How and why small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) engage with their communities: an Australian study

While many studies address corporate philanthropy and corporate community involvement, limited work has been conducted internationally in small to medium businesses and even less has been elucidated about the Australian small business landscape. This article reports findings from qualitative research investigating giving to community causes by 52 small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) across Australia. Three key questions addressed in this article are: (1) why SMEs engage with community (2) how they engage with community and (3) obstacles they perceive in giving. Our findings suggest that SMEs have a preference to avoid cash gifts, prefer to support local causes and would benefit from the development of best practice giving guidelines and templates. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.