The dollars and sense of corporate philanthropy: Organizational influences on employees' philanthropic identity

This project explores how employees experience, interpret, and are influenced by charitable giving at work. This case study adopts a social constructionist lens and employs qualitative methods to examine how one financial institution communicated its philanthropic values, how employees made sense of those values, and the ways in which an employer's charitable mindedness may influence employees' internalization of giving in their sense of self. Findings reveal that employees viewed corporate philanthropy as part and parcel of the organization's overall value system, that the motives of corporate donors were integral in employees' social construction of corporate philanthropy, and that a philanthropic-minded employer's discourse and actions can shape employees' philanthropic identities. These findings contribute to our understandings of corporate philanthropy and its complexities, as well as identity construction in the workplace. This research also suggests that corporate philanthropy has both the potential to create (un)intended consequences and to foster more meaningful work. Understanding these issues may help employers construct cultures of giving that garner employee support, benefit charities, and ultimately change lives both inside and outside the workplace.