Check out the article first, and let us know what you think. http://tinyurl.com/3mu9cyy
Read our response:
Those 45% of executives are missing out on a great opportunity. LBG Canada companies (www.lbg-canada.ca) believe if you know the motivations behind your corporate community investments, you will understand the benefits for both the community and business better.
Brett Wilson did a great job explaining the benefits of philanthropic giving, but there are also social and commercial investments which provide both community and business benefits as well. In LBG Canada terms, social investment requires a longer term commitment by the business and results in more impactful change over time (i.e- improving literacy in a community, which in turn might increase the potential pool of employees available to the business in the future). On the other hand, commercial investments are designed to address a business problem. They are designed to create real community value, in order to address the business issue at hand.
36 Canadian companies are part of LBG Canada. Over the past four years of LBG Canada activity, there has been a noticeable shift in how companies are investing into the community. In 2010, philanthropic investments made up 26% of the investment portfolio, a significant increase from 9% in 2006. Some might be surprised to hear that social investments are the largest piece of the pie at 54%, with commercially-motivated investments landing at 19% in 2010. Whatever drives the motivation behind a community investment, they all have the potential for a true “give-and-get” partnership.
