Give or Else?

The Hands On Network notes on its site that this month, "29 Fortune 500 corporations and national organizations are launching an unprecedented initiative to increase the number of employees who volunteer by 10% and raise 6.4 million volunteers over the next two years."

Now there's an excellent noble effort to prove that "corp." often does not mean "greed." Volunteering to help others, donating to worthy causes -- all worthwhile efforts.

Now let's play devil's advocate for a moment (because, otherwise, what fun would blogging be?). For those employees who already donate their time or money elsewhere or in other ways, or who maybe don't have the time or money to spare -- or who maybe just aren't "givers" -- should they feel pressured to take part as well? After all, when word comes from the top to give, how many feel comfortable saying no -- even if that's what they want to do? Case in point: Magazine honcho Jann Wenner is getting some flack for pushing his employees to donate to his Hurricane Katrina fund.

What's the right way for corporations to do the right thing?