Why do firms engage in Corporate Philanthropy? What role does communication play
in the giving activity? This paper examines the accounts given by 100 large firms in
the UK for their involvement with the Arts. Formal content analysis is undertaken of
annual reports, social accounts, websites and press releases. It finds that firms speak
most of wanting to be a good corporate citizen and attend to communities. There is
little overt marketing in contrast to other studies that find that corporate philanthropy
can be aligned to advertising. This research finds support for strategic philanthropy,
but that the strategic intent may be more about meeting a form of social contract or
securing a licence to operate. This would support the stakeholder and political models
of giving rather than neo-classical and altruistic models. This paper adds to the
literature by combining the corporate philanthropy and social accounting literatures.
The ability to communicate may be an important part of the motivation for corporate
giving.
Paper presented at the 2003 Academy of Management Conferenc