Business has always had a contract with society — expectations from a variety of stakeholders that a company must fulfill in order to earn its freedom to operate and achieve success. Today, companies are facing tectonic shifts in social expectations. Customers have more ability to put pressure on companies to meet their expectations for contributions to the public good. Shareholders are exerting pressure to increase companies’ social presence; and increasing attention is being paid to indirect stakeholders, such as lawmakers, regulatory agencies, the news media, community activists, and nonprofit organizations. All of these groups can influence, and may even redefine, the social contract and what it means to a company to fulfill or exceed it. These pressures come at the same time that short-term financial results are increasingly important to markets and when many companies are operating in new geographies where stakeholders have unfamiliar expectations, creating an even more complex dynamic.

Based on research and analysis by McKinsey & Company, CECP presents this exciting study on the practices of efficient corporate philanthropists The research includes a survey of 700+ global C-suite executives, interviews with CECP CEO members, and the results of the 2008 Board of Boards CEO conference roundtable discussion.

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