Skip to content
Donate Now
  • Donate Now
  • logo
  • logo
  • News
  • Fundraising
    • Fundraising
    • Crowdfunding
    • Development
    • Donor Retention
  • Philanthropy
    • Philanthropy
    • Foundations
    • Grantmaking
    • Online Giving
  • Management
    • Management
    • Board Governance
    • Finance
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Policy
    • Policy
    • Activism
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Taxes
  • Webinars
    • Premium Webinars
  • Magazine
  • Opinion
    • Editor’s Notes
    • The Cohen Report
    • Dr. Conflict
    • The Nonprofit Ethicist
    • Unraveling Development
    • Voices from the Field
  • Store
  • Donate Now

  • Subscribe
  • Member Log in
  • Manage Subscription
Link to subscription form
  • News
  • Fundraising
    • Fundraising
    • Crowdfunding
    • Development
    • Donor Retention
  • Philanthropy
    • Philanthropy
    • Foundations
    • Grantmaking
    • Online Giving
  • Management
    • Management
    • Board Governance
    • Finance
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Policy
    • Policy
    • Activism
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Taxes
  • Webinars
    • Premium Webinars
  • Magazine
  • Opinion
    • Editor’s Notes
    • The Cohen Report
    • Dr. Conflict
    • The Nonprofit Ethicist
    • Unraveling Development
    • Voices from the Field
  • Store
  • My Menu

Yes, It Matters What Motivates Business Philanthropy

By Danielle Holly Danielle Holly | June 25, 2018
Share37
Tweet62
Email
Share
99 Shares

“Save the Bay – Misquamicut State Beach Clean-up, 5-2-15-101”

June 22, 2018; Entrepreneur

In an op-ed last week in Entrepreneur magazine, Brian Jones, founder of PR firm Nuts and Bolts, asks, “Does it matter what motivates business philanthropy?” Jones argues that it does not—as long as businesses are giving back, regardless of whether they’re truly altruistic or simply doing it for positive press, the result for the community is the same.

Let’s say a company participates in a beach cleanup for selfish reasons—so they can look good on social media. The beach still got cleaned, right? Their not-so-noble reason for action still helped the environment. Should that business not perform deeds like these because their motive is not entirely altruistic?

Over the past few decades, corporate community engagement and corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been moving in a positive direction—from its infancy focused on legal and environmental compliance, to slightly more-mature realization of CSR’s branding and PR benefits (and the world in which Jones’s argument lives), to a now more enlightened approach with companies considering social impact as part of their core service, product creation, and measurement. CEOs and companies are increasingly taking positions on social issues from which previous generations would have shied away. Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, one of the world’s most influential investment firms, announced earlier this year that his firm would assess investments and companies on the positive social benefits they create.

Now, we acknowledge that the business community has a long way to go before social and community engagement are a true part of its ecosystem—and Fink will need to demonstrate that his letter is more than just words. Still, Jones’s argument surfaces a dated mindset that moves us back to the thinking that dominated a more transactional approach to philanthropy, which can ultimately be damaging to nonprofits. When corporate philanthropy and volunteerism are driven primarily by a company’s PR motives, the engagement is episodic and randomized by design. It increases in times of business expansion, challenge or scandal, decreases when a specific region or cause is no longer of interest and can cause whiplash to the nonprofits that are absorbing these whimsical resources.

So, yes, the beach will get cleaned—but will it get cleaned next month, or next year? And what about the company that’s creating the plastic littering the beach, which would be the cause of the problem?—Danielle Holly

Share37
Tweet62
Email
Share
99 Shares

About Danielle Holly

Danielle Holly

Danielle Holly is dedicated to strengthening the capacity and leadership of the nonprofit sector through meaningful, value-driven partnerships. Over the past 14 years, Danielle has worked with hundreds of nonprofits and companies to support the conception, design and implementation of cross-sector approaches that address community challenges. She is currently the CEO of Common Impact, an organization that designs nonprofit capacity building and corporate community engagement programs. She has served on the Board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network and Net Impact NYC, and most recently as a fellow with the Presidio Cross-Sector Leadership initiative. Danielle lives in Brooklyn, NY and loves to explore the nooks and crannies of NYC’s endless neighborhoods, and end the days cooking with her husband.

  • More by Danielle

Read Next

  • The Intersection of Corporate Philanthropy and Private Sector Lobbying

    A new study reinforces the impact that corporate donations have on policy outcomes through strategic nonprofit partnerships.

Popular Posts

  • Green New Deal Bill Introduced in Congress
  • The 2019 Gates Letter: What Surprises Them Scares Us
  • Reframing Nonprofit Leadership Succession: The Ultimate Strategic Hedge Against a “Bad CEO Hire”
  • Cash Flow in the Nonprofit Business Model: A Question of Whats and Whens
  • Counting What Counts: Why Social Accounting MATTERS
  • Scaling Social Justice: A Latinx Immigrant Worker Co-op Franchise Model

Write for NPQ

  • Our Mission
  • Advertise
  • Board of Directors
  • Foundations and Funders
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • NPQ Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Press Release
  • Donors
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy

  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Back to top ↑

To Access the Full Article, Please Login or Subscribe

Can't Login?

Register a New Account Forgot Password

Continue Reading