Doing well by doing good
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There's a good chance you don't know it, but today is a red letter day. In the world of corporate social responsibility, the fourth Monday in February is International Corporate Philanthropy Day.
It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and for sheer popular appeal, it doesn't rank up there with other big days in February -- Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, even Groundhog Day.
But while you may never enjoy a three-day weekend because of it, we are all beneficiaries of the ways corporate-community partnerships provide much-needed support for programs that enhance education, the environment, health care, social services, the arts and many other areas.
In Pennsylvania alone, it adds up to more than $1.6 billion in corporate and corporate foundation giving annually. Across the United States, it's more than $14 billion.
So, once a year, International Corporate Philanthropy Day is an opportunity to celebrate the value created by those partnerships and explain why we do it. The reason is actually pretty simple. We do it because our success as a business depends on it.
Corporate giving used to be called "charity" -- but that's not the right word. A better and more accurate word is "sustainability," the idea that reinvestment in people, communities, economic development and the environment helps maintain them as strong vital contributors to society and, therefore, to business.
In 1905, when Henry Ford paid his workers the unheard of high wage of $5 per day, it wasn't simply out of generosity. It was because he was investing in the prosperity of the very people he needed to be his customers for the new mass-produced Model T.
It's a concept known today as "shared value creation" -- a strategy for aligning a company's long-term business success with the success of the people and places in which it operates and on which it depends.
For communities, shared value creation means business can be a vibrant partner on every dimension of its success: social and environmental as well as economic. For companies, it means viewing strong partnerships as long-term assets that contribute to competitive advantage in the marketplace.
In other words, it's not just the right thing to do. It's good for business. It makes us a more attractive business partner and keeps us competitive.
At Alcoa we're in the aluminum business, and aluminum, like many industries, depends on the smart, continuous, balanced management of natural and human resources. Mining, smelting, energy use, recycling, training, safety and many other factors add up to our collective footprint when we come to a new part of the world.
First Published February 28, 2011 12:00 am
