节日慈善：商家的另类公关秀

    节假日为公司们提供了一个极为诱人的机会，去改变这一年里给人们留下的吝啬鬼形象。

    不论是提供食物和衣服等基本生活用品，帮助老兵或现役军人，还是为残疾人士建造房屋，公司集中在年底节日季组织慈善活动的做法非常普遍。这类活动层出不穷，甚至首次出现了一个Pinterest页面，让人们可以全方位了解这些慈善活动，其中也包括越来越多社交媒体与在线活动。这些活动的目的是将现金和商品送到贫困人群的手中。

    例如，家得宝（Home Depot）基金会的做法是，在1月1日之前，每一名家得宝顾客只要发布一条带有#teamdepot主题标签的Twitter内容，基金会便会向非营利组织Operation Homefront捐款1美元，用于为受伤的士兵修缮房屋。基金会的目标是在年底之前捐款金额能够达到100,000美元。

    而恒适公司（Hanes）则连续第四年与救世军组织（Salvation Army）合作，开展年度网上捐袜活动。这家公司Facebook主页上的“马上捐赠”按键只要获得一次点击，它就会捐赠一双袜子。它计划捐赠250,000双袜子，最终这些袜子将被分发到无家可归的人手中。卡夫食品（Kraft Foods）和其他公司则有向食物银行捐赠饭菜的活动。

    其他公司的做法则更加传统。例如，只要顾客购买或租赁一辆公司的新车，斯巴鲁（Subaru）就会向慈善机构捐款250美元。这个品牌的活动已经持续了六个年头，公司计划的最高捐款金额为3,500万美元，而这些钱将被用于流动福利餐车（ Meals on Wheels）、为美国而教（Teach for America）和国家公园基金会（National Park Foundation）等组织。而在美国运通（ American Express），只要用户使用已注册的信用卡外出就餐，公司便会向拒绝儿童饥饿组织（No Kid Hungry）捐款1美元——最高捐款100万美元。敦豪快递（DHL Express）连续第十年为现役军人运送圣诞树。

    如果把慈善活动的高尚理由放到一边，大多数公司的捐赠并不是真正出于情感。越来越多的公司聘请专业顾问，帮助他们确保自己的慈善之举符合公司的商业目标。以食物银行为例，相比其他慈善捐赠，向食物银行捐赠有助于增强卡夫公司核心食品制造商的身份。

    印第安纳大学（Indiana University）礼来家族慈善学院（Lilly Family School of Philanthropy）十月份公布的一项“捐赠无界”（Giving Beyond Borders）研究显示，大多数公司表示，支持公司的使命与价值才是他们捐赠的首要目标。之后依次是：回馈社区、打造、强化公司的信誉、帮助解决社会问题，以及招募、留住和激励员工。

    波士顿咨询公司The Philanthropic Initiative的主理合伙人杰米•贾非说：“我们看到越来越多的公司希望将商业目标与哲学目标挂钩，希望以一种有意义的方式调动员工的积极性。”这家公司与波士顿科学公司（Boston Scientific）、利宝相互保险公司（Liberty Mutual）和J. Jill服装公司等合作，为其他公司提供战略建议。

    For companies, the holiday season offers an irresistible opportunity to soften the Scrooge-like aura that has enveloped them year-round.

    Whether it's providing basics like food and clothing, helping veterans or active soldiers, or efforts like building homes for the disabled, company campaigns centered over the end-of-the-year holidays are ubiquitous. So much so that, for the first time, there is a Pinterest page that provides a panoramic glance at such charitable efforts, which include a growing number of social media and online campaigns to channel money and goods to the needy.

    Home Depot's foundation, for example, is donating $1 to Operation Homefront -- which, among other things, retrofits homes for injured soldiers -- for each Home Depot (HD) customer who tweets with a #teamdepot hashtag before Jan. 1. The foundation is aiming to give $100,000 by the end of the year.

    Hanes is partnering with the Salvation Army for its fourth annual virtual sock drive, which donates socks for each click on its Facebook page's "donate now" button. It plans to donate 250,000 pairs of socks, which are distributed to the homeless. Kraft Foods (KRFT) and other companies have programs to donate meals to food banks.

    Other companies have more traditional formulas. Subaru, for example, donates $250 to charity when a buyer purchases or leases a new car. It is the brand's sixth annual campaign, and it expects to wind up donating $35 million to groups such as Meals on Wheels, Teach for America, and the National Park Foundation. American Express (AXP) donates $1 to No Kid Hungry -- up to $1 million -- each time a registered card is used for dining out. DHL Express, for the tenth year, is shipping Christmas trees to soldiers on active duty.

    Good causes aside, most companies do not donate out of sentiment. Increasingly, corporations hire professional consultants to help them make sure any charitable efforts line up with the company's business objectives. Food banks, for example, further Kraft's core food identity in a way that giving to other causes might not.

    Most companies, according to a "Giving Beyond Borders" study released in October by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, said supporting their mission and values is the No. 1 goal for their giving. Following that, in order, are: giving back to their community, building and enhancing the company's reputation, helping to address social problems, and recruiting, retaining, and motivating employees.

    "We see a real uptick in companies that want to align their business and philosophical goals, and to engage their employees in meaningful ways," says Jamie Jaffee, managing partner for the Boston-based consulting firm The Philanthropic Initiative, which has worked with corporations like Boston Scientific, Liberty Mutual, and J. Jill apparel on company giving strategies.