RE: can this charitable donation/investment bring us increased profits from the marketing, exposure and good press we can get from it?”
This criteria is hard to determine today.
EFor instance, if Disney decides to support a gay pride parade in a community, the mainstream press will praise them for their progressivism. However, they get backlash from conservative parents, churches, Muslims and others who disapprove of the LGBT lifestyle. You get good press from one group, but bad press from another.
And what if Chick-Fil-A decides to support a pro-life initiative? The same thing will occur.
You win some customers and lose others.
“This criteria is hard to determine today.”
Hard to determine in advance maybe, but if you try the campaign and it produces no increased profits, then you have the answer. And if you continue to do push further campaigns like that after you have that answer, it’s negligence.