Third Sector’s Corporate Social Responsibility: In Portuguese Law

Third sector organisations, in particular not-for-profit ones, in opposition to organisations operating in the public or private sectors, are often perceived as guided by charity and benevolence when interacting with their stakeholders. But in order to succeed in their mission, organisations such as NGO’s, foundations, charities, or similar, need people and resources to pursuit their social agendas. But it is not common to discuss not-for-profit organisations’ corporate social responsibility towards the market (including their reporting duties), towards the environment, labour standards, or even towards their contributions to the communities from where they gather the resources used to pursue their social mission. It is often perceived that business organisations, in their pursuit for profit, may negatively impact their stakeholders, while not-for-profit organisations do not. But is this always (or ever) the case? In the attempt to shed light on the answer to this question, the duties imposed to not-for-profit organisations’ decision-makers are going to be critically reviewed under Portuguese Law. This comparison will allow us to understand if Portuguese Law, as a case study, is fit for the purpose of regulating the action of not-for-profit organisations’ managers in a way that resonates with the legitimate expectations of the communities where these organisations operate.