Philanthropy: It’s Not Just for Charities Anymore
John Stasinos, MBA2
Issue date: 11/12/01 Section: Opinions
I spent the first weekend of November in Los Angeles, on the beautiful campus of UCLA’s Anderson School of Business, at a planning summit for the Challenge for Charity (C4C) organization. C4C is a well regarded and long-standing non-profit organization that is composed of the student bodies of five West Coast graduate schools of business: UCLA, UC-Berkeley, UC-Irvine, USC, and, of course, Stanford. What brings these schools together is the desire to provide a structured program of fund-raising and volunteering for the Special Olympics and other selected charities that seek the betterment of our youth and families.
The purpose of our conference was to accomplish many goals. Board members wanted to interact with one another, to share best practices regarding fund-raising and volunteering, to congratulate each school’s accomplishments, and to make sure the planning for this spring’s C4C sports extravaganza scheduled for April 19-21 (“Stanford Weekend,” as many of the other schools’ officers called it) was off to a great start. Another goal of our conference was to put down, in clear and concise language, what the mission of the C4C organization actually was. To set out in words what we were trying to accomplish by encouraging our fellow students to volunteer their time and give their money to charities that we deemed worthwhile. What we came up with, to paraphrase, was that it was important for business leaders to be socially responsible to the community that sustains their interests. This mission, in the humble opinion of this author, is legitimate and true. It is necessary, and, yes, admirable, for those who purport to be leaders, to help those who are in need.
I believe a kind society applauds all organizations like C4C, and the charities that it supports, for their work in bettering the human condition. But I also think there is a certain danger in believing that our obligations to society begin outside of our own spheres of direct influence. I believe it is important to stress that business leaders should act in philanthropic ways not only to individuals outside of their organizations, but more importantly, also to those within their organizations. For us, as graduate students of management, this brings up the idea of the internal philanthropist.
The purpose of our conference was to accomplish many goals. Board members wanted to interact with one another, to share best practices regarding fund-raising and volunteering, to congratulate each school’s accomplishments, and to make sure the planning for this spring’s C4C sports extravaganza scheduled for April 19-21 (“Stanford Weekend,” as many of the other schools’ officers called it) was off to a great start. Another goal of our conference was to put down, in clear and concise language, what the mission of the C4C organization actually was. To set out in words what we were trying to accomplish by encouraging our fellow students to volunteer their time and give their money to charities that we deemed worthwhile. What we came up with, to paraphrase, was that it was important for business leaders to be socially responsible to the community that sustains their interests. This mission, in the humble opinion of this author, is legitimate and true. It is necessary, and, yes, admirable, for those who purport to be leaders, to help those who are in need.
I believe a kind society applauds all organizations like C4C, and the charities that it supports, for their work in bettering the human condition. But I also think there is a certain danger in believing that our obligations to society begin outside of our own spheres of direct influence. I believe it is important to stress that business leaders should act in philanthropic ways not only to individuals outside of their organizations, but more importantly, also to those within their organizations. For us, as graduate students of management, this brings up the idea of the internal philanthropist.
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