- 2009 Top 10 Small Business Ideas
- Is Email Marketing Dead?
- Make Money Online from Blogs: Case Studies
- Philanthropy - A Good Business Practice, But Unethical?
- Quitting Your Job to Start Your Own Business Today Might Not be a Good Idea
- 10 Online Business Ideas that Can Give You More Than 1000 Percent Return on Investment
Philanthropy – A Good Business Practice, But Unethical?
May 18th, 2008 | Author: 
Philantrophy is hip today.
So many individuals and companies do this, for different reasons.
What is philantrophy, anyway?
In my noob words – philantrophy is an act of donating resources – money, time, and goods – for a charitable cause, usually carried out as a campaign of an organisation.
Philantrophists (people who do philantrophy) are usually having business-influenced causes. So, many promote philantrophy as a good business practice.
Giving is good – why philantrophy stirs pros and cons?
Although the concept, in itself, is good, philantrophy is often considered unethical.
Why? Like I mentioned above, companies do philantrophy as one of their campaign. And, in my opinion, charities as business agendas are like people hoping something in return for their good deeds.
My argument – if it is solely for a good cause, why bother creating a press release campaign about it?
People would argue – as long as it is doing something useful for the society, why bother whether it is on spotlight or not?
It is a gray area, really.
Why I wrote this post, anyway?
I love seeing companies that, in their silence, contributing their resources for a good cause. In my opinion, entrepreneurs and business owners have to be more ethical approach. You can monetise your business as much as you want, but leave the charity part alone.
I wrote this post in support to those entrepreneurs that do charity in silence, without the buzz and press releases. I see them as ethical entrepreneurs and the real life-changing people.
If you want to really help the world, or on a more realistic scope – your community, do a true philantrophy with no intention of getting anything in return.
One last comment – white label your charity, please :)
White label philantrophy – now that’s a good tag!
Ivan Widjaya
On white label philantrophy
- Philanthropy Controversy: Bing Education
- Guerrilla Philanthropy
- Free Report: How to Increase Your Professional Practice’s Profitability
- Buying Forum and Blog Posts to Increase Website Traffic – Ethical?
- Is This the end of Social Media?
- Brand Management in Franchising – My Guest Post at Small Business Branding Blog
About the Author
Ivan Widjaya is the Owner/Editor of Noobpreneur.com. He is a web property investor, blogger and web property maker, and currently manages and writes for My Web Estate. He also runs a web design business, Chalcedony Design, specialising in Wordpress theme creation, and plenty other web business.
Visit Noobpreneur's profile and other posts.
Posted in Brought to you by...
Noobpreneur.com is now on 
what does it mean to “white label?”
Hi nina,
White label means removing any affiliation, endorsement or branding.
In philantrophy, what I meant by “white label philanthropy” is philanthropy that is done without any affiliation, i.e. your company name/brand name. Why? Because many philanthropy activities are done with a “stealth” purpose – raising a business brand’s profile in the eyes of the public.
Nothing wrong with that, but in my opinion, it’s somewhat unethical to use non-profit events with a purpose to promote your brand name (sponsorship is okay, but doing good to raise your status/reputation with the public? It doesn’t feel right…)
I hope this explains a bit :)
Thanks!
I’m glad at least someone realizes this. It shouldn’t have been so hard to understand this.
Thanks.
Janice,
Yes – it feels “artificial”, too…
Ivan,
What if each of the companies were recognised by a universal brand, kind of like the Australian Made logo? This way they wouldn’t be pushing a specific event or charity for their own recognition. Their involvement would be recognised for all campaigns and they would have an economic reward for their support (ROI), however the program/campaign would not be influenced in order to increase their return. Would this then change the questionable ethical feel of their involvement and recognition? This concept was discussed in the movie Handcock (it was part of the subplot). I am interested in your view on this.
Cheers
Brett
Hi Brett,
Thanks for your insights – It’s a difficult issue, but IMO, what the Australian Made does is sponsorship, rather than philanthropy. Charities do need sponsors to fund their activities, and the sponsors do naturally have ROI calculation in mind.
“The program/campaign would not be influenced in order to increase their return” – This what separates the ethical to the unethical philanthropy :)
Cheers!
hi, i just bumped unto this blog site and was in search for a subtopic for our economic class research. i think noobpreneur is misleading the public when he over-estimated philantrophy. philantrophy is giving. silly is the byword for not recognizing the act itself. hope this view wasnt gained through influence from scrupulous individuals in his circle.
“a child who grew up with charity, learns nobility in the act of giving, so shall he replicates it and so he shall receiveth–givers gain.”
Hi,
Thanks for your insight, but I’m have no intention to over-estimate philantrophy. I suggest you to re-read the blog post more thoroughly…
Yes, philanthropy is giving. But this article’s context is philanthropy IN business, not in general term of giving. In business, this simple act of nobility is often abused, with “What can I get from it?” mindset over “What can I do to give back?”
Oh is that so. i’m sorry, i just didnt mean to be rude. i can agree, business nowadays are full of tricks and scams. you gave a good point on that. back to school now–david of ausie.
No, no – Don’t bother. Just a simple clarification, that’s all :) Anyhow, thanks again for your insight.
What do companies do when there’s nothing more to give? I find this question as puzzling as philantrophy.
Melo,
Hmm… A philosophical question… To tell you the truth, it’s hard to answer – even harder to answer than the issue of philanthropy itself. IMO, companies always can give – What they could do is actually to give without asking anything in return – Not in the slightest sense.
I have gotten ideas that part of being philantrophic is the element of being unknown. Why identify oneself if he doesnt need anything at all in return? Or why did famous philantrophists reveal themselves in modern times in contrast? Needless to say therefore, anybody can give without them knowing who that someboby is. No tell tale signs whatsoever. Perfect, this is all the more interesting to me!
Melo,
Agreed – that’s what has been missing, especially in the business world. Alas, many businesses not taken into account any subtleties, printing their business names as sponsors as big as they could. Of course, business want to get something in return of a certain amount of investment – But philanthropy is NOT a business investment.
Hmmmmmm………I’m no fully convinced yet when you say: “NOT A BUSINESS INVESTMENT”?
When one gains from certain generosity, the other benefits from the act; and by so doing it can make other people’s lives happier.
Lets set a utopic scenario:
If “A”, a philantrophist of a certain city decides to give substantial money in BILLIONS without those people knowing it. Then to make the story short and simple, Mr. “A” specifically instructed his men to make them appear as if the money is for loans business and purposes (secured), specifically for starters and small to medium businesses, charges them nil even for the money borrowed if and only if they complete payment.
Chances are by these example, can it boost the city’s income per capita? Can this be qualified as INVESTMENT, or least we say FRESH CAPITAL by the very term and meaning of it, translated as reward?
Melo,
Ah, sorry for being ambiguous – What I meant by “not a business investment” is that philanthropy should not be considered as a business investment strategy – Many businesses do philanthropies with an expectation that what they give will return them in term of money and brand awareness.
I agree with you – IMO, angel investors are, in essence, philanthropists – They do invest in business and expect a healthy growth of the business, often with no interest in how much money the business they invest in will yield them.
“Can it boost the city’s income per capita” – Yes. I like what Kiva is doing – Letting members to lend money to micropreneurs, mainly on developing countries, with the option to donate the money altogether. All can be done anonymously – A true philanthropic opportuniy, just like what you mentioned :)
Dear Ivan,
I’m curious, If any of those Companies you were referring to who look for returns
(whatever they might be) offered to give you and/or your Company $10 million, would you accept it or return it? Just curious!!!
Hugh
Hugh,
I won’t lie to you – I’ll take it, as long as it’s legitimate :) Of course, if it’s a bribe money or money laundering I won’t take it by any means – LOL
Being ethical philanthropist is for each and every individual or business endeavour – It’s not something to point our fingers to. For instance, suppose I own a non-profit organisation; If you gave me $10 millions in exchange for a branding opportunity on one of our campaigns, I’ll gladly accept it! It will help my non-profit organisation’s mission a lot! The issues whether it’s ethical or not is for you (and the public) to decide.
Cheers!
“Like I mentioned above, companies do philantrophy as one of their campaign. And, in my opinion, charities as business agendas are like people hoping something in return for their good deeds.
My argument – if it is solely for a good cause, why bother creating a press release campaign about it?
People would argue – as long as it is doing something useful for the society, why bother whether it is on spotlight or not?
It is a gray area, really.”
–HHMM… MAYBE BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO UPLIFT A COMPANY’S REPUTATION. PHILANTROPHY IS CSR. CSR IS ONE OF THE GOOD PR STRATEGIES PERFORMED BY THE PR PRACTITIONERS AND BUSINESSMEN NOWADAYS TO HELP MAINTAIN MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP AND UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATION AND THE OUTSIDE PUBLIC. SINCE THIS IS A MANAGEMENT FUNCTION, IT CAN APPARENTLY HELP BUILD THE COMPANY’S CORPORATE IMAGE AND GOODILL.
momo,
That could be it – philanthropy is so effective in enhancing a business reputation and brand image that it is packaged (or repackaged?) in the form of CSR. CSR done right can make a big difference to the society, regardless of what intentions businesses have.