In 2016, US companies donated a total of $18.6bn to charity. That same year, philanthropic donations from FTSE 100 companies added up to £1 bn. Sincere altruism doubtless accounts for some of this largesse. However, many companies also hope to manage public perception. If a corporation is seen as contributing to positive social change, it becomes that much harder to vilify it in the public mind—or so the reasoning often goes. Taken to a cynical extreme, this logic could turn companies into pious sinners, attempting to skirt accountability for their questionable conduct thr