Philanthropy Professionals

Goodwill is not enough to give well (and to receive well). To consistently insert social commitment, philanthropy or volunteering activities into CSR strategies and ESG profiles, advanced professionalism is needed both in the ranks of companies and among third-sector organizations. Maria Serena Porcari, manager and expert in social enterprises, a former Bocconi alumna (and today also an SDA Bocconi faculty and board member) has known this for a long time, since already in 2004 she was among the initiators of the Dynamo Foundation, born precisely with the aim of supporting planning and development of business organizations addressing social problems. From that reality, various projects have come to life, such as the Dynamo Camp and Dynamo Academy, of which Porcari is now CEO, which develops training and advisory programs for companies, students and local authorities on the issues of social enterprise and achieving the common good.

How have you seen the relationship between companies and non-profits change in recent years?
The report on Corporate Giving in Italy released by Dynamo Academy and SDA Bocconi Sustainability Lab highlights some trends. 76% of companies now expect the integration of ESG issues at all levels within 5 years, with priority given to issues of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It is true that the pandemic has shifted the focus of companies towards the health sector, but at the same time it has accelerated some needs and processes such as the importance of increasingly involving employees in social responsibility activities. Corporate volunteering has grown significantly: 53.25% of companies state they have opened activities in this respect. Another aspect that has acquired importance is the relationship with the local community and territory. Community investment has become the purvey of CEOs, boards of administration and top management, a sign that the commitments made in this sense are perceived as being of strategic importance, they are no longer just public relations issues.

In what aspects do companies display the greatest need for training and consultancy?
The most pressing question for businesses is how to put flesh in their sustainability plans. Even the largest groups, which are also investing and writing ambitious plans, are often not adequately equipped to translate these efforts into practice. The other aspect for which we are often called upon as Dynamo Academy is to set up and disseminate best practices for employee engagement in companies, from the organization of crowdfunding donations to the correct HR policies to manage corporate volunteering.

Today the management of CSR in a company today requires transparency and reporting. Third-sector partners are not always ready to support this. How do you come to terms with these assumptions?
Companies need to effectively report on their activities, including social activities, which they may already carry out but which are not yet properly represented in financial statements. It is a complex measurement, which requires the involvement of stakeholders and partners, who, however, might not have the necessary skills. In this gap between supply and demand, new service opportunities have arisen, entities that act as a bridge between the demand for corporate sustainability and the offer coming from the third sector. The new legislation on sustainability reporting and the work on social taxonomy will require an even greater effort and I expect the non-profit sector, after an initial use of external resources, to progressively develop the ability to relate with business organizations using the same language.

The ESG requirements provide an incentive to donations but also introduce additional constraints. Does this make the context more or less favorable to corporate giving than in the past, particularly in SMEs?
At Dynamo Academy we have developed a methodology, which is called Social Path, which encourages SMEs to think strategically about sustainability and give themselves a rational and effective structure. The first step is to look internally, because initiatives sometimes already exist but have been decided by individuals, often without the knowledge of the neighbors in the next division. The second step to arrive at combining your results in a veritable ESG matrix is ​​to identify the relevant KPIs, bringing out the aspects where you can really make a contribution. Better having a few goals, but concrete ones. Often, however, companies, pushed by the ESG wave, overestimate sustainability variables by creating very complicated, I would almost say unmanageable, dashboards of metrics. When social sustainability leaves the realm of strategy and becomes just risk management and pure compliance, its meaning is lost.

Is there a risk of greenwashing also for issues of social sustainability?
The environment has been object of intervention at the EU level for some time, and a common taxonomy is being created to enable organizations to speak the same language. In the social sphere, this is still far from being the case and room for subjective evaluation is broader. The risk of confusing charity and marketing has always existed and for this reason realities such as CECP (Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose, the association founded by Paul Newman of which Dynamo Academy is Italian partner) were born to encourage companies and institutions to put their cards on the table, to declare how many resources are devoted to social initiatives, how, on which projects, and with what results.

SHORT BIO
Maria Serena Porcari graduated with honors from Bocconi in Business Administration in the 1990s, with a thesis with Professor Vittorio Coda on Danish companies owned by foundations. A prophetic sign of your future career in the world of social foundations? "Not at all," she denies. "Actually in those years I was aiming for a job sa business consultant and to continue my studies. I became an accountant, I followed the CEMS Master and in the meantime I was involved in market research and financial analysis of venture capital projects". After almost a decade spent at IBM, in 2004 she became one of the pioneers of the Dynamo Foundation, promoting the Chair of Social Enterpreneurship at Bocconi. "My relationship with Bocconi is a constant of my professional life; the international environment of the university and the ability it has to open one's mind through various kinds of stimuli are aspects that already struck me as a student and that left me a great legacy in terms of preparation, relationships and also friendships".