The Walmart Foundation Is Perfect Example of How Corporate Philanthropy Is Changing

Recently, we argued that the once-sleepy world of corporate philanthropy is getting a lot more sophisticated as funders sharpen their priorities and "fuse traditional grantmaking with market-based approaches in ways that traditional foundations either can’t or won’t do." We also noted how corporate philanthropy was getting more tightly yoked to the quest for higher profits.

Changes at the Walmart Foundation in recent years are a perfect example of what's going on. Since Kathleen McLaughlin, a McKinsey veteran, took over leadership of the foundation in 2014, Walmart’s corporate funding has undergone a paradigm shift from widely dispersed local grants to bigger strategic programs that tap into the company's key assets as a business.