Development

The KPMG member firms are committed to investing in social justice and building sustainable enterprises to tackle poverty, in line with aims of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Our programs and projects in Education (as discussed above) and environmental initiatives (as discussed below) are also tailored in line with the eight international development goals that United Nations member states and a number of international organizations agreed to achieve by 2015. We adhered to the MDGs because we are willing to work to achieve the MDGs by putting our skills into practice to make a difference in the communities in which we work.

Pro Bono Auditing and Advisory Services

KPMG provides pro bono auditing and advisory services to third sector organizations for a non-monetary consideration, which gives us the ability to fulfill that part of our mission which correlates with turning knowledge into value for the benefit of the communities within which we work.

By providing these services we give credibility and transparency to the financial statements of third sector organizations that are thus better able to raise funds in the marketplace and offer sustainable work in the different segments of society within which they operate.

Between 2007 and 2008 we provided 2,040 hours worth of work to the organizations we support, which include the following:

• Reciclar Institute;
• Gol de Letra Foundation;
• Brava Foundation;
• Empreender Endeavor Institute;
• Portal da Ajuda (Gateway to Aid);
• MAM;
• APACN;
• Barão de Queiroz Foundation.

In addition, KPMG Brazil takes part in the yearly soccer tournament sponsored by the Gol de Letra Foundation. The proceeds of enrollment fees contributed by participant companies help fund the Foundation’s activities in favor of the community’s underprivileged children.

Volunteer Time Release Program

Throughout the years KPMG and its professionals have been engaged in voluntary work by contributing both volunteers and funding.

In March 2007 we created an internal bulletin named KPMG na Comunidade, em Pauta for internal dissemination of our socially responsible practices and actions, and to promote and encourage new volunteering initiatives, as well as for accountability of previous voluntary actions by KPMG and its professionals.

Through our voluntary work, we lend support to Brazilian institutions and volunteering programs, which include charitable entities, hospices, orphanages, children’s care and day care centers, educational and cultural institutions, rehabilitation centers and hospitals.

In 2008 we developed a pilot project named Trainees 2008 - Desafio KPMG na Comunidade: você pode fazer a diferença (2008 Trainees – KPMG Community Challenge: you can make a difference), which was a success we plan to repeat every year.

The purpose of this project is to mobilize our interns to experience KPMG values by performing community work and developing skills, whereas building responsible citizenship.

A total of 350 interns hired in 2008 were engaged in this pilot project. After a six-week intensive work training course, and before actually engaging in field work, these trainees were challenged to turn knowledge gained during the training course into actions of value for the community.

The young interns, who are expected to become our future leaders, showed plenty enthusiasm, creativity and dedication, which translated into outstanding results.

Their community-oriented actions involved different audiences and targets, which among other things entailed donating blood, working with children and the elderly, promoting environmental awareness, performing school revitalization actions.

Specific Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Actions

KPMG member firms continue to respond with volunteers and funding to natural disasters and other emergency relief in communities across the world.

One of the core KPMG values is that “we are committed to our communities”. We also pledge to “work together” and “lead by example.”

Our response to the catastrophic natural disasters that have occurred in recent years demonstrates these values powerfully. In each case, people from KPMG have responded donating, volunteering and offering their skills in places as diverse as Kenya, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia, Mozambique and Brazil.

In some cases member firms have taken action on their own account. In others we have used our combined skills and resources both to help alleviate short-term suffering and to work on long-term redevelopment solutions.

In 2008, KPMG in Brazil counted with their professionals compromising in more than 30 campaigns of aid to the communities.

In every case the “KPMG family” was there to lend solidarity, contribute our skills and practice the values that bind us together and are at the heart of our sense of identity. Please access our coffee table book “Values in action – thinking beyond” and find out other great examples of the commitment, determination and passion of KPMG professionals to projects and programs that address the needs of our communities based on the three pillars of our strategy: education, the environment and development.