I received a press release from a local company awhile back announcing its employees’ contribution and its own matching gift totaling $20,000 to the Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita relief efforts.
The release revived the debate in my mind about companies publicizing such activities. Why do they send out press releases for these kinds of things? Who has to know about them?
On one hand, it can appear self-serving when companies tout their charitable efforts, calling as much attention to themselves and, in some cases, their senior managers or owners as they do to the cause itself. However, letting others know about a company’s efforts to support one cause or another can serve as an example to others to give to that or to some other urgent need.
So it comes down to leading by example or choosing not to call attention to your actions so as to avoid appearing to be simply self-serving.
No one would mistake me for Santa Claus, yet I do support a few causes regularly and without fanfare. Now that I’ve put that into print, I guess you could say that I’m calling attention to my own falsely pious self without any benefit accruing to any of the causes that I find worthy of support. The more I think about this, the more confusing it gets.
During this season when we celebrate a spirit of brotherly love and caring that we always hope will last throughout the next year, I would hope that you and your company and employees will do something for someone who is in need, whether that person is on the other side of town or just around the corner.
You can decide how much attention you call to your gesture of generosity. Why you do it, it seems, matters less than that you take the time or trouble to do it at all.
And if you come up with an answer to my quandary, let me know. I’ll announce it or keep it to myself, whichever you prefer.
