That's the headline of Peter Paneto's blog post at the Chronicle of Philanthropy that caught my eye. On my way to work I walk past the Moscone Center so I've been feeling the ambient hoopla of WWDC 2010 and all things Apple this week. At the Foundation Center we know that Apple has not had a formal program of philanthropic giving for many years. I feel conflicted about this. Although I may wish all corporations felt an obligation to support their communities, I know for-profits, by definition, are not in business to give away money. If they don't give it, well, so be it. Certainly some companies do donate cash and in-kind support to nonprofits for a variety of reasons. (See our FAQ "What motivates companies to give through corporate giving programs?" for more on this topic.) However, Paneto cites a post by Jake Shapiro, CEO of Public Radio Exchange, where he argues that "Apple's policy barring solicitation of donations by nonprofit groups is a cop-out and blocks a major revenue stream for public radio—whose content enhances the value of Apple's devices." What do you think?
Hi Jean,
Great post. I appreciate your honesty when you wrote that "for-profits, by definition, are not in business to give away money. If they don't give it, well, so be it." I think it'll be interesting to see if/how Apple responds to all of the bad press they've received over the past couple of weeks....
-- Regina
Posted by: Regina Mahone | June 15, 2010 at 04:44 PM