Corporate Philanthropy and Business Sustainability

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Principles of Business sustainability and development
Corporate philanthropy as a sustainability and sustainable business practice
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Corporate philanthropy is the contribution that business makes to the general population using its finances as part of its corporate social responsibility. The activities undertaken by the organization will have a positive impact on the lives of the beneficiaries and sometimes even the business itself.

Most businesses are involved in various philanthropic activities, which vary depending on the community’s main problems and the business’s interests. In addition, the philanthropic activities are usually focused on improving the quality of life of the workforce of the company, their families and the general population where the company operates or may be intending to operate in future.

It may also be targeting the environment in which the organization operates through the improvement of the natural resources of the area that the organization operates in. primarily, corporate philanthropy can be undertaken through various means, which include giving gifts (products of the company or other company’s product), and having the employees of the company doing various activities which benefit the general community e.g. cleanup of the area near the organization.

In addition, an organization can directly be involved in the philanthropic activities or may form a foundation to carry out its philanthropic activities. These foundations are not involved in any business activities; their sole purpose is managing the philanthropic activities, with funding from the parent organization (Anheier, H K and List R 2005 p 67).

However, corporate philanthropy is not only a means of giving back to the community it also benefits the company in various ways.

Principles of Business sustainability and development

Principles of sustainability explain the measures that an organizations need to put in place to ensure that they are to able cater for the current needs without having to compromise their ability to meet the needs in future (Landrum, Landrum and Edwards, 2009, p 3). In addition, organizations can ensure their sustainability by properly controlling and improving their main assets. These assets can generally be classified into:

Capital provided by nature: the organization should ensure that its activities do not create damage to nature. The organization must ensure that its activities are nature friendly. A good example is where a company produces or uses of products which are recyclable.

Human capital: this refers to the people who are affected by the company’s activities or its products. These may be the consumers of the products which the company produces, people who live near the organization, or the employees of the company.

Primarily, the organization should safeguard the interest of the above groups; by ensuring that the products do not harm the consumers directly when they use them, or the products do not harm employees when they are making them.

The products may also harm people indirectly if they lead to adverse environmental condition in the area where the company operates. Indeed, human capital is important since it provides both the workforce and the consumers for the organization.

Social capital: this refers to the social structure of the people who use the products, are affected by the product or the employees of the company.

Manufactured capital: This refers to the assets which the company uses its production.

Financial capital: The Company must also ensure the sustainability of its finances. The organization must ensure that it puts measures in place to ensure that it continues to have desirable profits. The organization must also ensure that the sale of its products continues to improve as well as the value of its shares (William, 2007, p 19).

Corporate philanthropy as a sustainability and sustainable business practice

Corporations that involve in corporate philanthropy may do so due to varying reasons. They may be involved in philanthropy if the activity will lead to an increase in its profit either directly or indirectly. The corporation may also be involved in philanthropy as a corporate citizen so as to improve the quality of life of the respondents regardless of whether the activity will lead to an increase in its profit or not.

In addition, the organization may be involved in philanthropy so as cater for the social and political influences in the region within their operation. This means that they may be involved in philanthropy so as to self-regulate its activities and avoid government controlling its activities (Anheier and List, 2005, p 68).

Corporate philanthropy improves on the human capital of the organization. Employees who engage in corporate philanthropic activities of the company help their leadership skills and are therefore important assets to the company (Shepp, 2010). The philanthropic activities of a company also lead to improvement in the relationship between the employers and the employees.

This in effect leads to improvement of the motivation and loyalty of the employees. Improvement in the above attributes will lead to increase in productivity of the employees. The philanthropic activities also lead to improvement in the relationship between the customers and the corporation due to the direct involvement between the employees and the consumers.

The money spent on philanthropic activities is not used in vain; and this may act as a form of advertising to the company. The philanthropic activities help to improve the image of the company by showing that it cares for the needs of its consumers and the general population. This helps improve the loyalty of the consumers towards the company since the company caters for its needs as a consumer.

In addition, corporate philanthropy attracts media attention towards the company, helping it to raise its corporate image. The activities that a company undertakes in corporate philanthropy may also improve its image towards the government.

This may lead to its tax exemption or reduction in the tax that the government charges its activities. All these lead to improved financial position of the company; hence, corporate philanthropy, apart from taking money away from the company, also helps in generating money for the company though in an indirect manner (Neryan, 2009).

Corporate philanthropy may also strengthen the human capital of the organization. This may happen if the organization engages in programs to provide education and training of the people who are in institution that offer training for the professional requirement that the organization requires or any other institutions that offer education.

This may be in the form of bursaries and scholarships to students who are in high school or even in colleges (Porter, 2008, p 461). These scholarships and bursaries enable the organization get high quality employees who will as well be loyal to the company since the company helped them acquire their skills.

The organization can also help improve on the quality of products that it produces indirectly through investing in the research and training activities of universities or colleges which deal with its products.

This helps to improve the products of not only its company, but also the product of other companies, thereby making the consumers to get high quality products. Eventually, this will lead to the company having a competitive edge over its rivals even if the initiative benefits even the competitors (Porter, 2008, p 456).

Corporate philanthropy can also help in improving the quality of life of the people who live in the area where it operates. This is through the improvement in the infrastructure, provision of better housing and through support of initiatives which help in improving the environment of the area (Porter, 2008, p 462).

This initiative not only benefits the organization, but also helps in improving the environment in which the business operates. Moreover, improvement in the quality of life of the residents of the area in which the organization operates helps in improving their social welfare, as well as improving the environment in which the organization operates.

Conclusion

Corporate philanthropy is a very vital practice of business sustainability and sustainable business development practice. The benefits that the company gets in engaging in corporate philanthropy outweigh its disadvantages if the corporate philanthropy is carried out in a strategic manner. A company can engage in corporate philanthropy as a means of enhancing its sustainability and improve on its image.

This is highlighted by the fact that, even with the economic recession, companies are still willing to be involved in corporate philanthropy.

This is clearly highlighted by the fact that even after it financial crisis and ultimate bailout JP Morgan Chase, an American investment bank which triggered the economic crisis promised $1 million to the victims of the Haiti earthquake even though the company may have tight budgets to meet its financial obligations (Schepp, 2010).

References

Anheier, H. K. and List, R. (2005). A dictionary of civil society, philanthropy and the non-profit sector. London, Taylor & Francis.

Landrum, N., Landrum, N. E. and Edwards, S. (2009). Sustainable Business: An Executive’s Primer. OK: Business expert press.

Neryan. 2009. CSR and corporate philanthropy. Web.

Porter, M. E. (2008). On competition. MA, Harvard Business press.

Shepp, D. (2010). People at Work: Corporate Giving Boosts Image, Employee Involvement. Web.

Willliam, R. B. (2007). The sustainability handbook: the complete management guide to achieving social, economic and environmental responsibility, London, Earthscan.

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