The conception of this research dates back to 2007, year when its author participated in the Environment Trainee Program of Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza, currently called Fundação Grupo Boticário. During the Program, twenty trainees representing NGOs from all over Brazil underwent a process that included creating an organizational development project at their respective institutions. Within this scenario, many challenges to maintain these organizations were brought up, giving highlight to the controversy surrounding sponsoring companies and the impact of their demands on the internal dynamics of those organizations. This research was thus structured with the purpose of investigating and describing how the business sector relates to environmental NGOs in order to build a more environmentally favorable image, as well as the way in which such relationship interferes in the NGOs actions.

The author comes from both NGO and private environmental sector backgrounds from Brazil, where she experienced the dilemmas discussed in this work. She holds a BA degree in Environmental Management from Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture - São Paulo University - and a Master degree in Science focused on Applied Ecology from the same University.