PHILANTHROPIC GIVING AND CLIENT DEVELOPMENT.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 January 2016
• Author: Winograd, Josette

Every year, law firms give millions of dollars to charitable organizations. Last year, the Pro Bono Institute reported that while firms' philanthropic contributions ranged from $7,500 to $4.2 million, the average contribution hovered around $360,000. However, despite the value and volume of these donations, most firms think of social responsibility primarily in terms of pro bono, and in effect, very few have fully realized the inherent networking and client development opportunities that arise when giving.

Furthermore, this is a murky area for law firms, since charitable contributions may fall within a pro bono department, a business development or marketing department, a finance department or some combination therein. Effectively, firms' approaches to charitable contributions are often messy--partly charitable, partly business development and infrequently able to achieve both. With multiple owners and competing interests, firms need to consider not only the structure of giving (how much, to whom and on what basis), they must also consider how their partners are representing the firm (through their attendance or lack thereof, their advance interactions with charities, and their interactions with clients and their extended networks).

THE STRUCTURE OF GIVING

The sophistication of a firm's charitable contributions process is generally a good indicator of its community impact. Just as clients are consolidating their list of outside counsel providers, law firms are consolidating their list of causes and charities to give more to a handful of...