Philanthropy in the Workplace: How a Financial Institution Communicates Charitable Giving Values

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

As corporations increasingly support America's philanthropic projects, employees are more likely to receive employer-constructed messages touting the importance of giving and volunteering. This case study employs qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, and archival data, to examine how one financial institution communicated its philanthropic values to employees. Findings reveal that the employer communicated giving values through repetition and consistency of philanthropic discourse and actions. As a result, employees viewed charitableness as an integral part of the organization's overall value system and used charitable values to make sense of other company practices, even those outside the conventional notions of corporate philanthropy.