Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well

by Marc Benioff, Karen Southwick, Alan G. Hassenfeld (Foreword by)

Overview

The coauthors are uniquely suited to bring this important issue to light. Marc Benioff is CEO and chairman of Salesforce.com foundation. Salesforce.com has received the Award for Excellence in Corporate Community Service by the Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network and the first ever U.S. Chamber of Commerce Corporate Stewardship Award. A former sales and marketing executive at Oracle Corporation, Benioff is now devoting his considerable talent and energy to building an integrated technological business and philanthropic models.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781601638830
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	06/23/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	225
File size:	704 KB

About the Author

Marc Benioff is CEO and chairman of salesforce.com, a leading provider of online business applications, and creator of the salesforce.com Foundation. A former sales and marketing executive at Oracle Corporation, he is now enlisting his energy and ambition in building a new model for global philanthropy, as portrayed in this book.Karen Southwick is an experienced journalist who has worked for several magazines, including Forbes ASAP and Upside, and metropolitan daily newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle. She has written four books on the business side of technology, most recently Everyone Else Must Fail: The Unvarnished Truth about Oracle and Larry Ellison, published in November 2003 by Random House/Crown. She is currently an executive editor at CNET News.com.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	9
	Introduction: Dare to Be Great	13
Chapter 1	Establishing a Culture of Philanthropy	21
Chapter 2	Defining a Mission	35
Chapter 3	Involving Employees	49
Chapter 4	Starting Small	61
Chapter 5	Maintaining Philanthropy Through Tough Times	73
Chapter 6	The 1-Percent Solution	87
Chapter 7	Innovative Models	99
Chapter 8	Going Global	113
Chapter 9	Strategic Philanthropy (or Not)	127
Chapter 10	Tackling the Big Project	141
Chapter 11	Good Partners Make Good Philanthropy	155
Chapter 12	The Intermediary's Role	167
Chapter 13	Measuring Philanthropy	179
Chapter 14	The Nonprofit Perspective	195
Chapter 15	Call to Alms--A Summary of the Top 10 Best Practices in Corporate Philanthropy	207
	Endnotes	215
	Index	217
	About the Authors	223

Editorial Reviews

Businesses have much to contribute beyond dollars and equipment: They have their expertise, their leverage, and the enthusiasm of their employees. In Compassionate Capitalism, Salesforce.com's CEO Marc Benioff and veteran journalist Karen Southwick describe a new model of philanthropy that is so ingrained into every fiber of a company's existence that it becomes integral to the company's culture and a part of what holds the corporation together. Benioff and Southwick explain that corporations that have service as a core value of their culture will see both intrinsic and external returns. To be able to give is simply part of being human, they write, and companies that provide philanthropic community service will find that it energizes employees and executives.

Compassionate Capitalism shows companies, large and small, how they can use all of their resources to help their communities and, in doing so, help themselves and their employees as well. By using real-life examples from dozens of corporations and nonprofits, including Hasbro, IBM and Levi Strauss, the authors show corporate leaders how they can dare to be great by integrating community service within their organizations. They also demonstrate that there is no need to wait to be philanthropic, and describe how many companies have reaped many benefits for themselves and their communities by incorporating service into their businesses.

Action Learning at Hasbro
Hasbro is the maker of such famous toys and games as Mr. Potato Head, Tonka trucks, Monopoly and Scrabble. Chairman Alan Hassenfeld, who stepped down as CEO in mid-2003, is the third generation of his family to lead the 80-year-old company. As chairman, Hassenfeld continues to lead the company's philanthropic endeavors. Hasbro allows employees four hours a month of paid time off to do community service. When it hires senior managers, "we look at what they've done" in areas outside business, says Hassenfeld. "Has their own concern been only for profits, or has there been a sense of caring?"

Hasbro's primary philanthropic mission, both through its charitable trust and its foundation, is to make the world a better place for children. "It's always been kids, because that's where our success as a company has come from," says Hassenfeld. "This is our payback. We're so close to the needs and plight of children that we have to be a force in improving their world." In 18 years of giving, the Hasbro Children's Foundation has awarded more than $40 million in grants to agencies benefiting disadvantaged families and helped more than a million young children. Employees have racked up thousands of hours volunteering at agencies and helping to build playgrounds and other facilities.

Action Learning at Hasbro
How does a firm establish a culture of philanthropy? As with any company cultural issue, leadership must come from the top. The CEO must make philanthropy a centerpiece of the company's mission, just like manufacturing a great product, earning profits, or giving shareholders a good return. It must be more than just a means to generate PR. The CEO must demonstrate a commitment to philanthropy in good times and bad times by establishing policies and processes that foster corporate service, such as employee time off for charitable work, recognition of employees who do such work, matching gifts, and other incentives.

The CEO's attitude must permeate the company; middle managers must recognize that allowing employees reasonable amounts of time off to perform community service is not a loss to them, but a gain in overall productivity and balance. Employees must be convinced that senior management is truly dedicated to the notion of philanthropy and will not somehow penalize those who don't spend every waking hour either working or thinking about the company's products and marketing.

Philanthropy can play a vital role in a company's effort to stay viable by attracting the types of employees and customers and other stakeholders who value a whole company and a full life. Community service also builds loyalty to the company, aligns ethical values with business values, allows employees to learn more skills, and fosters interdepartmental bonding. Copyright © 2004 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

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