More Female Managers And Board Members Means More Corporate Philanthropy

According to new research it’s the companies with more female senior managers and women board members that give more money to charities.

Harvard Business School’s Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee looked into the world of corporate philanthropy that since the 1970′s has sparked an ongoing controversial debate. The thought being that if these large companies have so much extra money to give to charities, it should be reinvested in the company – the money does belong to shareholders after all. Another complaint from those who are against corporate philanthropy is that it’s an easy way for CEOs and other top executives to give to the charities that are close to their hearts, but without having to dip into their own wallets.

In Marquis and Lee’s study of Fortune 500 companies to see which “factors influence the generosity of corporate giving,” one of the major things that popped up over and over was how the amount of women in high seats in firms leads to more corporate philanthropy:

“A study from the Center for Women’s Business Business Research found that more than half of  women business owners with companies of more than $1 million in assets give at least $10,000 to charity annually, compared to only 40% of men. It’s not clear if having a woman CEO would make a difference, because there aren’t enough big companies with female CEOs to do a statistically valid survey of them. It’s also worth noting that corporate foundations themselves tend to be run by women.”

Also found was that new CEOs who have just risen to their status are more likely to donate to charities as they’re looking in to changing the way the CEOs before may have strategized in that particular facet of the business. And companies that are in lower income areas are also far more likely to give to local charitable causes as a means to give back and assert themselves as a positive influence in the area.

So while it’s unclear as to the motivation behind these women and their need to practice corporate philanthropy, one thing is for sure: more women in executive seats, means more charities are benefiting.