CECP's Executive Director Charles Moore, Director Margaret Coady, members of CECP's Board of Directors, and other industry thought leaders provide timely insight into trends and developments on the role of business in society.
The Power of Data…Starts with You!
Corporate Giving Standard Survey Open! Deadline April 4th!
Cindy Chin
Senior Research Analyst, Standards and Measurement
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy
March 28th, 2012-- We know you are busy. Why would we ask you to take time out of your already hectic day to collect and input a significant amount of data into our Corporate Giving Standard (CGS) survey system? Because we know the power of data. We know that it is the only way the corporate giving field will move forward. And we know that it gives a company the level of analysis and benchmarking it needs to improve and grow its corporate giving programs. But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what Susan Schlicter, Executive Director, Express Scripts Foundation had to say after she accessed the information in CECP’s Giving in Numbers report and worked one-on-one with our staff to analyze the giving data from Express Scripts Foundation.
The Giving in Numbers report was an invaluable introduction to CECP and an easy entrée to benchmarking our corporate philanthropy. Joining the organization as a subscriber has proven even more valuable; the professional and personal attention to our need to drill down in specific areas by creating custom reports has enabled us to analyze data and examine trends that are most meaningful to us. We’re now in the process of changing our data collection methods to more accurately capture our philanthropic efforts.
We are poised for our biggest sample size yet for the CGS. Earlier this year, we combined forces with The Conference Board (TCB) to promote one survey to capture the full scope and scale of annual contributions by leading global companies. This association will further strengthen the repository of giving data, building upon the more than $85 billion in corporate cash and non-cash giving data collected by CECP since 2001. The 2011 CGS collected data from 184 CECP respondents, including 63 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500. Our goal this year is more than 200 respondents and $100 billion in giving. Don’t you want to be a part of that?
Once all the data is in, we will begin the analysis that will become our annual benchmarking report, Giving in Numbers. This is corporate philanthropy’s premier report focusing on giving and is a resource to assess the trends year-over -year in corporate initiatives. It is the only survey of corporate contributions available for public download at no cost.
Have you entered your company’s data yet? The power of this tool depends on you. Log into your My CECP account today and complete the survey. Not a member or haven’t filled out a survey before? Please contact Cindy Chin at 212-825-1262 or
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to get started. We are here to help you through this process.
Just Another Advocacy Day?
Sara Appleyard Adams
Head of Communications and Marketing
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy
February 7, 2012-- When we already have a day recognizing everything under the sun from Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day to Penguin Awareness Day, why did CECP choose in 2004 to create International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD)?
For us, it comes down to strength in numbers. Our members are carrying out projects all year long that make a tremendous impact on the communities around them. But ICPD provides a platform to collect all these stories and share them with the world on a special day. Companies use ICPD as the day to announce new projects and the milestones they have met. It provides the corporate giving community with a day to focus attention on its success and momentum. ICDP lets everyone know that excellence and innovation in corporate giving is not happening in isolation; it is a wide-spread activity undertaken by numerous corporations, which is reaching all segments of the community and all corners of the world.
Measuring for Greater Social Impact:
Pamela Flaherty
President & CEO, Citi Foundation,
Director, Corporate Citizenship, Citi
November 28, 2011 -- CECP spoke with Pam Flaherty, President & CEO, Citi Foundation, and Director, Corporate Citizenship, Citi about the company’s Results-Oriented Measurement System. Now three years into the initiative, Pam Flaherty shares the impetus behind the creation of the system, the greatest challenges encountered along the way, and the impact the company is able to track through the system.
CECP: Can you tell us about the work of the Citi Foundation?
Citi: The Citi Foundation supports the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of low- to moderate-income people so that they can improve their standard of living in communities where Citi operates. We make grants utilizing a results-oriented measurement framework that assesses the impact of the programs we fund. Our focus areas and what we seek to measure include:
- Financial Capability and Asset Building – Increase the number of low- to moderate-income adults and/or youth who adopt positive financial behaviors and accumulate and preserve financial assets
- Microfinance – Increase the supply of financial products supplied by microfinance institutions that improve and accelerate the financial inclusion of low- to moderate-income individuals
- Enterprise Development – Increase the number of micro or small enterprises that provide new income generation and/or employment opportunities for low- to moderate-income individuals
- College Success (in the U.S.) – Increase the number of low- to moderate-income secondary school students who are meeting the academic, financial and social milestones to enroll and complete postsecondary education
- Youth Education and Livelihoods (outside the U.S.) – Increase the number of low-income youth, ages 13-25, who demonstrate the skills needed to complete secondary school, become employed in a living wage job, start their own income-generating business or obtain postsecondary education or training
- Neighborhood Revitalization (in the U.S.) – Increase the number of small businesses, affordable housing units or community facilities that contribute to the economic and/or environmental sustainability of low- to moderate-income communities
CECP: What was the impetus behind the creation of Citi’s results-oriented measurement system?
Together on Diabetes®:
Patricia M. Doykos
Director
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
These sobering numbers clearly indicate that diabetes is now not only a national epidemic, but one that, despite prevention efforts, is accelerating from year to year. Sadly, this situation reminds me of how HIV/AIDS statistics in the developing world climbed sharply in the 1990s and fueled the sense of urgency that led to an unprecedented stepped up and coordinated global response that spanned private and public sectors. As with HIV/AIDS, I believe we can turn the tide of diabetes, but we must not lose any more time -- or propagate a fragmented response -- or continue doing only what we have been doing the way we have been doing it so far.
A Billion + Change Celebrates Milestone:
Jennifer Lawson
Executive Director
A Billion + Change
November 10, 2011 -- On November 3, over 80 nonprofit, corporate and government leaders gathered on Capitol Hill to celebrate a milestone for A Billion + Change, a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars in skills-based volunteer services to address community needs across the country and around the globe. The event recognized the more than 50 companies that have pledged more than $1 billion in skills-based and pro bono services, such as CECP member companies Allstate, Capital One, Deloitte, GE, Hasbro, IBM, Intel, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KPMG, Morgan Stanley, Pfizer, State Farm, Target and Wal-Mart. As the Executive Director of A Billion + Change, it was exciting to see the many civic and corporate leaders mobilizing for the campaign.
Giving in Numbers: 2011 Edition
Alison P. Rose
Manager, Standards and Measurement
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy
October 27, 2011 -- CECP has had the privilege of collecting corporate giving data since 2001. The last ten years have yielded a storehouse of information that illuminates the relationship between corporate giving and the macroeconomic and cultural factors that influence businesses and their communities.
In 2010, the looming threat of a double-dip recession and widespread unease about the future of global markets significantly affected those factors. With unemployment rates remaining high, many communities in the U.S. and abroad struggled to find their footing. Moreover, the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January was only one of several severe natural disasters that commanded an international response.
As 2010 was the third in a series of strained and uncertain years, this edition of Giving in Numbers not only presents a profile of corporate philanthropy in 2010, but also seeks to answer the pivotal question: How has corporate giving changed since the onset of the economic downturn? The multi-year analysis in the opening section of this report offers a short answer: Companies do not always move in tandem. While some have responded to community need at levels that far exceed their contribution levels in 2007, other companies have cut back.
American Express Foundation President on Service, Local Communities and Leadership
The Taproot Foundation's mission is to lead, mobilize and engage professionals in pro bono service that drives social change. This interview with Tim McClimon, President of the American Express Foundation and a CECP member, originally appeared on the Huffington Post on September 8, 2011. To read more of Aaron Hurst's interviews and reflections, visit the Pro Bono Junkie's Blog.
Aaron Hurst
President and Founder
Taproot Foundation
September 9, 2011 -- Tim McClimon is the President of the American Express Foundation, one of the most innovative leaders in philanthropy today. He has a rare ability to see opportunities to make an exceptional impact for both the community and the company's bottom line. We talked this week about how he has translated his vision and insights about the community into powerful programs at American Express.
9/11 is a very personal day for American Express employees given that your HQ is across the street from Ground Zero and you lost 11 employees that day. How did you decide to honor that day by becoming the lead sponsor for the September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance?
We had to look at our strengths as a company. Our real strength is in service; we depend on having high quality customer service to attract and keep our customers. It's ingrained in our culture here. We felt that the way we could participate in remembering that day would be to engage in something we know very well.
