Exclusive corporate philanthropy: rethinking the nexus of CSR and corporate philanthropy
Purpose This article adds to a better understanding of relationship of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate philanthropy. We argue that corporate philanthropy is exclusive to CSR because of their different characteristics. Design/methodology/approach This article is based on a profound literature review and discusses the relationship of CSR and corporate philanthropy from a theoretical point of view. By conceptually combining the CSR pyramid and the triple bottom line approach we show that corporate philanthropy has a special role outside of the classical CSR concept. Findings Four fundaments of corporate philanthropy economic, motivational, creative, and moral are described that illustrate the importance and outstanding role of corporate philanthropy for today's businesses. Based on these, we formulate three new forms of corporate giving, volunteering, and foundations, which we subsume under the novel notion of 'exclusive corporate philanthropy' Research limitations/implications The main contribution of this paper for future research is to regard corporate philanthropy as exclusive to CSR. Future studies might therefore consider the different characteristics of corporate philanthropy and engage in an empirical investigation of this new type. Practical implications Our model of exclusive corporate philanthropy provides practitioners with a better understanding of how corporate philanthropy can be rolled out today. Originality/value This paper offers a new perspective on the relationship of CSR and corporate philanthropy. Based on the economic, motivational, creative, and moral characteristics of corporate philanthropy, we establish a clear distinction between the two concepts.