Philanthropy as Corporate R&D

A Posting by James V. Toscano In the current issue of McKinsey’s Voices on Society, Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company and current chair of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, writes that corporate philanthropy, in addition to helping individuals, “can help reduce business risk, open up new markets, engage employees, build the brand, reduce costs, advance technology and deliver competitive returns.” To Conant, philanthropy is a “discovery phase in investment in a social issue….Much like R&D, philanthropy allows companies to make thoughtful investments in sectors where the return profile is typically more speculative.” In his thinking, philanthropy is…

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