Sceptical charity softens its stance

Christian Aid, an anti-poverty charity with a track record of scepticism on corporate responsibility, has commissioned CSR research from a European rating agency.

The charity, which operates across the world, will use Paris-based Vigeo to help measure the ethical performance of possible partners and donors.

The move comes five years after Christian Aid’s 2004 report Behind the mask: the real face of CSR, which criticized corporate responsibility as ‘rhetoric’ and a ploy to stave off regulation.

Now the charity will input research from Vigeo into a computer model that will identify appropriate donors and partners for the charity. Last year Christian Aid received more than 400 unsolicited corporate donations.

Gabrielle Hickey of Christian Aid told EP: ‘Recently we’ve been pouring more resources into our corporate funding work, and our new work in corporate partnerships allows for companies to become partners of change with us.

‘We will still point the finger at companies where appropriate, but hopefully at the same time we can work together.’