The Downside of CEO Volunteerism
from September/October 2008
Involvement in charitable fund-raising detracts from a CEO’s ability to do his job, according to 13% of 140 directors recently surveyed by Corporate Board Member. A full 50% of the respondents thought job performance suffers when the CEO raises political funds.
Even so, most CEOs don’t get board approval before undertaking such voluntary work—only 24% of those who raise money for charities and 29% of those who act in behalf of political organizations do. Charity gets more CEO commitment than politics. The survey found that 48% of CEOs are involved in charitable fund-raising, fewer than 13% in political fund-raising.
