Taking philanthropy back to basics

By Paul Klein

Thirty years ago I listened to Ben Cohen — the “Ben” half of Ben and Jerry’s — speak to an audience about how corporations could stand for more than making money. At the end of his presentation, Ben distributed Peace Pops, a product the sales of which supported the non-profit organization “One Percent for Peace”.

The business of social change has come a long way since then. Today, virtually every large business understands the importance of social change and is acting accordingly. The principles of the United Nations Global Compact have been widely endorsed, companies such as Coca Cola are taking leadership on issues such as access to clean water and businesses are taking the social priorities of employees, customers and local communities into account.

Sadly, corporate philanthropy—companies donating money directly to charity—which was once the foundation of corporate social responsibility, is now seen as a use of capital with no discernable return on investment. However, although the social value of philanthropy may pale in comparison to other business activities (such as increasing employment, engaging more local suppliers and improving the direct social impact of products and services) traditional philanthropy shouldn’t be discarded. Instead, corporations need to re-think their approach by demonstrating leadership, creating opportunities for stakeholders to collaborate, turning over some decision-making to communities themselves and recognizing that non-profit organizations don’t have a monopoly on effective social change.

>> Continue Reading