Philanthropy

[Editor's Note: This post original appeared on Huffington Post Impact]

Today we face many tough issues as a society and much work is being done to address them. Let's look at a slice of one such challenge -- health.

We’re thrilled to bring you an unprecedented opportunity to hear from some of the best minds in corporate citizenship – all at one time, all one on stage. On Wednesday, the final day of our National Conference in Atlanta, BCLC is staging a session called “The Future of CSR: For Good or For Profit?”

Do “good” and “profit” have to be mutually exclusive, you ask? Well, that’s debatable.

By Sara Scheller, BCLC

January tends to inspire the best in people. The ringing in of the New Year coupled with the toll December took on our belt loops and wallets seems to motivate people to embrace this time as a new beginning. For me, January often results in my recommitment to eating healthy, getting my finances back under control, and dusting off my running shoes. Just making a few changes in my daily life can have huge impacts on my overall health and wellness—making 2012 my best year yet.

Last week, Huffington Post published an interview with Stanley Litow, President of the IBM Foundation. The piece, “IBM: Tapping Top Talent, For Good,“ showcases how the employees at IBM have established a culture of service and volunteerism, something IBM institutionalized through their Corporate Service Corps.

It’s now a year since Michael Porter famously threw down his gauntlet by announcing from on high that all value needed to be Shared Value. That, as I wrote last year, we are moving into the Third Age of corporate-social relations. From old-style “philanthropy” – typically disbursed after corporate titans had made their pile -- to “corporate social responsibility”; from fairtrade to subtler alignments of brand and charitable effort; to something approaching the end of CSR and its sublimation into a revolutionary reshaping of mainstream business strategy.

[Reprinted with permission from the Triad Business Journal, In the Boardroom section, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011]

Americans expect businesses to be socially responsible. And because corporate philanthropy is especially apparent at this time of year, your business could be noticed if it wasn’t involved with some type of charitable work. However, a dilemma arises when you look around and believe your philanthropic efforts are lost in the sea of corporate generosity. So, how can you distinguish your philanthropy program?

Let’s do a quick word association with CSR.  What comes immediately to mind?  Philanthropy, volunteerism, accountability, reporting, sustainability, and maybe the triple bottom line--these are the usual suspects. Shared value?  The term is new but in practice it is a repackaging of “win-win” business models.  So, if you’re looking for something new, search the term “social innovation.”  You’ll find over 430 million hits (that’s one-third more than for CSR!). 

Give Where You Live: It’s the first line on the first page of the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. It’s a good slogan, but it takes more than marketing to inspire individuals and companies to entrust their time or money to a philanthropic cause.