July 29, 1999 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Like the rest of corporate America, more companies in the entertainment industry are embracing giving strategies that marry their philanthropy to their business interests, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In a special report within its July 13-19 issue, the magazine turns the spotlight on how giving in Hollywood is changing, with a growing focus on long-term philanthropic strategies.
Part of the reason for the changes, the magazine states, has to do with the influence the industry’s philanthropy has had on battling the AIDS epidemic.
“The most significant impact was not in the dollars it raised or even in its impact on public policy. It was the impact on the policies of the industry itself, leading it to focus the full range of its communications power on the cause, and it did so in a sustained and systematic way.”
Now, the magazine says, corporations such as Disney and Time Warner are taking similarly systematic approaches to causes that also serve their business interests.
Many companies in the entertainment industry have yet to embrace such tools as “strategic” philanthropy and “cause-related” marketing, the article states. But the growing link between Hollywood and the technology industry — which already uses those tools effectively — is likely to change that, the article says.
The AIDS experience has also taught more celebrities to become active in causes that they care about, the article states, although it adds, “There is ample opportunity for the entertainment industry, as a whole, to play far larger monetary and non-monetary leadership roles in helping to build stronger, healthier communities on a local grassroots level.”
Included in the special report are snapshot profiles of some of Hollywood’s biggest donors.
