Valuation Guidance
Question II.A: Total Contributions
This
is the most important question in the CECP survey, as it asks for the total
dollar value of charitable contributions from your company and/or foundation
for the survey year in question.
Survey Instructions:
o
Before
completing this section, review:
§ the “What to Include and
Exclude” section of the CGS Valuation Guide,
§ the “Valuing Non-Cash
Contributions” section of the CGS Valuation Guide, and
§ the “Defining and Valuing Pro
Bono Service” section of the CGS Valuation Guide.
o
Include
the value of corporate and foundation matching contributions identified in
Question IV.A. Doing so will not cause them to be double-counted by the
system; entering corporate match data here is the only way to be “credited” for
it.
o
Do
not include the compensation, overhead, or additional program costs
associated with managing your philanthropic or volunteer programs. These totals
should be entered only in Question V.E. (Management and Program Costs).
o
Do
not include the value of employee-volunteer hours. These totals should
be entered only in Question IV.F (Total Volunteer Hours).
o
Do
not include giving from the company to your own foundation. This is
recorded in Question V.D (Foundations & Trusts), but not counted in
Question II.A (Total Contributions).
|
Giving Types Direct Cash: Cash giving from
corporate headquarters or regional offices. Funds must be disbursed in the 12
months of the survey year. Foundation Cash: Cash contributions from the
corporate foundation. For many companies, this includes the corporate side of
employee matching-gift programs. Funds must be disbursed in the 12 months of
the survey year. Non-Cash: Product donations, pro bono
service, and other non-cash contributions (e.g., computers, land, etc.)
assessed at Fair Market Value and given during the 12 months of the survey
year. |
What
to include in the field for “Additional contributions that you cannot break
down”:
If
you are unable to categorize any of the direct cash, foundation cash, and
non-cash contributions, put that amount in the “additional contributions”
field:
o
Reduce
your direct cash, foundation cash, and non-cash giving figures by the amount
that you will not be able to categorize. For example, if you gave $10 million
but will be able to categorize only $8 million of it consistently throughout
the survey, then reduce your direct cash, foundation cash, and non-cash giving
figures so that they sum to $8 million.
o
Then,
include the un-categorizable amount (in this example, $2 million) in the
“additional contributions” field. Note that any giving entered in this field
will not be “credited” to your company’s “total giving” (which is defined as
the sum of direct cash, foundation cash, and non-cash); however, it will appear
in your “total cost of corporate giving” (which is “total giving” plus all
management and program costs, the value of volunteer hours, and
un-categorizable giving).
o
The
CGS system will perform a check on linked questions and will not save answers
that do not match the corresponding totals in Question II.A.
CECP
strongly encourages you to do your best to avoid using the uncategorized bucket
by making educated estimates for the questions requesting breakdowns of total
contributions. While we do not advocate entering data in which you have
low confidence, we do encourage you to provide reasonable approximations of
figures whenever possible, as this will help to ensure that your company’s
giving is recorded in its entirety.
What
to include in the field for “Tax deductible contributions that are not counted
in the CECP survey”:
The
CECP survey records only contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations or the
international equivalent and public schools (see “What to Include and Exclude,”
on page 3). However, some corporate grants to non-501(c)(3) organizations are
tax-deductible according to the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, while CECP does
not record such gifts as direct cash, foundation cash, or non-cash in the
previous fields of Question II.A, the tax-deductible portion may now be
included here. Some example instances appropriate for this field include:
o
Section
170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code allows gifts to a state, a possession of
the U.S., any political subdivision of the two, the United States, or the
District of Columbia as long as the donation is made exclusively for public
purposes. Common examples of these kinds of gifts would be donations to a fire
department or police station, land donations to the city or state government,
etc.
o
The
tax-deductible portion of memberships or grants to 501(c)(6) organizations.
Willing to Share? Yes! CECP strongly recommends that
you share your response to Question II.A because other CGS users find these
figures very helpful when selecting a peer-benchmarking group. By sharing these
numbers, your company enriches the value of the CGS system for all users. And
remember: the CGS system is accessible only by other corporations that have
completed a survey and users abide by a data-sharing policy.
With
this question, CECP seeks to understand better the different factors of a
company’s non-cash giving. Using the dollar value of non-cash giving reported
in Question II.A (already reported at FMV), please break down your non-cash
total into the three giving categories below. (You may bypass this question by
entering “NA” in each field.)
o
Product Donations. Intended primarily for use by
manufacturing companies, this designation seeks to capture any donations of
product(s) or inventory sold by your company.
o
Pro Bono Service. Please see the definition of
pro bono service outlined in the “Defining and Valuing Pro Bono Service”
section of this guide.
o
Other. Intended for non-cash gifts
other than products of pro bono service. This includes written-down office
equipment, use of company facilities, real estate, patents, etc.
Estimate the
Number of On-Company-Time Pro Bono Hours
In this section, please record the total
number of hours of pro bono service completed (not anticipated) during the
survey year. This number should correspond to the dollar value of pro bono
hours entered in non-cash breakdown of Question II.A. The section of the CGS
Valuation Guide entitled “Defining and Valuing Pro Bono Service” should be used
to determine whether employee service meets the CECP criteria for pro bono
service.