Earlier this week, UCLA Law School Professor Stephen Bainbridge precised the question of corporate philanthropy.  He notes "Virtually all states have adopted statutes specifically granting corporations the power to make charitable donations, which eliminates the ultra vires issue."  Several years back, I compared California's and Delaware's statutes:

Delaware’s statute appears to be more limited than California’s – it doesn’t specifically mention community fund, hospital, or civic purposes.  It also doesn’t include the catch-all “similar purposes”.  Delaware also doesn’t expressly dispense with the requirement of a “specific corporate benefit”.   California, on the other hand, doesn’t mention donations of aid in time of war or other national emergency.

You can read the whole post here.