Giving back gets personal
Corporations and employees are finding new approaches to giving back
BY BRUCE FARR
T O GIVE OR not to give… For large and small companies—as well as their employees—it’s hardly a question any longer. Now, it’s a matter of prioritizing “corporate social responsibility” and a company’s long-term strategies for giving, as well as how to support the volunteering and/or charitable work of employees. Evolution of corporate citizenship Corporate philanthropy is hardly a new idea; all manner of companies have been busy establishing direct channels to make financial and other in-kind donations to worthy causes for many generations. The broad roots of modern-day corporate social responsibility really got their start in the 1970s and 1980s, when the contemporary idea of “corporate citizenship” began to take shape. The concept underscored the idea that businesses weren’t only in it to make profits. Rather, it suggested that—in the course of conducting their business—they also bore a social and ethical responsibility to aid in the welfare and well-being of their communities and citizens. It was then that companies began to increase their public awareness of social causes, and established
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 15 | 2023
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