After two decades of popularity "adopt-an-activity" philanthropic programs have begun to attract a growing number of critics, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The programs typically attempt to create a personal connection between donors and a particular cause, such as an underfunded school, an endangered species, or a patch of rainforest. Problems arise, however, when donors with questionable motives or a controversial message attempt to use such programs to generate publicity. Last year, for example, the Ku Klux Klan applied to adopt a stretch of highway in Palatine, Illinois. In the end, the highway was adopted by a group of schoolchildren.

Critics of the programs include parents and adoption workers who take issue with the use of the word "adopt." "People don't mean to be demeaning to adoption," notes Gloria Hochman, spokeswoman for the National Adoption Center in Philadelphia, "but they don't realize the term is so emotionally charged and many families take offense. People who bandy the phrase around so casually should be more sensitive about the way the term is used."

While the programs remain very popular with individual donors, Don Haider, management professor at Northwestern University, notes that large-scale corporate "adoption" programs are being replaced by more involved partnerships that offer greater rewards to both donor and recipient. " 'Adopt-an-activity' generally was one-sided by the giver," says Haider. "Look at Starbucks, Time Warner, Hewlett-Packard, Visa, MCI. Each of them has formed some kind of alliance with a not-for-profit organization that helps brand them. They're aware of research showing consumers who buy from a company want to know what this company does for society."