Don't make this too complicated by personifying our human altruism into some sort of corporate "personailty". There is no ethic for a company other than what is required by law, what will maximize it's profit for shareholders, and what is contained in its corporate charter. If the corporation is doing anything outside this boundary it is being unethical in that it is violating the trust of its investors.

If corporate officers want to give money away because it makes them feel good and it has no direct or indirect benefit to the company and it is not contained in the corporate charter, this is unethical theivery. Let them give their own money away to make themselves feel good.

Now, it could easily be argued, and I think successfully, that targeted giving is of direct benefit to the company in that it makes for a more committed customers. Additionally, some companies have matching plans where the employee donates money to a charity and the company matches it 1 for 1 or at some other ratio. This has the effect of promoting employee dedication to the company - something that is a big benefit for the company. We've seen evidence of this in a previous posting.

Thus, for Microsoft to be giving money away, either its corporate charter says it has a corporate purpose in doing so or its management has determined that giving this money away will maximize its profit for shareholders by getting positive PR and increasing product usage. Don't however mistakenly personify their altruism beyond these goals.