A critical review of forms of corporate community involvement: from philanthropy to partnerships

The paper offers a critical review of the forms of corporate community involvement (CCI) including: corporate philanthropy, benefaction, patronage, sponsorship and cause related marketing (CRM) and partnership. It discusses the differences/similarities and compares the limitations of the transactional forms of interaction with the latest form of partnership. The paper suggests that the form of partnership represents a shift towards a non‐linear business model of CCI, that is moving away from an outcome towards a process orientation. Three factors are identified conditioning the successful implementation and sustainability of partnerships which are linked with the previous limitations of transactional approaches of interaction. Finally, the paper puts forward three propositions in order for partnerships to: (1) contribute to the increase of institutional trust among organisations and across sectors; (2) assist in balancing the dynamics across the sectors and (3) appreciate the process of interaction as a source of benefits.