Valuation Guidance

Question II.B: Changes in Total Giving

The purpose of this question is to learn the specifics as to why your company’s giving increased, decreased, or stayed the same from 2010 to 2011. (As always: the more specific you can be in your answer, the better.) CECP will not share your answer to this question, but it will incorporate it into an aggregate analysis including other companies’ responses.

To help you determine your answers, we provide here some motivations cited by companies in the past. However, please try to capture your own company’s true motivations and do not feel limited by this list.

• Common reasons for giving increases: Strong profits, greater participation in matching-gift programs, better tracking of contributions (particularly from regions or international offices), natural growth through corporate mergers and acquisitions, the creation of new signature programs, greater international budgets, and beyond-budget disaster-relief giving.
• Common reasons for giving decreases: Weak profits, lower participation in matching-gift programs, natural decreases due to corporate spin-offs or department closures, completion of multi-year grants, tighter giving controls (particularly with non-cash or in specific regions), absence of disaster-relief spending, and policy changes within industries that affect giving levels or valuations.