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Charitable investments: A strategy for improving the business environment

  • Moral And Conceptual Issues In Investment And Finance
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Abstract

Firms are beginning to evaluate requests for donations as they would investments. Critics argue that a strategy of charitable investing is conceptually inconsistent, disguised self-interest, and violates the dignity of those who receive charity. This paper argues that charity and investment are consistent (and even complementary in some cases), can preserve the virtue and the dignity of the giver and receiver, and may result in a wider distribution of charitable funds. The paper also discusses how a policy of charitable investing could be implemented within a firm so as to avoid it being used merely as a public relations tool. Finally, it is suggested that charitable investments can help maintain the conditions necessary for a free market economy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, St. Cloud State University, 56301, St. Cloud, MN, USA

    John W. Dienhart

Authors
  1. John W. Dienhart
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Additional information

John W. Dienhart is Professor of Philosophy at St. Cloud State University. He is the author of A Cognitive Approach to the Ethics of Counseling Psychology, University Press of America, 1982.

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Dienhart, J.W. Charitable investments: A strategy for improving the business environment. J Bus Ethics 7, 63–71 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381999

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381999

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