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.

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.

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!

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

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 :)

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?

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.

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.