A few weeks ago, we raised the question: “Is donating to ESADE ethical? Do you know anything about the social impact of an academic institution the likes of ESADE?” Since then, we’ve received numerous contributions on Facebook, LinkedIn and Nexus. Thank you all for taking part.

We all agree on the ethical justification behind donating to an NGO, for the direct impact that this has on improving society. But what happens when we donate to a non-profit foundation such as ESADE? What is ESADE’s social impact? Are its educational programmes aimed at achieving accountability or responsible management? Does training leaders with ethical values contribute to a more sustainable form of global development?

In short, here are the main conclusions that have been reached:

DONATING TO ESADE IS ETHICAL

Donations are an investment in everybody’s future. To ask if it’s ethical to make donations to ESADE is like asking whether it’s ethical to fund education; and the answer is clearly, yes.

All those who have taken part in the debate are convinced that donations should have specific goals such as: providing financial assistance to skilled and talented students who have limited resources (this is something that is embodied in ESADE’s scholarship programmes) and generating knowledge (investing in research).

Another important point that was repeated in many people’s opinions is donation management and transparency in terms of fund management. The importance of transparency and control systems is crucial. These are key issues for ESADE, which ensures that a lot of effort goes into keeping them a major priority.

Answering some of the debate’s questions:

COMMITMENT TO TALENT

ESADE’s commitment to talent is focused on attracting young people with enterprising, creative and innovative profiles. Beyond their notable intellectual powers, these are individuals who show initiative in terms of having a viral effect on their classmates and representing the ESADE brand throughout their subsequent careers.

Currently, 10% of students at ESADE receive scholarships. Coming from different parts of the country and different social backgrounds, they all have something in common: an exceptional transcript and a diverse and enriching personal background.

OTHER PROJECTS: Professors and research

ESADE’s reality involves the need to strengthen the capabilities of its faculty by contracting professors with proven international experience, a solid reputation as researchers, and who are also young educators who have great potential for developing a career in academia. ESADE aims to attract visiting professors who can contribute their knowledge and expertise to the programmes in which they are involved. The School also encourages professors to conduct research and deliver programmes at other internationally recognised Schools, with the aim of strengthening both networking and research.

Commitment to the future also means investing in research. Without research, high standards in education would not be possible: and without new knowledge, teaching would not be possible. As an institutional priority, knowledge that is to be transmitted first needs to be produced, and ESADE has put a great deal of its efforts into research in recent years. However, even this is not enough, and we must go further.

At ESADE, we have an ongoing need to conduct research and, to do so, we need resources: reallocating existing resources and allocating new resources to research. In the LinkedIn debate, we saw various opinions on how generating knowledge involves receiving donations as a form of support as well as recognition for our work.

"In the U.S. I donate to my high school, university and law school. This is a norm in the U.S. My decision to give to ESADE would only be determined by my overall experience at the school." Jonathan Slawsby _ Facebook

" ¿Es ético donar a ESADE? = ¿Es ético invertir en nuestro futuro? -> SI ." Svetlana Shatokhina _ LinkedIn

" Creo que siendo sin Ánimo de Lucro, es perfectamente lícito que se pueda donar a ESADE ya que como bien dice forma a líderes responsables, algo que hace mucha falta siempre y más ahora." Francisco José Hernández_ Mail

" En mi opinión es no solo ètico donar a ESADE sino estratègico para el mundo de hoy y particularmente para Iberoamerica,donde precisamente carecemos de lideres con una concepciòn integral(conocimiento y humanismo)y a la vez con capacidad pràctica de aplicaciòn de la misma." Federico Nuñez _ Mail

" Si es ético dependiendo de dónde venga el dinero, dinero limpio, y cómo se use y asigne, criterios transparentes. Donar lo hacen todas las grandes instituciones educativas para ayudar a aquellas personas que teniendo talento no podrían acceder a una educaión de alto nivel. También para proyectos sociales e innovación." Teresa Alarcos _ LinkedIn

" En la medida en que ESADE tenga un programa de becas para aquellos con escasos recursos económicos, me parece ético sin duda alguna. Si ESADE carece de este tipo de programas se estaría financiando a una Universidad de Élite y, adicionalmente, con beneficios fiscales para el donante. No sé si esto es ético o no, pero, desde luego, tiene mala lectura." Guillermo Vidal _ LinkedIn

" Yo siempre estuve a favor de dar cuanto más dinero posible a una institución de índole educativa. ¿Por qué? Simplemente porque más dinero significa mejores instalaciones, más becas, más conferencias y programas sociales, y un atractivo bastante considerable para atraer a los mejores profesores; entre muchos más benefic ...ios, todo va en provecho del alumnado. Y ante todo esto contesto: ¿Cuál es el impacto social de ESADE? Más y mejores profesionales; ¿no es eso una contribución bastante oportuna para nuestra sociedad? Para mejorar la sociedad no es suficiente obrar desde la cúpula; hace falta también ( y sobre todo) hacerlo desde los cimientos." Marcello Franceschini _ Facebook

" Estoy completamente a favor de donaciones a ESADE para ser invertidas en educacion/instalaciones/research/etc. pero creo que es necesario implantar una politica de total transparencia para atraer fondos. Parar empezar, publicaria en esade.edu un informe semestral y anual con las cuentas de ESADE. En este informe se de ...tallarian los progresos de la institucion y como se ha invertido el capital. Una estructura similar a las cuentas anuales de una empresa me pareceria apropriado .Este informe deberia incluir todas las actividades de ESADE, y tener un apartado especial para donaciones donde se detallan donaciones recibidas, y a que proyectos se han destinado. Adicionalmente, la publicacion de los nombres de los donantes mejoraria considerablemente, ofreciendo la posibilidad de donaciones anonimas para quien lo pida, pero solo para importes pequenios. Importes significativos no deberian ser anonimos." Marco Guerreiro _ Facebook

"Ethical? What would be unethical about donating to ESADE or any other foundation to that matter? You can donate your money to anybody you want and there is nothing ethical about it. The question is whether it is most useful? In my opinion is it useful to donate to ESADE because there is a strong focus on social entrepreneurship and there are strong movements among MBA students to enter philantropic entrepreneurship. In my opinion it is good that social entrepreneurs have a business background who see the need for sustainability and scalability of a social project instead of merely the cause. How many NGO are just on the brink of survival because they are not focused on a sustainable business model. You can only help others if you yourself are strong. The problem with ESADE however is, similar to NGOs, that is not sure whether the money is used correctly and where the money goes (...) " Tobias Caldeweyher_Nexus