In continued affirmation of this year's CSR trends, Todd Cohen of the Philanthropy Journal wrote on Wednesday, "In an economy and marketplace undergoing sweeping changes because of the recession, experts say, companies increasingly aim to make their giving more strategic, collaborative and productive."

Mr. Cohen's article, "Companies reinvent giving for ‘new era’" sites data from the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy that many corporations increased giving this year, despite seeing decreases in profit.  Driven by their contract with society, Mr. Cohen goes on to explain, corporations were compelled to meet the needs of the charitable community.

I agree with the premise that it's time corporations reinvent philanthropic giving programs and adopt more strategic approaches.  It seems contradictory, however, to mark a trend toward strategic philantropy and tie it to corporation's contractual obligation to the greater good.  Instead, I would argue that in times like these, corporations will be driven to break with conventional societel compliance and, if we're lucky, will develop  innovative approaches that serve social causes while also generating business value.  Motivated by commercial value rather than by forced compliance, corporations will be more likely to invest in these types of social investment and to sustain their support in good times and bad.