# Corporates want their pound of flesh

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/02/08/corporates-want-their-pound-flesh/
- Published: 2010-02-08T16:50:08+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

At a recent CSR presentation by a UK bank, I was struck by the highly commercial
attitude this company is taking to its community involvement.

OK, we all know the days of cheque book corporate philanthropy are largely behind
us (and of course this is the banking sector!), but listening to the presentation
felt more like being on the end of a sales pitch than “how we care for the community”.

This feeling was more than a little reinforced when speaking to a charity in the
audience which had been visited by a rep from the same bank. Convened to talk about
possible corporate support, the meeting had very rapidly come round to just how 
big a deposit the charity would be able to make with the bank if support were forthcoming.
When the charity declined, the bank soon lost interest and (surprise surprise) selected
another charity in the same field instead. I have no way of knowing, of course, 
whether or not the second charity was able to make that deposit!

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What strikes me about this experience is that some companies, perhaps driven by 
the recession, are seeking to squeeze every last drop of commercial value out of
their CSR policy, in a way that would not once have been the case. Brave new world?
Maybe, but one we must all get used to if we are to succeed in this highly competitive
area of fundraising.

I’m not suggesting we abandon our corporate approaches, just that we need to be 
savvy about the commercial realities which drive companies and about how far we 
are prepared to go (or not) to get them on board.

 * **[£2.6 million of bank fines for LIBOR rigging attempts are donated to service charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/03/28/26m-bank-fines-libor-rigging-attempts-are-donated-service-charities/)**(
   28 March 2013)
 * **[Santander selects new three-year charity partners](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/01/19/santander-selects-new-three-year-charity-partners/)**(
   19 January 2016)
 * **[Al Rayan Bank offers new savings account for charities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/04/07/al-rayan-bank-offers-new-savings-account-charities/)**(
   7 April 2016)