MIT Sloan Management Review Article on The Transparency Problem in Corporate Philanthropy

Despite increasing demands by employees, investors, and communities for environmental, social, and governance transparency, philanthropy remains an often overlooked and almost entirely opaque sphere of corporate activity. This is no small issue: In 2021, corporate giving in the U.S. alone is estimated to have exceeded $21 billion.

To explore the dimensions of this problem and understand the use of disclosures in corporate philanthropy more broadly, I studied transparency in the philanthropic foundations of Fortune 100 companies. These foundations are only the tip of the iceberg in corporate giving, but they are indicative of the state of philanthropic transparency across the business world. The research revealed the difficulties that leaders and stakeholders face in trying to gauge the efficacy of giving, ensure accountability for it, and capture the full value it may offer to both the givers and recipients of corporate largesse.

About the Author

Patricia A. Banks is a professor of sociology at Mount Holyoke College. She is the author of two books on philanthropy: Black Culture, Inc.: How Ethnic Community Support Pays for Corporate America (Stanford University Press, 2022) and Diversity and Philanthropy at African American Museums (Routledge, 2019).

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