POLICIES UNDERLYING CORPORATE GIVING.

By Ralph Lingo Thomas '26.Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1966. 127 pp. $15.00.

Dr. Thomas' book, written from a background of 30 years of commercial banking followed by a new career in university teaching, can serve as a valuable handbook for both fund raiser and fund director. It covers the entire scope of corporate giving from aid-to-education to united fund drives and includes a substantial amount of information on the legal background and specific state legislation pertaining to corporate gifts.

Although it provides long lists of things to be considered in arriving at a philosophy of giving, a number of suggested guidelines for determining contribution levels, and a good selection of methods for making gifts, it never does come up with an answer to the question: How does the board of directors decide on what part of corporate income is to be devoted to contributions? The implication is that this decision is evolutionary, with contributions perhaps beginning in an unplanned way and growing through some sort of annual increase to very substantial amounts in many cases.

Dr. Thomas recognizes a number of business leaders by name, those whose companies have led the way, especially in the area of aid-to-education, and perhaps corporate giving policies are in large part a reflection of the attitudes of such individuals. There seems almost no other explanation for the wide differences in the total contributions made by corporations of similar size and profitability in the same industries. The book's final plea is for each corporation to re-evaluate its contributions policies.

Policies Underlying Corporate Giving will provide a good basis for such re-evaluation.

Associate, Office of Development