Every year around Thanksgiving, organizations of every size start gearing up for “giving season.” The giant checks reappear. The ribbon-cutting scissors come out of storage. Someone brings in a camera to capture the team holding up donated boxes of canned goods.
Nothing wrong with any of that. It’s just rarely the whole story.
Thanksgiving is a holiday about gratitude, belonging, and the simple idea that good things are meant to be shared. The meal matters, yes—but the meaning matters more. It’s the why behind the gathering that gives the ritual its power.
Corporate giving works the same way.
If your company supports a nonprofit without any internal understanding of why that organization matters, then the giving becomes a seasonal performance instead of an expression of identity.
The most authentic, sustainable, and culturally aligned corporate giving begins with one deceptively simple sentence:
“We support X because we Y.”
Where X is the organization or cause—and Y is the belief at the center of your culture.
That belief shouldn’t be manufactured. It shouldn’t be a marketing flourish. It should reflect what your people already know about who you are.
Let’s slow down and explore what Thanksgiving can teach us about creating a shared table—not just for holiday meals, but for corporate generosity that actually means something.
This post builds on an earlier thinkSmith piece, “How to Structure Your Non-Profit Giving”
1. Shared Tables Are Built on Shared Beliefs
When families gather for Thanksgiving, everyone brings a dish, but more importantly, everyone brings a story. Some dishes represent heritage. Others represent travel or childhood. Sometimes it’s just the one thing that person makes well. What matters is that each item on the table means something to someone.
Corporate giving should work the same way.
“We donate because everyone else does”—or “because it’s good PR”—creates the organizational equivalent of instant mashed potatoes: edible, but not exactly inspiring.
When giving springs from an internal belief, something shifts.
Maybe your company supports veterans not because the founder is a veteran, but because your culture deeply values service and sacrifice.
Maybe you support childhood literacy because your mission centers on building pathways to opportunity.
Maybe you support environmental causes because your team believes stewardship—of the planet, of people, of resources—is a moral obligation.
The point is not the cause itself. The point is the alignment.
When the whole team knows why you give, participation becomes genuine, not obligatory.
2. Patagonia: A Masterclass in “We Support X Because We Y”
Patagonia is the gold standard in value-aligned generosity—not because they give so much, but because their giving reflects precisely who they are.
Their core belief is clear: business should protect the planet, not damage it.
That belief drives everything—product design, materials, policies, and ultimately, the company’s structure.
In 2022, founder Yvon Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia to a trust and nonprofit so all profits—around $100 million per year—could go directly to environmental protection.
Their giving works because it’s not a side project. It’s the embodiment of their belief.
This is the corporate version of Thanksgiving: the dish on the table reflects the values, traditions, and heart of the people who brought it.
3. A Real-World Local Example: Rotary’s Layered Approach to Purpose
Values-aligned giving doesn’t only exist in global brands. Look at Rotary—an organization that blends global vision with local action.
Rotary International invests in massive global initiatives: polio eradication, clean water, maternal health, peacebuilding. But it also pushes resources downstream, empowering each club to support the needs of its own community. Each club develops its own culture and priorities while staying aligned to a shared purpose.
This model mirrors what corporate giving can be: big conviction at the top, authentic autonomy at the local level.
The Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Club illustrates this beautifully. In 2025, it distributed $100,000 in grants to local nonprofits, supporting organizations like One Gen Away, Habitat for Humanity, and World Central Kitchen. That’s in addition to being the highest per-capita contributor to the Rotary Foundation in its district—two years in a row.
But the detail that matters most isn’t the number.
It’s the culture:
- We give away everything we take in.
- Service Above Self isn’t a slogan. It’s our identity.
- And that identity shapes every decision.
Imagine if more companies adopted that model—global values, locally chosen causes, and a clear cultural bridge between the two. That’s what an authentic giving ecosystem looks like.
4. Alignment Beats Amount Every Time
You don’t need Patagonia’s revenue or Rotary’s international infrastructure to be impactful.
You just need clarity.
Here’s why aligned giving matters more than the size of the check:
Employees crave meaning, not randomness.
Customers can tell when generosity is disconnected.
Alignment is a recruiting advantage.
A Deloitte report found that 44% of Gen Z and 39% of Millennials have turned down roles due to value misalignment.
Value-driven giving creates participation.
5. Salesforce: When Giving Becomes Operating Procedure
Salesforce’s “1-1-1 Model”—donating 1% of equity, 1% of product, and 1% of employees’ time to charitable causes—has become a defining part of the company’s identity.
This isn’t a holiday-season gesture. It’s woven into hiring, onboarding, product strategy, and culture.
6. How to Build Your Company’s “Shared Table” for Giving
- Start with belief, not branding.
- Let your beliefs guide your causes.
- Connect your team to the story.
- Use a layered model.
- Give more than money.
- Share publicly, but humbly.
A Sneak Peek at the Sequel
A companion piece for nonprofits is coming soon.
The Thanksgiving Takeaway
Corporate generosity works best when it comes from identity, not obligation.
If you want help defining the heart behind your organization’s giving, I’ll pay it forward. Call me.