In a matter of hours, the news of Steve Jobs’ resignation topped headlines worldwide. Social media immediately echoed and reminded people of his seemingly heartless, lack of philanthropic efforts. Steve Jobs has been regularly compared to figure heads like Bill Gates who has pledged half of his wealth to philanthropic efforts. As more companies continue to promote social responsibility, Apple has finally responded positively. Tom Cook, Apple’s new CEO, has announced that they are now matching their employee’s charitable contributions and supporting community involvement. This is a great first step and hopefully is only the beginning of Apple’s new philanthropic efforts. By doing well, Apple is doing good. According to 2010 Cone Evolution Cause Marketing Study, 90% of consumer want companies to tell them how they are supporting global causes. I applaud Tim for taking a stand and supporting the employees decision to help social and environmental causes. Apple’s commitment to match employee contributions presents hidden challenges… vetting, tracking, approving and facilitating tax deductible, charitable contributions. I am interested to see how they will communicate the execution of their program to employees, nonprofits and of course, the IRS. I would love to hear your questions, comments or challenges on the topic.
- I want to manifest a fairy-tale!
- One man’s trash is another man’s treasure…