Corporate Philanthropy: The Business Case

Is there a business case for corporate philanthropy?  The Conference Board’s Matteo Tonello, in an academic article also posted on Harvard Law School’s Corporate Governance blog, believes the case is solid. Corporate philanthropy has its critics.  Some naysayers insist that corporate philanthropy is a distraction from some of the more nefarious practices in which a business may engage.  Shareholder groups also have attacked corporate philanthropy as open checks that divert resources from those who own shares in the company, or an unfair “tax” that subsidizes a CEO’s reputation.