The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently ensured its place in the annals of headline caution when it ran with the following lede: “Some Big Charities Favor Cash Handouts to Aid Pakistanis.” For years, non-profits have been urging charitably minded individuals and companies to send cash, as opposed to product donations. 

But attitudes within the corporate community are rapidly evolving away from cash and toward contributions that showcase unique competencies.

BCLC has directly experienced this sea-change. Lockheed Martin hosted and ran our annual disaster exercise at its Center for Innovation in Suffolk.  This contribution was priced at a value of over $250,000, and Commonwealth of Virginia representatives told us that the exercise directly contributed to their preparedness for this upcoming hurricane season (potentially starting with Earl this week). 

Deloitte arranged for the California Endowment to host our West Coast resilience workshop.  FedEx is helping us map charitable logistics challenges in Haiti, while Microsoft is working on software to make the whole process of coordination more transparent.  While there might be cash components in some of these cases, the real value is being driven by their unique competencies, connections, and experience. 

What are the factors contributing to these changes? 

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By Bradley Googins and Philip Mirvis. Googins is executive director emeritus of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and a professor of organizational studies at the Carroll School of Management, Boston College. Mirvis is an organizational psychologist and senior research fellow at the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.  

It can be helpful to see the world through another’s eyes.  So how does CSR look through the prism of the people, culture, and historical perspective of a land halfway across the world from our homeland?  

 Last month Googins travelled throughout India at the invitation of the U.S. State Department to talk about CSR with business, civic, and academic audiences, visit corporate projects in crowded cities and remote villages, meet legions of social entrepreneurs, and participate in a televised debate on the merits of CSR in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

During the Indian visit, a question kept inserting itself into the conversations:  “What would Gandhi do” about the current state of business and society in his native land?  So he began to ask Indians to take a Gandhian view on CSR and its practice in their nation. 

Three themes emerged that should give us all pause as we assess CSR practices in our own lands: 

• Gandhi would be chagrined at narrowly pitched and bureaucratically managed CSR offices dispensing surplus profits as charity (“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”);
• Gandhi would take executives by the hand and walk them through poor cities and villages (“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching”);
• Gandhi would make corporations trustees of the people’s wealth (“Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil”).

We’ve written many times about the “preaching-practice gap” in CSR in the United States.  Here are three observations on what CSR looks like on-the-ground in India today and what Gandhi would do about it.

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In acknowledgement of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, BCLC Executive Director Stephen Jordan said the following:

“For the past five years, the Gulf Coast, and by extension, the entire United States, has been laboring to get out from under the shadow of Katrina. The storm marked a turning point in the way the country views disaster response. The business community stepped up in an unprecedented way.

“Corporate citizens contributed well over $1.5 billion to support the region’s recovery, investing in everything from schools and hospitals to cultural improvements and environmental remediation. We have seen signs of vast progress.

“The responses to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike were dramatically different, and Louisiana was actually one of the states least affected by last year’s economic hard times. However, as the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill still linger, we know that much more needs to be done to continue to promote the sustainable development of the region.

“This is why BCLC and the U.S. Chamber have joined together with local chambers throughout the region to promote investment in environmental R&D and exploration technology, job creation and small business capacity building, and other strategies to ensure that what happened after Katrina never happens again with such devastating impact. The fact that disasters happen won’t change, but our ability to cope with them can.

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By Daniel Krajnovich, CEO UnitedHealthcare of Indiana and Kentucky

When you think about physical activity, what’s easier to do than walking?  And, as simple as it is, there is a great potential benefit for each of us personally:

• Walking for as little as 30 minutes a day can improve circulation; lower cholesterol and blood pressure; and promote weight loss, and
• Studies show that for every hour of walking, life expectancy may increase by two hours.

In addition, there is great potential reward for employers as sponsors of health insurance plans and for society in general.  Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and costs the nation nearly $305 billion annually.

Given these compelling facts, UnitedHealthcare is committed to making a difference by supporting the American Heart Association’s efforts to help establish walking paths throughout the country, with a goal of 150 new paths in the first year. We are also supporting enhanced online walking resources available on the American Heart Association’s walking paths website, www.startwalkingnow.org which has resources to help people get started and maintain their walking and exercise regimens. 

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Well, only the case for printing it, as I see it. That story—and the 45-point (that’s big folks) headline that towered over it—appeared in the August 23 Wall Street Journal, and I certainly have my ideas about how it got there. As the longtime USA Today editor who writes about the media and CSR here, I am in pretty good position to share some of the conventional newsroom thinking that stands behind the report. 

First of all let me say it packed a punch. I get the paper delivered to my home in the morning. So the third hour of Monday’s “Today Show” marathon hadn’t even begun when I nonchalantly flipped to the inside section called The Journal Report, and, BAM. No more oil spill update there.

In full color, running the length of the whole page, boasting an “Atlas Shrugged” inspired illustration, this one, juicy attack on corporate philanthropy was just getting started. This expose jumped inside where the remaining, I’d guess, 3000 words excitedly peddled on. The weight of MIT’s Sloan Management School was added on the pileup with a prideful “in collaboration with” salute.

Got my attention. Maybe it got yours. And that was the point.

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By Stephen Jordan and Gerald McSwiggan

The last few weeks, BCLC has fielded inquiries about what different companies are doing to help the Gulf Coast recover from the most recent crisis. Corporate citizenship managers report that employees want to help the region recover from the oil spill. 

However, there has been some reticence on the part of management to get involved, in part because companies don’t want to get in the way of BP’s efforts and also because they are not sure exactly who is doing what, in terms of the different government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other volunteer groups. 

On the other hand, local chambers from across the region are concerned about the confluence of large, complicated issues. The St. Tammany West Chamber, Greater New Orleans Inc., and the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber organized a series of meetings to put information out there to help companies better understand the situation.  The following is a brief report on what the chambers presented.

The Situation

If there is one take away from the region, it is that the Deepwater Horizon spill itself is not the main issue. 

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by Michael Carren, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Nearly 1 in 4 children in America are struggling with hunger. During summer months, more than 16 million children lose access to free and reduced-price meals that they rely on during the school year.

Lack of access to food has documented negative effects on the ability of children to learn and grow and diminishes their ability to perform to their highest potential.

Chase and Feeding America have partnered to reduce the growing levels of hunger and food insecurity in America. In 2009, the level of need for products and services within food banks across the country increased 35 percent on average.

In December 2009, Chase invested $5 million in Feeding America to support markets where hunger was increasing beyond local food banks’ capacity. The investment includes 34 trucks, operational support for each, and the ability to implement state-of-the-art GPS fleet management in their entire fleet of vehicles which will lower their fuel and transportation costs and reduce the environmental footprint of their operations.

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The 65th Annual National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC)  will be held September 17, 2010, at the Library of Congress. Entitled, “BIG Citizenship: Citizens as Catalysts and Innovators,” the conference will explore the powerful role civic innovators are playing in fostering societies that are informed, engaged, giving, and trusting.

Here, Stephen Goldsmith weighs in on the role of social innovation in big citizenship. Goldsmith is former mayor of Indianapolis, chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service under presidents Bush and Obama, and Daniel Paul Professor of Government at Harvard Kennedy School.

As an annual event that focuses on the state of civic engagement in America, NCoC brings together 400 civic leaders, educators, CEOs, and representatives from each of the three branches of government to address issues related to our nation’s civic health. Program highlights:

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I had the pleasure to join over 100 ARAMARK employees at their launch of a strategic volunteer partnership with Mary’s Center in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 4.

The partnership with Mary’s Center is part of ARAMARK’s signature community initiative, ARAMARK Building Community, which strengthens the capacity of local community centers where ARAMARK employees live and work around the world.

Mary’s Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center that supports underserved, underinsured, and uninsured immigrants primarily from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia with primary care and other services located in Washington, D.C.  It is also a partner of  First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign, which complements ARAMARK’s core competency in the food and beverage service industry.  

ARAMARK volunteer, Soterios Louvis said it is “inspiring to be part of Mary’s Center. This is an on-going partnership where we can have a sense of pride in doing something special to help develop our community.”

ARAMARK supports organizations, such as Mary’s Center, through skills based volunteer projects as well as financial and in kind support.  ARAMARK and Mary’s Center’s partnership continues on Friday, August 20 with a free Back to School Health Fair, which is providing adults and children with a variety of health and wellness tips and resources to live healthier lifestyles.  The Eat Smart Zone will provide interactive cooking demonstrations and personal sessions with registered dietitians and culinary professionals.  They will also be distributing immunizations.

ARAMARK Building Community is in the midst of over 100 projects engaging about 9,000 employees in 39 cities and 4 countries. Stay tuned as ARAMARK’s community engagement is growing rapidly across Europe and their community partnerships continue throughout the year.

Ah, summer time.  It’s a great time to relax, reflect and wonk out (if you are so inclined.)  This column is an abbreviated version of a paper I’ve been working on for some time, and would welcome your comments to see if this rings true with your experience.

Have you ever wondered how companies determine their public affairs budgets?    Why does one company in an industry devote 1.4% of pre-tax profits, while another sets aside $2 million, regardless of its profits, versus another, which doesn’t have any specific line item at all?  What is the business basis for pricing external affairs?  Or is there one at all?

One way of looking at this is how do you monetize your opportunities and threats?  SWOT analyses are a favorite of management consultants, but almost everyone naturally gravitates to looking at strengths and weaknesses and not opportunities and threats.  It’s just human nature to be more comfortable with the things that you can control.  So companies fiddle the dials with their marketing budgets or inventory or HR or finances with a fair degree of confidence.  They like the idea of having strengths aka “core competencies” to deploy.  Read more…