Research Strategic Philanthropy for Organizations: Walmart

Walmarts Strategic Philanthropy
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Walmart’s Strategic Philanthropy
How Walmart’s strategic philanthropy has impacted its profits, brand, society, image and turnover.
Strategic philanthropy is a slice of a company’s CSR which primarily aims at giving material help to the society around the community. Walmart is one of the fortune 500 companies who have given huge sums of money to charity through strategic philanthropy. However, this same gesture has also been marred by a lot of criticism. Walmart has managed to use its community partnering mechanisms to market itself, venture into new markets, and subsequently, add on to their total sales whilst increasing their profit margins. Through its many philanthropic charity projects, Walmart has managed to establish new stores in many cities across the US (Abrams, 2015). Some people have accused Walmart of wrapping their marketing goals within their strategic philanthropy. Some of the accusers have gone as far as claiming that Walmart has been tapping into the tax benefits of CSR and marketing their products.
The philanthropic projects undertaken by Walmart have helped build the image and reputation of the company. Many people are likely to trust a company that, according to its reports, gives over $1 Billion to charity annually. That reassures the public that the company is stable and is likely to remain operational in the foreseeable future if there is consistency in performance. Walmart has coined a strong brand through its philanthropy which is characterized by a strong and stable multinational image which has of course been supplemented by its global charity projects.
Their profits have also increased exponentially. Walmart has managed to earn the public’s trust through its numerous community development projects, and this has helped to grow their profits. One of the benefits of strategic philanthropy is marketing. By shrewdly tapping into this benefit, Walmart has managed to penetrate new markets and increasing their customer base. The result of the bigger customer base is higher stock turnover and higher profit margins.
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