According to Experts, Legal Modifications would Facilitate Donations

03/13/2018 - 08h17

If Brazil wants to accelerate private social investments and create a favorable environment for NGOs and social businesses, then its laws need to provide more stability, create more tax incentives and stimulate a cultural shift that attracts more donations.

That was the conclusion reached during the "Social Innovation - Challenges and New Models" debate that was held on Monday (the 12th) at the Teatro Folha. The event was promoted by Folha de S. Paulo and the Schwab Foundation on the eve of the World Economic Forum on Latin America.

The debate was mediated by Maria Cristina Frias, the editor of Folha de S. Paulo's 'Mercado Aberto' ('Open Market') column.

Debate participants unanimously maintained that Brazil lacks the kinds of mechanisms needed to improve the management of endowment funds: money that is donated to an institution in order to help cover its operating expenses and projects.

A bill that would create legal mechanisms for endowment funds to donate money to federal and state universities was put forward in Brazil's Congress in 2012.

The president of the Institute for the Development of Social Investments, Paula Fabiani, pointed out that if the bill is signed into law, then it could have a positive effect, just like the effects that a similar bill had in France in 2008, leading to 230 endowments throughout the country, including funds used to help manage the Louvre. "The fact that we don't have legislation of the sort signals a lack of initiative", she said.

However, the six bills that would deal with the issue are far from embodying the ideal kind of regulations the country needs given that they would address such donations in a fragmented and restricted way, only contemplating sectors such as education and health.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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