FIRST TO REPORT:
GIVING UP IN 2007, WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN 2008?

Despite economic uncertainty impacting many companies, corporate philanthropy increased in 2007. As the first to report total corporate giving from 2007, today the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) released new research revealing that giving by large, multi-national corporations increased by 5.6%, from a median of $24.67 million in 2006 to a median of $26.05 million in 2007.

Additional trends from 2007 data include:

— 66% of matched-set respondents increased their giving in 2007, 34% decreased their giving, an increase from 2006 in which 56% of companies grew their giving while 44% saw spending decreases.

— 56% of companies reporting lower profits increased their giving.

— Of the eight companies in this sample who experienced losses in 2007, seven companies still increased their giving.

Among companies that increased giving, many cited a shift toward funding new strategic focus areas, as well as an increased level of senior management attention to community investment. In fact, all of the forty CEOs attending CECP’s ‘Board of Boards’ conference in February agreed via anonymous poll that corporate philanthropy is important to creating long-term shareholder value.

Read the full press release, including expectations for 2008.

NEW CEO RESEARCH ON
CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY

Companies are investing more than ever in corporate philanthropy programs, but are still far from maximizing the social and business benefits that these investments can generate. Research suggests that less than 20% of organizations are effective in meeting social objectives, and even fewer are effectively achieving business benefits – such as enhancing their reputation, or attracting and retaining talent. A small group of efficient philanthropists has proved to be adept at both.

CECP's new report, “Business’s Social Contract: Capturing the Corporate Philanthropy Opportunity,” explores the challenges companies face in defining their corporate philanthropy programs, describes the unique characteristics that differentiate efficient philanthropists from the rest, and outlines the three key imperatives that organizations can implement in order to capture the corporate philanthropy opportunity.

As a members' preview, this report was mailed to you on May 28th. The report will be released publicly on June 18th.

View highlights from this report.

CECP WELCOMES NEW DIRECTORS

CECP is pleased to welcome three new directors to the organization’s board: Terry Lundgren, Chairman, CEO and President of Macy’s Inc., James Rohr, Chairman and CEO of The PNC Financial Services Group, and Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, inc.. These leaders join CECP’s prestigious board of directors to help advance the organization's mission of leading the business community in raising the level and quality of corporate philanthropy.

Read the press release.

Join Jeff Immelt and Rex Tillerson on February 23, 2009 for CECP’s fourth annual ‘Board of Boards’ CEO Conference. Mark your calendar now for this exclusive CEO discussion on corporate philanthropy, ranked one of the top five CEO events of the year by Weber Shandwick.

Learn more about the Board of Boards.

The following quotes are from the new CECP report "Business's Social Contract: Capturing the Corporate Philanthropy Opportunity."

"The CEO has to take a driving role in corporate philanthropy, like everything else that matters.”

JP Garnier
GlaxoSmithKline

“The CEO has to be perceived as the leader of philanthropy. I don't think you can ask anyone else to do that."

James E. Rohr
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

"The same performance expectations are set for the senior leadership of our giving program as for other business divisions."

Richard D. Parsons
Time Warner Inc.

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) is the only international forum of business CEOs and chairpersons focused on raising the level and quality of corporate philanthropy. Membership includes 175 CEOs and chairpersons representing companies that account for over 40% of reported corporate giving in the United States.

CorporatePhilanthropy.org