Corporate giving increased more than 15 percent during the past three years to a record $23.8 billion, driven last year by disaster giving, according to a recent study.
The annual “Giving In Numbers” report is sponsored by CECP: The CEO Force for Good in partnership with The Conference Board. And, 44 percent of companies expect to increase their giving in 2018.
Other key findings from this year’s 54-page report include:
- Six out of 10 companies surveyed increased their giving between 2015 and 2017.
- Median total giving in 2017 among 252 respondents to the survey was $19.2 million, or 0.87 percent of pre-tax profit.
- Companies increased donations for disaster relief by more than 208 percent in total cash giving and more than 300 percent in median cash giving.
- The top 25 percent of companies are investing about 2 percent of pre-tax income to community programs.
- The top quartile also gave a total of at least $55.3 million in 2017, or 1.82 percent of pre-tax profit.
- Companies are distributing grants more strategically, reducing both the number of grants and recipients but increasing the overall size of remaining grants to pool resources.
- More companies increased the measurement of outcomes and impacts of at least one grant from 81 percent in 2015 to 84 percent in 2017.
- Employee matching programs continued to grow over the last three years and companies that offered open matching – unrestricted matches – donated a higher dollar amount in 2017.
- Contribution staff continued to increase despite reductions in the number of employees overall. This could be due to better company management of resources, grants, and relationships with end-recipients while maximizing internal employee engagement.
Founded by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman in 1999, CECP: The CEO Force For Good is a coalition of chief executive officers from more than 200 of the world’s largest companies. Combined, these businesses have revenue of $7 trillion and give a total of $18.6 billion in community investments. The Conference Board is a nonprofit coalition of senior executives from across all trades and all regions of the world.
