Good citizenship builds strong cultures: companies that give back also win in the marketplace.

Businesses that are good corporate citizens distinguish themselves as the most successful businesses. My experience has been that, in premier companies, employee values and shareholder value are inseparably linked.

One of the factors in my decision to come to The Home Depot three years ago was its track record in corporate citizenship. Those values represent the heart and soul of a company whose nearly 300,000 associates are as committed to our communities as they are to our business. And our business success has been impressive. In the past three years, revenue has grown by $19 billion, or 42 percent, and earnings per share are up 71 percent.

Every year, our associates invest more than 7 million hours of service through Team Depot, our volunteer corps. This is above and beyond annual corporate donations of more than $25 million to four target areas: affordable housing, at-risk youth, the environment and disaster preparedness and relief. These are critical areas for America's future and mirror the interests of our customers and associates.

Take affordable housing. Getting involved with Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together allows Home Depot to use not only our materials and products, but also our associates' working knowledge. Our people have helped build more than 160 homes for lower-income families. As part of Rebuilding Together, our people teach homeowners, particularly the elderly and disabled, how to make simple home repairs.

We've also responded to the military's needs. Last April, we created Project Homefront as a way to support our 1,800 associates who were called upon to serve. This program assists military families with home repairs and maintenance while family members are deployed.

We also donated $1 million of power tools and equipment. This program got started after I talked with a returning pilot about how The Home Depot could help. He said, "Bob, this may sound a little strange, but one of the most important things you could send us is a bucket. We're always looking for something to wash our clothes in, something to sit on that's light and durable and a structurally solid tote." We're now shipping out prefab boxes, each containing four five-gallon buckets, hand tools and personal items.

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One of the keys to our citizenship efforts is that they are localized. Every store has a donations budget and the store manager and associates select how they can be most effective within their communities. This builds brand loyalty.

When customers see you supporting the youth programs in their communities or promoting environmental sustainability, they recognize your corporate conscience. I believe they are much more likely to spend their hard-earned dollars with businesses that have a track record of giving back to their communities.

However, improved sales should be only a secondary benefit of volunteering. I strongly believe that any corporation that's giving back exclusively to garner publicity or to boost the bottom line won't be able to sustain it. Associates, customers and communities will see this as just another commercial venture and it will lose its goodwill value.

The ultimate payoff of our good citizenship is its impact on our corporate culture. Volunteering creates a culture of character, a set of core values that are both a natural extension of us, as individuals, and also the way we conduct our business. It also allows for greater associate gratification, which is key to building loyalty and morale. As measured in our most recent employer-of-choice survey, we've seen significant improvement in associate morale year over year and a reduction in attrition.

Moreover, having this dual initiative of building value and sharing values can become one of a company's best recruiting tools. When we go out on campus or do direct recruiting, most people comment on the values of The Home Depot. That provides us with a true competitive advantage in our ability to attract, motivate and retain the right kinds of people.

Our marketing slogan says, "You can do it. We can help." I strongly believe that the more a company can do to help others, the better it will do in the long run. It's just the right way to do business.

Robert Nardelli is CEO of The Home Depot, based in Atlanta.