How We Help

"They tend to support the favorite charities of the people they want to influence," said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy. "You're not going to find a cereal company supporting a leprosy organization -- just because it's not going to look good on a cereal box."

So while breast cancer is a popular cause for all types of companies, Borochoff said, rectal cancer is embraced far less widely because it's "harder to sell" to consumers.

The shift has caused some organizations that back controversial causes to alter their fundraising strategies, Borochoff and others say. Rather than solicit donations from corporations -- which makes up only about 5 percent of all charitable giving -- they direct their efforts to wealthy executives who may be sympathetic to their cause.

Planned Parenthood does very little outreach to public companies, said Francine Stein, the organization's vice president of development, and relies instead on contributions from foundations and individuals.

"There is a kind of stealth approach to this now, from organizations that catch small groups by surprise and threaten boycott and test the charitable will of businesses," Stein said. "I am sorry that corporate executives have to put up with it. It makes no sense."

But experts say fundraisers and corporate giving officers will just have to learn to live with the new level of scrutiny, because it is unlikely to change anytime soon.

As for Hossain, who also runs an organization that feeds homeless people in Fairfax County, he's still looking for start-up funding for his Internet phone company, WaveRelay, to replace the investors who backed out. And while it may have caused a significant setback to his business, Hossain says he doesn't regret his involvement with the Herndon day laborer issue.

"I think one has to do what one thinks is right," he said. "Just because there might be some unfair or unexpected problems associated with it doesn't mean you give up and go away."