Corporate Philanthropy
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Corporate Philanthropy
"Public relations effectively bridges the gap between advertising (which is meant to influence) and news (which is meant to inform) by using an informational format to influence consumer behavior. When your message is offered as news, it carries the implied endorsement of the news medium and becomes more believable. The customer who hears the message does not hear it as a sales pitch but as information. Corporate contributions can be a powerful way to focus attention on the institution and its products and services [and] is a way your institution can take a visible stance in favor of a positive action and concern" (Excerpt taken from Progeny Marketing Innovations. May 17, 2004.)
"In short, corporate philanthropy can help win friends and influence people. Contributing to nonprofits strengthens the donor as much as the donee. Philanthropy can be no less than a source of sustainable, competitive advantage, difficult to obtain by other means." (Reynold Levy, president and CEO of International Rescue Committee, professor of at Harvard Business School and Columbia School of Business, trustee of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and author of Give and Take: A Candid Account of Corporate Philanthropy Excerp from speech given to PR professionals at the PR World Conference 2002)
This sales pitch used by Progeny Marketing and description of the benefits of corporate philanthropy by Reynold Lezy are honest descriptions of what public relations campaigns offer to their clients. In the last 40 years public relation firms have become a powerful unseen force behind public opinion and information...