Giving in Numbers

2009

Based on corporate contributions data from 137 leading companies, including 55 of the Fortune 100, this edition of Giving in Numbers features a comprehensive study of 2008 corporate giving. The full report is available in its entirety and also available in specific PDF sections as detailed below:

Full Report. Download (PDF).
Executive Summary. Download (PDF).
Giving and the Economy. CECP investigates the economic impact on total giving and presents the myriad reasons for changes in giving. This section also includes a special look at how financial results affect giving and how philanthropy budgets are set. Download (PDF).
Comparing Industry Data Sources. For the first time, CECP compared its findings to key results from other prominent research in the field of corporate philanthropy in order to identify where alignment and disagreement occur. CECP offers this analysis in the spirit of collaboration, to illustrate that while sample sizes and valuation standards may differ, a number of similar trends emerge within the field of corporate giving. Comparisons included the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Foundation Center, and Giving USA. Download (PDF).
Fortune 100 Analysis. Despite sustaining greater profit declines than their non-Fortune 100 peers, 60% of Fortune 100 companies increased giving from 2007 to 2008. The Fortune 100 chapter in Giving in Numbers details this finding among other trends in corporate giving for America’s largest public companies. Download (PDF).
2008 Benchmarking Tables. The 2008 Benchmarking tables present key data points from the Corporate Giving Standard Survey. Each table allows companies to locate themselves within a category by Industry, Pre-Tax Profit, Revenue, and Employees, and then identify the median calculations for similar companies. Download (PDF).

> Download the full report (PDF)

2008

Based on corporate contributions data from 155 leading companies, including 69 of the Fortune 100, this edition of Giving in Numbers features a comprehensive study of 2007 corporate giving. Report highlights include:

Increase in Total Giving. Despite the mixed economic climate, corporate giving was decidedly higher in 2007 than in 2006; median total giving climbed from $24.67 to $26.05 million based on matched-set data; giving as a percentage of pre-tax profit increased from 0.93% to 0.96%; and 66% of companies gave more in 2007 than in 2006.
Explaining the Changes. Reasons for increased giving include continued strong profits, greater emphasis on philanthropy by senior management, and improved contributions tracking. Companies that decreased giving cited the softening economy, corporate spin-offs, the conclusion of multi-year grant programs, and a drop in disaster-relief funding.
The Role of the Economy. Since not all companies with increased profit gave more, and the majority of companies with decreased profit increased their corporate contributions, this suggests that a company’s financial performance is just one of many factors influencing corporate giving.
The Fortune 100: Surge in Total Giving. Among the matched set of 56 Fortune 100 companies participating in the 2006 and 2007 surveys, 57% of companies showed an increase in pre-tax profit. Despite this, total giving among the Fortune 100 was stronger in 2007, median total giving grew from $45.7 to $49.6 million, and 71% of Fortune 100 companies gave more in 2007 than in 2006.

> Download the report (PDF)

2007

This edition of Giving in Numbers is based on 2006 giving data from 136 companies, including 55 of the Fortune 100. Report highlights include:

Total Giving Increased. Companies reported higher giving in 2006 than in 2005. Among the matched set of companies responding to the survey in both years, the median dollar value of contributions increased to $32.6 million from $29.5 million.
Reasons for Increased Giving. The most frequently cited reasons included continued strong profits, improved measurement of pre-existing giving, corporate growth by mergers and acquisitions, the launch of new multiyear funding initiatives, and more accurate valuations of pro bono services.
Reasons for Decreased Giving. Explanations for decreased giving were: a decline in noncash giving among manufacturing companies, a drop in matching-gift participation, a reduction in philanthropy budgets, and the conclusion of multiyear grant programs.
The Fortune 100. In terms of median total giving, the typical Fortune 100 company contributes $50.1 million, more than double the median value of other companies. Fortune 100 companies are likelier to have a corporate foundation, their community investment professionals are responsible for disbursing more funds annually, and a greater percentage of their grantmaking is targeted to international recipients.

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2006

This report offers an in-depth analysis of the findings from the 2005 Corporate Giving Standard (CGS) benchmarking database. Report highlights include:

Total Giving Increased. Companies gave significantly more in 2005 than in 2004. Among a matched set of companies participating in the survey, the median dollar value of contributions increased from $32.9 million in 2004 to $37.7 million in 2005. Within the same set of companies, 77% gave more in 2005 than in 2004.
Disaster Relief. Because of unprecedented natural disasters, including the Gulf Coast hurricanes and the Asian tsunami, disaster response played a significant role in corporate philanthropy in 2005. The median contribution to emergency relief for the Gulf Coast hurricanes alone was $2.0 million.
Matching Gifts. Matching gifts as a percentage of total giving rose from 7.7% in 2004 to 9.7% in 2005, largely a result of special employee match programs put in place to provide disaster relief.
The Fortune 100. Based on total giving provided by 40 companies in the Fortune 100, the typical Fortune 100 company contributed $69.2 million, more than twice the $29.0 million median for the aggregate.

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2005

Adding It Up: The Corporate Giving Standard provides an analysis of the findings from CECP’s 2004 corporate philanthropy measurement survey. CECP and Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship collaborated on this publication. Report highlights include:

Total Contributions. Based on data from 72 leading companies, businesses provided $7.6 billion in philanthropic contributions in 2004, excluding an additional $198 million in giving for the December 2004 Asian tsunami.
Low Management Costs. The costs of managing corporate philanthropic programs represented a median of 5.7% of total giving. For every million dollars given to charity, only a fraction (0.26%) of a full-time employee’s efforts was dedicated to managing these transactions.
Contributions by Giving Type. While the typical company was more inclined to make cash contributions (71.8% of total giving), product donations comprised the majority dollar value of aggregate giving. Slightly more than $5 billion of the $7.6 billion represented the fair market value of equipment, products, services, and other noncash items donated.
Giving as a Percentage of Pre-Tax Profit. Total giving accounted for a median of 1.2% of pre-tax profits. The five largest companies in the survey (based on pre-tax profits) reported median giving that made up 0.55% of pre-tax profits and the five smallest companies reported median giving that made up 2.12% of pre-tax profits.

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