Google is to pay more attention to its social responsibilities in the wake of its public flotation.
The internet search engine company announced last month that it would
give at least $1billion (£580million) over the next 20 years to
initiatives that target poverty, the environment and energy use.
The founders of the San Francisco-based company, Sergey Brin and Larry
Page, signalled before last year’s $3.3bn flotation that they would
bring in a community contributions programme. Much of the money will be
channelled into ‘pro-poor’ initiatives that seek to increase the number
of business start-ups in Africa. The first tranche is a $90m gift to
the recently formed Google Foundation, some of which is for a programme
to support entrepreneurship in western Africa.
A further $175m will be invested outside the foundation over the next
three years as seed money for ‘socially progressive’ private companies
and non-profit bodies in countries all over the world. Among the first
to be supported by the fund is TechoServe, a US company that will
sponsor a contest for entrepreneurs in Ghana, with the winners
receiving start-up finance.
Google’s initial $1bn pledge is based on donating three million of the
company’s shares, or one per cent of its stock, so its ultimate value
remains unknown. However, Sheryl Sandberg, Google’s vice president of
operations, claimed that giving shares instead of money would maximize
the benefits of the gift. ‘It’s not a lot of money in the face of the
world’s problems, so we want to make sure we get the most out of it,’
she said.
The move by the seven-year-old company is a sign that some individuals
in the new technology sector, which has been criticized for failing to
embrace CSR, are now taking a greater interest in charitable giving.
eBay recently set up a foundation that has contributed more than $8m to
non-profit organizations and last month introduced a scheme allowing
sellers to donate part of their proceeds to charity, with the money
matched by eBay. The internet auction company estimates that up to £9bn
could be raised for charity in this way.
