From Fortune:

On April 26, when the shareholders of French food giant Danone congregate in Paris for their annual meeting, they will have a unique proposal to consider: setting up a mutual fund to channel investment into Danone’s nonprofit social ventures in developing countries.

Unlike Danone’s regular business units - which produce yogurt, water, and cookies - the ones receiving investments through the proposed new fund, to be called “danone.communities,” will aim for “maximization of social objectives and not that of profit,” according to the proposed resolution.

Danone initially hopes to raise $135 million and promises it will return a guaranteed rate comparable to a money-market account - about 3% to 4% annually, says Emmanuel Faber, Danone’s president of Asia-Pacific operations and the brains behind the project. The company’s management says it is confident the measure will pass. The fund is to be managed separately by bank Crédit Agricole, and be open to the French public as well as institutional investors.

Kudos to Danone.