New York, NY, January 11, 2006--Total corporate contributions in the U.S. and abroad (among 189 corporations and foundations) amounted to $7.8 billion in 2004, the Conference Board reports today in its annual survey of corporate giving to worthy causes.
The Conference Board study compared 133 corporations and foundations between 2003 and 2004. U.S. contributions to worthy causes have increased by 22 percent among the country’s largest corporations and foundations.
Seventy percent of the 189 survey participants (133 companies and corporate foundations) participated in both the 2003 and 2004 editions of the study. These matched cases, representing 57 percent and 70 percent of the survey participants in 2003 and 2004, provide the most accurate analysis of year-to-year trends in U.S. giving. Total U.S. giving in 2004 among the matched sample was $5.5 billion.
In the matched sample, median U.S. contributions by companies and corporate foundations increased 4.57 percent from $8.1 million in 2003 to $8.47 million in 2004.
In addition, total U.S. giving from 189 of the largest companies and corporate foundations surveyed by the Conference Board amounted to $6.29 billion in 2004, while total international giving among this group amounted to $1.45 billion. This represents 65.8 percent of the overall estimated $12 billion in corporate charitable U.S. and international giving in 2004.
Corporate U.S. giving ranged from a low of $12,000 to a high of $887.6 million, with median U.S. contributions at $7.6 million compared to $4.6 million in 2003, an increase of 65.2 percent.
Health and human services top maintained its position as a top priority in U.S. corporate contributions by garnering approximately 54 percent of the U.S. contributions, compared with 17 percent earmarked for education, which ranked second.
“Strategic philanthropy continues to lead corporations to align their contributions programs more closely with their business missions,” says Sophia Muirhead, senior research associate at the Conference Board, and author of the report. “For the fifth consecutive year, the allocation of U.S. corporate contributions to both health and human services and education each exceeded $1 billion.”
Among matched-case respondents, there was a significant increase in giving to health and human services (72.48 percent) and civic and community (21.96 percent), and a slight increase in giving to culture and arts (1.51 percent). There was a slight decline in giving to education and the environment.
Sixty-two matched cases, representing 62 percent and 70 percent of the survey participants reporting international contributions in 2003 and 2004, respectively, provide the most accurate analysis of year-to-year trends in international giving.
The matched cases indicate that international corporate giving among the largest contributors is on the rise. Their total giving increased by 35.6 percent from 2003 to 2004. Among these matched cases, median contributions increased 2.92 percent, from $1.52 million in 2003 to $1.57 million in 2004. Most of the international budget consisted of non-cash donations from headquarters.
According to 141 respondents, their 2004 and 2005 giving to tsunami relief efforts totaled $260 million. Most corporate giving to tsunami victims occurred in the first two months of 2005 and was in the form of cash donations (63 percent). Among manufacturing companies, the trend was to donate non-cash (46 percent), while the preference among service companies was to donate company direct cash (60 percent). Fifty-nine percent of those giving to tsunami relief efforts reported that their giving was in addition to a preexisting general giving budget, and 19 percent reported a reallocation from a preexisting budget.
