For every $100 of business sales, United States companies made charitable donations of about a dime. It is ironic that when you visit corporate headquarters, you’ll usually walk through lobbies showcasing awards and recognition from recipients of those dimes. The dimes do add up to over $18 billion.

How effective is corporate giving?

55 percent of corporations have said that business concerns for philanthropy should be given equal or greater weight than social ones. That is, many actually believe that “effective philanthropy” means using charitable giving to improve their corporate position and bottom line.

Corporations should research charitable impact with the same thoroughness they apply to their other decisions. While some will take this approach because it is the right thing to do, it would be naïve to expect most businesses to give away money without expecting something in return.

For them, the payout might be to avoid the risk that the public eventually recognizes the smoke and mirrors of their current strategies of throwing around dimes to improve their images. Ironically, corporations willing to focus their giving on effectiveness will be early-adopters, and may be viewed as philanthropic trailblazers, ultimately earning much higher reputational benefits than they do at present.

Read the full article on corporate giving by Charlie Bresler at Devex International Development