Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI)
García & Bodán Honduras through TrustLaw assisted Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía, A.C. (CEMEFI), a non-profit promoting the philanthropic, committed and socially responsible participation of citizens and their organizations, to achieve a more equal and prosperous society. They have two main programs in Mexico. The first one is philanthropy promotion (legal support to create new non-profits, donor services, volunteerism, technology donations, strengthening and accountability programs) and the second one is related to social responsibility promotion (recognition for socially responsible companies, best practices on CSR and consultants training and accreditation). Additionally, they work closely with international philanthropic organizations and networks to achieve greater results in Latin America.
Mexican non-profits are facing budget cuts as a result of the policies of the new administration. In the same way, Brazil and other countries in Latin America are implementing political changes that will affect how civil society organisations are able to raise funds for their activities. In light of these
political changes, the support of private donors will be increasingly important for non-profits to continue operating.
In order to support private donors in Mexico and Latin America to make decisions on how to make donations and where to make them, our law firm in Honduras through Vanessa Oquelí, Managing Partner of García & Bodán Honduras, in conjuntion with other law firms in Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Costa Rica, Venezuela, El Salvador, Bolivia, Chile, Panama, Uruguay and Ecuador provided assistance to elaborate a report that compares the different laws relating to donations to non-profits and the tax benefits for donors in different jurisdictions in Latin America. They will be able to use the report to make more informed choices. It will also serve as a tool CEMEFI could use to advocate for improvements to legislation on this topic in different jurisdictions.