Courtney Murphy
Manager, Strategic Engagement
CECP

February 13, 2013--Last week, I had the opportunity to tour the Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery projects in the Far Rockaways in Queens with Points of Light as part of their Corporate Service Council meeting. Being a New Yorker myself, I was eager to see first-hand the areas affected and to witness the tireless work of rebuilding.  Representatives from New York Cares, a Points of Light affiliate, guided us as we drove down Rockaway Boulevard, where less than half of the businesses have re-opened. In the first two months since Sandy made landfall, New York Cares volunteers have filled 14,000 slots on 924 disaster-related projects, where they “mucked out” (i.e., cleared out anything that sustained water damage) more than 300 water-damaged homes in an effort to get residents back in their homes.

It was crucial for New York Cares to organize the initial outpouring of volunteers so they wouldn’t get in the way of the city’s first responders. Even now, several months later, New York Cares serves as the primary source of relief operations in Brooklyn and Queens, with efforts expected to continue through the spring and into the summer. This organization runs busses of volunteers from lower Manhattan to their staging site every day. Projects progress from “muck out” to mold removal before the eventual rebuilding can begin.

 

 

Gerald Borenstein
Chief Financial Officer
Good360

February 6, 2013--How charities value non-cash gifts drew a good deal of attention in the press this year, and most of it was negative. Recently, Good360, the nonprofit leader in product philanthropy, joined Raffa, P.C., Crowell & Moring LLP and CECP to explore the topic of in-kind valuation in a free webinar for both nonprofits and corporations. The recorded webinar can be found here.

Since we weren’t able to answer all the questions during the webinar, we’d like to take this time to recap some of the main takeaways and clarify some of Good360’s common practices. It’s important to highlight that Good360 always consults CECP’s Valuation Guide – it’s a wonderful resource and tool when tough questions arise.

Q: If donation value is not provided by the donor, how do you suggest we figure this out?

A: Donations should be valued considering three factors:

Usual Market

• The price that buyers actually pay for similar property
• Where the donor sells property in a wholesale market, it is inappropriate to value the contribution at the property's retail sales price?
• Are discounts generally applied?

Time and Place

• Particularly relevant with perishable or dated items, such as food, drugs, and agricultural products

Quantity Contributed

• The value of a quantity of goods exceeding normal retail amounts may be less than the retail value, even where the donor's "usual market" is retail

 

 

 

Alice Korngold
President and CEO
Korngold Consulting

December, 17, 2012--Through service on nonprofit boards, business people from Fortune 500 companies bring valuable experience and expertise to bear in helping nonprofits to achieve their vital missions. A highly effective board will fulfill its work in partnership with the head of the nonprofit organization by envisioning the organization’s greater potential, creating the revenue model and maximizing financial success, and ensuring the organization’s integrity and high-impact results.

In order to accomplish its work, the board must be comprised of people with diverse perspectives and backgrounds who have experience in a variety of areas including strategic planning, organizational development, board governance, finance, law, and communications. The most effective board members are passionate about the organization’s mission, fully committed to the organization, and enthusiastic about contributing and raising valuable resources that will advance the organization. These resources include both financial and human capital, so board members who can access business volunteers with skills in IT, social media, market research, human resources, and other particular areas can be most helpful.

 

 

 Margaret Coady
Director
Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy

Originally posted on NCOC's website as a featured discussion, http://www.ncoc.net/GivingInNumbers_2012.  Interview betwen Alice Murphy, NCOC and Margaret Coady, CECP

November 27, 2012--Alice Murphy: Looking at the context you provide in this report, it seems like corporate giving is beginning to stabilize after the economic downturn. Could you provide a short narrative illustrating how corporate giving has weathered the economic crisis?

Margaret Coady: You have the headline exactly right: CECP’s data show that corporate giving has regained lost ground and stabilized from a low point in 2009.

Companies had been steadily increasing their giving until 2009 – we saw this in the survey data from 2006, 2007, and 2008. It wasn’t until 2009 that giving levels contracted. Anecdotally, they were doing all they could to keep giving levels high--trimming their administrative budgets and coming up with creative ways to deploy resources. A few companies were able to give more in 2009 largely through increases in non-cash giving (e.g., product, facilities, pro bono service).

Despite uncertainty about the health of U.S. and global markets, companies have been quick to restore their past giving levels. Some were able to do so in 2010 and others in 2011. Our survey data suggests that giving will remain flat in 2012.

Report author Alison Rose reflects on the findings

 

 

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.

Interview conducted by Aaron Hurst, president and founder, Taproot Foundation
The Taproot Foundation's mission is to lead, mobilize and engage professionals in pro bono service that drives social change. This interview with Bobbi Silten, President of Gap Foundation and Senior Vice President, Global Responsibility for Gap Inc. originally appeared on the Huffington Post on July 6, 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

August 3, 2011 -- One of the best parts of my job is meeting amazingly smart and cool people. This week I talked with Bobbi Silten, the President of Gap Foundation and Senior Vice President of Global Responsibility for Gap Inc., about her killer career, her passion for service and how her background in business is key to running a successful foundation. Besides being sworn in as a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions earlier this year, Bobbi is the central force behind the Reimagining Service collaborative, increasing the impact of volunteerism.

Corporate Philanthropy is Looking Up
On July 13, CECP was invited to lead a VolunteerMatch Best Practice Network webinar, titled "Giving in Numbers: Emerging Trends in Corporate Giving." In this post, Jesse Fineman of VolunteerMatch provides a recap of the discussion. This post originally appeared on the VolunteerMatch blog. 

Jesse Fineman
Intern, VolunteerMatch
Guest Contributor, CECP Blog

July 21, 2011 -- Even as our economy recovers from a downturn, surveys show that corporate giving levels have risen. Alison Rose, Manager of Standards and Measurement at CECP presented these findings and more in “Giving in Numbers: Emerging Trends in Corporate Philanthropy” on July 13th. This webinar was part of our continuing Best Practice Network series.