Motives, Timing, and Targets of Corporate Philanthropy: A Tripartite Classification Scheme of Charitable Giving

Although corporate philanthropy has been an important part of American business for more than a century, the motives and consequences of corporate philanthropy are not well understood. This paper develops a richer classification scheme of philanthropic activity, to aid in theory development and management. Examining simultaneously the domains of why firms give (motive), when they give (timing) and to whom they give (target), a conceptual model identifying distinct categories of philanthropic activity is developed and its implications to present and future research discussed.