In the Lead: Asked to be charitable, more CEOs aid their business

In the Lead: Asked to be charitable, more CEOs aid their business: "In the Lead: Asked to be charitable, more CEOs aid their business
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
By Carol Hymowitz, The Wall Street Journal

Many top executives are besieged these days by nonprofit groups seeking help for a myriad of causes. They realize that corporate efforts to improve society can enhance their company's reputation, but it isn't always easy to know which projects to support.
The old model of corporate philanthropy no longer works. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, for example, donated millions of dollars of his fortune to build libraries, universities and museums. But he also badly polluted towns where his steel mills operated and dealt harshly with workers, even hiring Pinkerton guards to shoot at strikers."