Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss why neither people nor organizations can demand trust, but rather how people and organizations can demand trustworthiness of themselves and others. While trustworthiness can be developed, and trust earned, this process takes time. Design/methodology/approach - An examination of the literature was undertaken to review trust from a variety of dimensions and perspectives to determine the role of trust as a fundamental notion, which may be an underlying factor in foreign aid objectives. Findings - This paper advocates that an understanding of trust and trustworthiness, when fused with a stakeholder perspective, may lead to enhanced levels of global poverty reduction objectives. Originality/value - This paper enhances personal knowledge and understanding at the theoretical and practical levels enabling business leaders to gain insight regarding the inherent stakeholder factors that need to be considered when designing performance-measurement strategies and reporting frameworks.