <strong>transparency obligations on non-financial impacts inevitably lead to going beyond mere <em>compliance<\/em> and managing real change<\/strong>. Reflecting on one&#8217;s impacts means first of all considering what they are throughout the entire value chain (think of the double materiality analysis process), identifying them clearly and in a shared manner, defining indicators that make sense for the business, and strengthening governance that looks to the long term to support the initiation of these changes.   <\/p>\n\n<p>Moreover, they are businesses that know well that <strong>beyond the regulatory slowdown, there is a market<\/strong>: investors, banks, and, naturally, clients and consumers. They are businesses that know that transparency on ESG criteria (environmental, social, and governance) is an element of capital attraction, business development, internal and external reputation, talent attraction, and also political power and recognition\u2014in their sector or territory of reference. They are businesses that put into practice every day, in substance, the awareness of the shift from the <em>shareholder economy<\/em> to the <em>stakeholder economy<\/em>, that know how to listen to stakeholder needs and make this listening <strong>an ingredient of strategic development<\/strong> <strong>and posture<\/strong> toward their reference ecosystem\u2014territory and local communities, clients, suppliers, investors, institutions, partners, company and supply chain workers, and naturally, nature. And it is precisely in entrepreneurial action that recognizes and practices that the company&#8217;s responsibility\u2014and its competitive advantage!\u2014lies in the value it can generate for all those who observe it and interact with its very existence, that the connection between business and strategic philanthropy is born.    <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em><strong><em>Business and strategic philanthropy<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Strategic philanthropy can help businesses stay the course toward sustainable and just transition, bringing benefits to all stakeholders involved, even with various and sometimes novel approaches in <em>mainstream<\/em> corporate cultures, born from the richness of European philanthropic tradition, and beyond. Some exceptional cases, precisely for this reason widely cited, have gone well beyond &#8220;simple&#8221; philanthropic donation, just think of the Canadian company Patagonia: from dedicating 1% of generated revenue to the planet for years, to having as its sole shareholder a nonprofit association dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature. Each year the company&#8217;s profits, once reinvested internally, are redistributed in the form of dividends contributing to the fight against the climate crisis.  <\/p>\n\n<p>For a business that operates under greater constraints in making a governance choice of this type, having a strategic philanthropy approach can essentially mean operating in two ways:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>entering the game as a partner, with various types and degrees of involvement\u2014from purely financial <em>venture capitalist<\/em> partner to operational partner;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>establishing a corporate foundation (or family foundation, often originating from entrepreneurial families).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>In the first case, the business can offer venture capital or support, also in the form of co-design, to projects with high environmental or social impact. This can and does happen in partnership with institutions and third sector entities, but also with any type of foundation present in a territory, depending on the alignment of strategic objectives between business and partner: from banking foundations to community foundations to private foundations <em>tout court<\/em> (family or corporate). In the second case, businesses can externalize their CSR functions by establishing a foundation themselves.  <\/p>\n\n<p>In both cases, a strategic philanthropy choice means a great deal in terms of effectiveness of sustainability objectives, alignment with business objectives, and reputation in the broadest sense of the term, especially for the attention and knowledge capital that businesses can bring to achieving the 2030 Agenda, for the benefit of the entire community. And it is not only this: philanthropic interventions can be evaluated and reported precisely on the basis of what is provided by the new European regulation. The activity carried out by a significant philanthropic partnership or a corporate foundation will easily be represented among a company&#8217;s material topics, and consequently can be reported through the ESRS (the reporting standards provided by the CSRD).  <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em><strong><em><strong>The philanthropic landscape in Europe<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>The European philanthropy landscape is extremely rich, both in resources and variety. According to the latest survey by Philea [1] on 34 European countries, there are an estimated 175,000 foundations in Europe, with an aggregate asset value of \u20ac516 billion and a total annual philanthropic capacity of \u20ac76 billion. <\/p>\n\n<p>Among the countries considered in the analysis, Germany (25,777 foundations) stands out in absolute number of active foundations, followed by Poland (21,000) and Sweden (17,631). The reasons are diverse and generally attributable to different national regulations. However, when looking at assets, Switzerland (\u20ac140,000 million), the United Kingdom (\u20ac128,985 million), and Germany (\u20ac55,000 million) are the top three countries by total assets.  <\/p>\n\n<p>Finally, for annual philanthropic capacity (grants), Spain ranks first (\u20ac17,594 million), followed by France (\u20ac16,002 million) and the United Kingdom (\u20ac14,115 million). All these data should be taken with appropriate caution, as they are based on an analysis of databases that have different inclusion rules and categorizations across countries. <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em><strong><em><strong><strong>The philanthropic landscape in Italy<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>The Italian philanthropic context is unique in the European landscape because it includes banking foundations (88), capitalized very considerably, for a total of over \u20ac40 billion. They are a phenomenon unto themselves, entirely unique because they were created by law in 1990 (the so-called Amato Law) following the reform of the Savings Banks, which were allocated a significant portion of the shares of credit companies, which regulatory evolution has progressively reduced over time. They are closely tied to the territory in which they operate, and their governance includes representatives from public, economic, and third sector institutions.  <\/p>\n\n<p>Moreover, they are promoters of the country&#8217;s major community foundations (currently 37 in total).<\/p>\n\n<p>In addition to this, the Italian philanthropic landscape includes family foundations, corporate foundations, community foundations, centuries-old philanthropic entities, and other philanthropic organizations, which have an annual philanthropic capacity of over \u20ac400 million (Assifero estimate relating to its membership base).<\/p>\n\n<p>The number of foundations recorded in the Philea report for Italy (<strong>8,356<\/strong>) is not at all significant for comparative purposes, because in the Italian context a hospital, a research center, a social enterprise, as well as a philanthropic entity, can take the form of a &#8220;foundation.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em><strong><em><strong><strong><strong>Corporate (and family) philanthropy\u2014strategy, governance, and relationships with the territory<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p><strong>Corporate Foundations<\/strong> are established by a company (or more, in the case of groups) to promote the social responsibility policies of the company itself or the group. The philanthropic arm of a company or an expression of its ESG policies, a corporate foundation is an organization in its own right, a choice that contains advantages not only from a reputational standpoint, but also in terms of organizational efficiency and, at least in theory, management autonomy. In practice, governance is highly varied, as is financial autonomy: it depends on the company&#8217;s commitment, which, when things go poorly, is negotiated even year by year, with consequences for long-term planning of support for initiatives aimed at environmental and social impact. If one looks at the ratio between corporate assets and corporate foundation endowments as a percentage, it is easy to be disappointed. However, there is a growing opinion that from pure philanthropic expressions, corporate foundations can become strategic assets for businesses, precisely by virtue of their rootedness in the territory, attention to social and inclusion needs, and attraction of qualified talent.    <\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Family Foundations<\/strong> are established by the will of one or more persons linked by family ties in order to preserve and give continuity to a portion of the family&#8217;s assets to be used also for social and solidarity purposes. They too have the most diverse assets and the most diverse governance, depending on the structures and wishes of the founding families. <\/p>\n\n<p>In general, even though the former are expressions of a corporate culture and the latter tend to give more relevance to the memory of a family history (albeit almost always of entrepreneurial origin), these two philanthropic actors are independent players in the landscape of welfare, promotion of social innovation, rights protection, environmental protection, cultural promotion and animation, with high degrees of freedom. They choose which needs to address and which common benefit objectives to pursue, and based on this they organize their activity, which can be grant-making (<em>grant-maker<\/em> for the benefit of the third sector <em>grant-seeker<\/em>), operational (direct implementation of social utility and environmental protection projects in their territory), or mixed (if they operate on both fronts). <\/p>\n\n<p>They are present throughout the territory in undefined numbers, since there is no obligation in Italy to register as a foundation (or rather, there is no database maintained by legal obligation that distinguishes foundations by type), but while corporate foundations numbered 232 as of December 5, 2025 [2], family foundations are unknown in number. Over the past 25 years they have grown considerably (both in Italy and Europe), thanks to several factors: favorable tax provisions, reduction of bureaucratic barriers, greater recognition and visibility in territories. Generally, they tend to have very small assets, but work on the basis of annual endowments.   <\/p>\n\n<p>Compared to Europe, in Italy philanthropic approaches considered most innovative to date\u2014based on trust, for example, or on <em>venture philanthropy<\/em>, the equivalent of venture capital, remain marginal.<\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em><strong><em><strong><strong><strong><strong>Relevant cases and practices of corporate philanthropy in Italy and Europe<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fondazione Golinelli<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Fondazione Golinelli was founded in Bologna in 1988 by the entrepreneur and philanthropist Marino Golinelli. It is the largest foundation of entrepreneurial origin in Italy (with grants and investments totaling \u20ac7 million in 2023, [3]). It is now a philanthropic <em>holding<\/em>, fully operational, that manages special purpose companies, leads cultural centers, develops technological research platforms, coordinates the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scuoladelleidee.it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scuola delle Idee Marino Golinelli<\/a> (a <em>private middle school<\/em>), actively participates in investment companies, consortia, innovation centers, and other cultural entities. As stated on the Foundation&#8217;s website, &#8220;<em>it has created an integrated and articulated ecosystem for culture and development, unique in Italy<\/em><strong>&#8221; [<\/strong>4]. Its activities span all cross-cutting areas where innovation is embedded in the socio-economic fabric: <strong>culture, education, training, but also research and technology transfer, startup incubation and acceleration<\/strong>, <strong>venture capital and open innovation.<\/strong> The Foundation&#8217;s activities are hosted in the spaces of Opificio Golinelli, a city of knowledge, innovation, and culture, the Centro Arti e Scienze Golinelli, and G-Factor. Fondazione Golinelli collaborates with the main Italian public institutions and with the most authoritative local, national, and international academic, scientific, and cultural partners.     <\/p>\n\n<p>What is relevant in the example of Fondazione Golinelli is the ability to act as a catalyst for an entire ecosystem (educational and cultural) with various solutions, from <em>education<\/em> traditionally embedded in the school sector, to business incubation and acceleration, consistent with the strongly innovative and entrepreneurial spirit characterizing the founder&#8217;s (and the company&#8217;s) values.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Philanthropy for Climate<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Philanthropy for Climate is a global movement that currently counts 961 signatories to take concrete action to combat climate change. As stated on the website, &#8220;<em>All organisations with philanthropic resources, whatever their mission and field of expertise, can play a role in addressing this emergency. Foundations and other types of philanthropic organisations have an immense potential for positive climate impact when integrating climate considerations into their own operations and programmes as well as in the investment of their endowments<\/em>&#8221; [5]. A call to foundations certainly, but also to anyone with a strategic approach to philanthropy for the climate, catalyzing resources and commitment toward the objectives shared by the movement.  <\/p>\n\n<p>The objectives are seven: ensuring training and continuous learning on climate change; commitment to allocating resources not for emergencies, but directed at the causes of climate change, integration of the issue in both the design and implementation of all funding programs; consideration of the relationship between climate change and management of one&#8217;s own assets; minimization of climate impact in all operations; advocacy\u2014specifically toward businesses; transparency.<\/p>\n\n<p>What is relevant in the example of the Philanthropy for Climate movement is the ability to catalyze resources and commitments toward a very clear and shared objective, easily adoptable also by institutions and businesses. For a business, it is powerful to be able to catalyze resources in a philanthropic effort of this type, if consistent with its business and corporate objectives of just and sustainable transition. <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Robert Bosch Stiftung<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Founded in 1964 from the vision of entrepreneur Robert Bosch, one of the most historic European foundations, it bases its work on experiments that are innovative in Europe today, such as <em>trust-based philanthropy<\/em>. The Foundation supports civil society actors, movements, and activists, who typically are not supported due to the funding mechanisms of traditional philanthropy, based on reporting models, short- to medium-term vision, project support. Support occurs from the very earliest stages (<em>ideation<\/em>) and is characterized by high flexibility in grant-making mechanisms, based on the needs of the supported entities [6].  <\/p>\n\n<p>The case is also interesting from a governance perspective. Between 2018 and 2019, following significant work reviewing its grants globally, the Foundation launched a new portfolio of activities based on six thematic areas: climate change, democracy, inclusive societies, inequalities, migration, and peace. The role and responsibilities of the board were also redefined\u2014from oversight of individual projects or programs to exclusive attention to strategic lines and approval of annual budgets.  <\/p>\n\n<p>What is interesting about the Robert Bosch Foundation is the change in governance that has also led to a change in the grant-making approach: the more traditional power asymmetries (funder-funded) are being progressively abandoned in favor of establishing partnerships based on trust and support for causes and organizational development oriented toward responding to complex challenges.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong><em>For a virtuous interaction between strategic philanthropy and sustainable transition<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Strategic philanthropy, in this historical moment, would seem to have the role of catalyst (like North American <em>catalytic philanthropy<\/em>) of territorial energies, of activator of territorial ecosystems in alliance with businesses and institutions. Everything that is supported by strategic philanthropy feeds into a company&#8217;s sustainability posture, which can find in these actors valuable allies for achieving its sustainability objectives, but also for strengthening its reputation and knowledge in its reference territory, which in turn is a driver of business opportunities, openness to innovation, and attraction of qualified talent. <\/p>\n\n<p>A good <em>to-do list<\/em> for a CEO leading a sustainable and just transition would be today:<\/p>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Know your territory and the philanthropic initiatives present<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Listen to the needs of the territory and be able to read trends with a long-term development perspective (with the forecasting capacity typical of business)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reflect deeply on your material topics (through a double materiality analysis participated internally and with all relevant stakeholders)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find the key to &#8220;make a difference&#8221; in your territorial context, in full consistency with corporate values<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consequently establish a philanthropic strategy consistent with your business and with the milestones of your transition journey (evaluate which is the most consistent and effective path, from partnership to establishing a foundation)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrate the evaluation metrics of your strategic philanthropy objectives with the company&#8217;s sustainability objectives<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Report your philanthropic activity integrated with business activity, following European standards (ESRS) or any other standard used alternatively (e.g., GRI)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Communicate effectively, disseminate and cultivate the strategic philanthropy approach also internally, in your sector, and throughout the supply chain.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>While waiting for the not exactly rosy period from a regulatory standpoint to run its course, competitive advantage and corporate reputation will benefit from the &#8220;double leap&#8221; in business, in talent attraction and recognition, for being a <em>driver<\/em> of just transition, establishing strategic philanthropy practices difficult to abandon, and excellent to emulate.<\/p>\n\n<p>SOURCES<\/p>\n\n<p>[1] Philea, 2025. The Fabric of Giving 2025:<strong><u> <\/u><\/strong>Public-Benefit Foundation Data in Europe.<\/p>\n\n<p>[2] <a href=\"https:\/\/italianonprofit.it\/filantropia-istituzionale\/\">https:\/\/italianonprofit.it\/filantropia-istituzionale\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>[3] Vita Magazine, 2023. Fondazioni SPA.<\/p>\n\n<p>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fondazionegolinelli.it\/chi-siamo\/la-fondazione\/\">https:\/\/www.fondazionegolinelli.it\/chi-siamo\/la-fondazione\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>[5] <a href=\"https:\/\/philanthropyforclimate.org\/\"><strong>https:\/\/philanthropyforclimate.org\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n<p>[6] https:\/\/www.bosch-stiftung.de\/en\/what-we-do<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a time of regulatory obscurantism, an open letter to European businesses: this is the moment not to give up, but to demonstrate consistency in the commitments made to sustainability. How? By looking to philanthropy, a driver of reputation, credibility, and talent attraction: playing out their entire role as leaders of the stakeholder economy. On [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-notizie"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2888,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2886\/revisions\/2888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diceimpact.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}