Model for Mexico

Manuel Arango is changing the way Mexicans think about social responsibility

by Caroline Hartnell

 
Fifteen years ago, Mexican businessman Manuel Arango founded the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI) – now a thriving organization with 400 members. What inspired him to set up a civil society support organization? Caroline Hartnell asked. And does he think his example has encouraged other wealthy people in Mexico to follow suit? Although he downplays the importance of personal example, Manuel Arango feels that Mexico is reaching the point where people accept that supporting the nonprofit sector should be part of any citizen’s life.

As an individual donor, it was an unusual decision to found a support organization like CEMEFI rather than something much more service-delivery-oriented. How did you come to do this?
I had previously worked with nonprofit institutions in the environmental area and was impressed by what organized citizens can do to make things change. I thought more needed to be done to promote this culture of getting involved and giving some of your time, talent, and money for the benefit of the common good – a culture of participation and generosity – but we didn’t have any organizations in Mexico whose role was to help the whole sector grow. So we created the center with that idea and we published the Mexican equivalent of the state of the environment report. Now we work with corporations, NGOs, individuals, the government and international organizations, learning from them and sharing our knowledge.

So CEMEFI was always going to promote civil society in all its forms, rather than just the donor side?
Yes, that's right. We felt that if we got citizens to be organized and to share their talents and time, you could create a better balance between market forces, government, and citizens working for the public good. I think Mexico has entered a very important democratic era. Many people have contributed to this process, and CEMEFI has contributed not only by assisting people in need but also by working in the area of human rights and democracy and protecting the rights of children and women. I think we've had an influence – it’s difficult to say to what extent, but I feel confident we have.

If the new center was always intended to promote civil society as a whole, why the name, Mexican Center for Philanthropy?
In those days, civil society – organized civil society – was not exactly seen by the government as a very good thing. So we decided to go with the word philanthropy, which was less challenging than civil society.

You were not just unusual in deciding to set u a civil society support center rather than a more ‘cuddly’ service-oriented nonprofit. As a businessman, you were also very unusual in getting involved in the nonprofit sector in a big way. What brought you to do this?
In those days in Mexico – it’s changing now – people felt that in order to be efficient and profitable in business, you had to dedicate yourself to it. Community involvement was not seen as one of its functions. A key focus of CEMEFI has always been the social responsibility of the corporation. It has made a big difference, saying that individuals should share whatever resources they have – and we are more interested in the talents of the person, the time, the generosity than in their money (though money is important) – but the corporation is where the talent is more abundant. If a corporation decides to get involved and share the talents within it, it has a tremendous effect, more than if they just write a few checks.

A recent innovation of CEMEFI’s is creating an award for corporate social responsibility. Can you tell us about this?
Companies qualify for this by meeting certain criteria and achieving certain “grade points.” But it’s not an award for life. They have to requalify every year. Everybody thought it was going to be complicated and difficult, but it has been working extremely well. We started with 10 companies, and last year we had over 65 achieving the award. In fact, there have been requests for information about the program from other countries in Latin America. Now people have seen that it works, and companies want to get the award – and to show that they have received it – and this has created a tremendous momentum. And it’s a process of education too. Points awarded relate to different areas, like the environment and relations with the community and so on, so in trying to achieve points, companies have learned a lot in these areas.

Although most business people in Mexico 15 years ago felt that they had to concentrate on running their businesses, obviously you didn’t feel that. Did you carry on with your business after founding CEMEFI?
I’ve always carried on with my business, but as the years have passed, more of my time is dedicated to CEMEFI and my other nonprofit activities. So while I’m president of a real estate and development corporation, I probably spend only 20 percent of my time on it. Not that I expect this to be a model for the rest of the business community! So I’m not out of business, I want to keep the business and say both things can be done. I think the mentality has changed. Corporations now realize that the community appreciates a company that is responsible in every respect – the environment, giving to the community – and they are hiring people to run this area of business as professionals. We are moving, but there is still a lot to be done, especially with middle-sized and small companies.

It’s a win-win situation, though, not a give-away. We have seen that most of the Fortune 500 corporations and the equivalent in other countries are always the ones with the best responsibility programs. So it pays back!

Excerpt from “Focus On: Getting Global Giving Going” from Vol. 9, No. 4 (December 2004) of Alliance magazine, www.allavida.org/alliance, reprinted with permission.