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This takes into account both consumers’ and society’s long-term interests as part of
the organization’s marketing strategy. Therefore, the challenge for the organization
is to be both profitable and socially responsible.
As discussed earlier in the paper, corporate philanthropy can contribute to the various
stakeholders in many ways and at the same time creating a return for the organization.
Through carefully targeted and marketing driven philanthropic programs,
organizations can achieve both commercial and societal objectives. There are
obvious financial costs in making contributions as well as the time spent by
management in administering these initiatives, however, if corporate philanthropy
can be used as marketing tool, then these costs are no different than marketing
expenses.
Looking at this from another angle, Collins (1993) points out that there is a growing
cost to be considered for organizations which do not practice any form of
philanthropy. In the long term, the negative consequences could be detrimental not
only to the corporate image but also falling sales revenue and the “lack of goodwill
could have untold repercussions to future operations”.
Corporate Philanthropy And Singapore Educational
Institutions
Evidences of corporate philanthropy can be traced back in history. For example, in
the case of Singapore, the origins of philanthropy or donating to causes, goes as far
back as the 19 th and early 20 th century (Note: Singapore was only founded in 1819)
when wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs contributed money and land towards the
building of schools. Some examples include the Anglo-Chinese School (founded in
1886); Nanyang Girls High School (founded in 1917); Chinese High School
(founded in 1919) and Nanyang University (currently the Nanyang Technological
University, which was founded in 1955). Today, this tradition of giving is still
evident and is part of the value system that is still grounded in a very Asian and
Confucianism-based culture in Singapore society.
However, since the 1950s, the government has taken on an increasing role as
promoter and practitioner of CSR initiatives (Tan 2008). In fact the Singapore
example of government involvement stands out as it involves a tripartite approach
involving the government, private sector and labor movement in partnership to drive
the CSR agenda. In May, 2004, the National Tripartite Committee on CSR was
established to provide strategic direction and overall coordination for various CSR
programs, and in particular, involving more local Small & Medium Enterprises
(SMEs). In January, 2005, the Singapore Compact for CSR was set-up to provide a
forum for collaboration, support and information sharing on good CSR practices
(Tan 2008). Recently, in March 2008, the Community Foundation of Singapore was
set-up by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), a Nongovernmental
Organization (NGO), as a new initiative to encourage and facilitate
philanthropy and to provide professional advice on various philanthropic causes
(National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre 2009).