Corporate philanthropy communication on donor websites

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to examine whether companies engaging in corporate philanthropy, a component of corporate social responsibility (CSR), disclose information about such activities publicly on their websites, analyze whether there is a relation between the kind of charitable giving (in-kind donations or financial gifts), the number of donation types, or the industry sector the company belongs to, the mention on the company website and whether there is a relation between communicate company corporate philanthropy and communicate other company CSR issues.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology was descriptive statistics research method. The data were collected during the months of June and July 2013 from the websites of 141 companies that had recently engaged in corporate philanthropy.FindingsThe study found that, surprisingly, a considerable portion of companies practicing corporate philanthropy do not disclose that information on their websites. This was especially the case when donations were made with product instead of in cash.Originality/valueThis study quantifies the fact that many companies engage in CSR through corporate philanthropy but do not communicate those activities to a wider public. This can be seen as a missed opportunity to take advantage of a variety of positive effects that companies related to CSR benefit from. On the other hand, it can also be interpreted as a missed opportunity for the NGOs to encourage their donors to “come out” with their philanthropic activities.