TY - JOUR
T1 - Corporate “Philanthropy Strategy” and “Strategic Philanthropy” : Some Insights From Voluntary Disclosures in Annual Reports
AU - Campbell, David J.
AU - Slack, Richard
PY - 2008/6
Y1 - 2008/6
N2 - To develop this study of strategic philanthropy in the United Kingdom, voluntary charitable donations policy disclosures were captured from the annual reports of two samples of U.K. companies: one of the entire Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 at year-end 2002 and another of 14 selected companies over a 15-year period. Post and Waddock's descriptions of "philanthropy strategy" and "strategic philanthropy" were employed to establish the extent to which these concepts were conveyed to readers of annual reports based on the belief that high disclosure serves both agency accountability to shareholders and the information needs of soliciting charities. Conclusions drawn include that although there is a relatively high level of policy disclosure, the detail of narrative in, and consistency (over time) of, these disclosures is very patchy, and only a minority of companies show evidence of adopting a fully strategic approach to philanthropy.
AB - To develop this study of strategic philanthropy in the United Kingdom, voluntary charitable donations policy disclosures were captured from the annual reports of two samples of U.K. companies: one of the entire Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 at year-end 2002 and another of 14 selected companies over a 15-year period. Post and Waddock's descriptions of "philanthropy strategy" and "strategic philanthropy" were employed to establish the extent to which these concepts were conveyed to readers of annual reports based on the belief that high disclosure serves both agency accountability to shareholders and the information needs of soliciting charities. Conclusions drawn include that although there is a relatively high level of policy disclosure, the detail of narrative in, and consistency (over time) of, these disclosures is very patchy, and only a minority of companies show evidence of adopting a fully strategic approach to philanthropy.
U2 - 10.1177/0007650306297941
DO - 10.1177/0007650306297941
M3 - Article
VL - 47
SP - 187
EP - 212
JO - Business and Society
JF - Business and Society
SN - 0007-6503
IS - 2
ER -