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Corporate foundations in the US gave a record $4.2 billion to good causes last year, according to a report published by the Foundation Center. This follows an exceptional year in 2005, when giving rose by 16.5% in response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes and the Asian tsunami.
On top of this, pharmaceutical manufacturers gave nearly $3.2 billion through operating foundations, which are counted separately from corporate foundations. Most of this was in-kind donation of medicine.
Steven Lawrence, Senior Director of Research at the Foundation Center, said: "At the current rate, in-kind giving through corporate operating foundations may soon match standard corporate foundation giving."
Key findings from Key Facts on Corporate Foundations:
- Corporate foundations accounted for 11% of all foundation giving, but more than 20% when combined with giving by corporate operating foundations.
- Nearly three-fifths of corporate foundations surveyed expect to increase giving in 2007.
- Corporate foundations targeted nearly half of their giving to education (25%) and public affairs/social benefit (22%).
- While corporate foundation giving has grown in actual terms, it has declined as a percentage of companies' pre-tax profits. In 1986 that figure equalled 2%, but in 2005 it was 1%.
The research is based on information from more than 80,000 foundations, corporations, and public charities. The report can be downloaded for free from the Gain Knowledge area of the Foundation Center's website www.foundationcenter.org
Meanwhile, UK companies are still giving less than 1% of pre-tax profits to charity, according to research by the Directory of Social Change. The Guide to UK Company Giving found average donations over the last 10 years totalled just 0.25% of pre-tax profits - 0.41% if gifts-in-kind were included. The research showed that none of the top five banks donated 1% of pre-tax profits, while some small companies, including Dyson, donated 10%.
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