The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently ensured its place in the annals of headline caution when it ran with the following lede: “Some Big Charities Favor Cash Handouts to Aid Pakistanis.” For years, non-profits have been urging charitably minded individuals and companies to send cash, as opposed to product donations. 

But attitudes within the corporate community are rapidly evolving away from cash and toward contributions that showcase unique competencies.

BCLC has directly experienced this sea-change. Lockheed Martin hosted and ran our annual disaster exercise at its Center for Innovation in Suffolk.  This contribution was priced at a value of over $250,000, and Commonwealth of Virginia representatives told us that the exercise directly contributed to their preparedness for this upcoming hurricane season (potentially starting with Earl this week). 

Deloitte arranged for the California Endowment to host our West Coast resilience workshop.  FedEx is helping us map charitable logistics challenges in Haiti, while Microsoft is working on software to make the whole process of coordination more transparent.  While there might be cash components in some of these cases, the real value is being driven by their unique competencies, connections, and experience. 

What are the factors contributing to these changes? 

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Last Wednesday evening, a very interesting discussion took place at the United Nations headquarters. So interesting, in fact, that panelists and members of the audience thought it would be wise to post the questions here to encourage further dicussion. But first, a little background.

The opening session of the “Investing in the Millennium Development Goals” forum, co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber BCLC and the U.N. Office for Partnerships, focused on the role of the private sector in philanthropy and the future of CSR. A prestigious group of experts participated in the panel discussion:
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The Haitian disaster has captured the sympathies of corporate America. Companies mobilized over $60 million in just three days — and now, one week later, $83 million+ has been pledged (See our announcement today on CNBC).

By way of comparison, most companies held off until almost a week had gone by after the Southeast Asia earthquake and tsunami in late 2004. By the time we are done, the Haiti corporate response will certainly place in the top five responses by the private sector to an international disaster. 

But where are we going with this process? We know that Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the earthquake. We know that it was voted one of the 10 most corrupt places in the world, a hot spot for tropical diseases, with horrible housing and worse health care. 

Now we have reports that up to 100,000 have been killed and up to 1 million are homeless or have some kind of significant housing damage. We’ve also learned that the Haitian presidential palace was damaged, and that the earthquake has severely affected Haiti’s government and leadership class.

In addition, the top two UN officials on the island were killed — this is one of the worst disasters for the UN in history.

I am afraid that the crystallizing images of this disaster will be the dead buried in the rubble, the wounded caked with dust, the supplies bottlenecked at the airport, or the looting and violence that desperate people often resort to in the aftermaths of disasters.

I know many of you will be under huge pressure to make decisions, make large gifts, and then face the expectation for immediate results. Please tell your stakeholders that they call these kinds of situations “disasters” for a reason.

However, the key is not how much money we give, but whether we make intelligent decisions about what we are going to do moving forward. 

Herewith are a few ideas for consideration: Read more…

By BJ Parker, a professional writer with more than 10 years’ experience writing business education materials for Thomson and Cengage Publishers. His articles and pedagogy appear in books on management, organizational behavior, business communication, and advertising, including contributions to Archie B. Carroll’s Business and Society series.

The desire for “peace on earth, good will towards all” is especially strong at the end of the year. Christmas and Hanukkah spread a message of cheer, and people everywhere take time off to be with family and to help people in need.  It’s a time of busy preparation: there are parties to host, foods to bake, toys to deliver, and New Year’s resolutions to make.
 
It’s also a time for good corporate citizenship. Each year after Thanksgiving, businesses kick into high gear to make the season bright.  Retailers set the mood with Christmas tunes and decorations, and associates offer warm holiday greetings that Americans prefer most.
 
Like many holiday revelers, businesses find ways to don the robes of St. Nick this time of year. During the month of December, employees at Lockheed Martin donated 700 Bicycles and $130,000 to Fort Worth, Texas, charities. Executive Vice President June Shrewsbury explained her team’s excitement in sharing the fruits of their labors.

“There has been a literal buzz around the office pertaining to the Holiday Charity Drive,” Shrewsbury said. “Our employees work all year to make sure that the children and families in our community have the wonderful holiday season they deserve.” Lockheed’s philanthropy will continue long after the holidays, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for local organizations and individuals.
 
The magic of the season spread to other companies as well. As winter holidays are a time of family entertainment, it seemed fitting that Walmart and Disney would host a free viewing party for Disney’s animated film “The Princess and the Frog.”  The companies gave “pink-carpet” treatment to more than 350 kids from Boys & Girls Clubs of America (photo credit: Walmart Media Relations).  Frank Sanchez, the club’s vice president of corporate relations, expressed gratitude on behalf of the kids: “Little girls always dream of being princesses when they grow up, so we are very excited that Walmart has given so many girls the chance to experience this magical opportunity.”
 
Corporate philanthropy is typically planned in advance, but some acts of corporate kindness happen in the moment. After attending the funeral of a child, businessman Jon Nappa, owner of Bruin Computers in Liverpool, gave a truckload of Kmart overstock merchandise to needy citizens  in Baldwinsville, New York. Word of the $120,000 donation spread fast despite Nappa’s wish to remain anonymous.
 
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By Alison P. Rose, Research Specialist, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy

Along with other stakeholders in corporate philanthropy, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) seeks to understand how the economic conditions have impacted the level and timing of corporate giving. As the close of another year draws near, we pause to reflect on the recent tumult that has surrounded corporate giving programs and the non-profit partners they support. Economic uncertainty has exposed the growing demands on nonprofit organizations to provide critical services, while the funding needed to maintain such operations has become increasingly scarce.

In November, CECP released the latest edition of Giving in Numbers, an annual report on corporate giving trends available for free download (quick registration required).  Based on corporate contributions drawn from 137 prominent companies, including 55 of the Fortune 100, this year’s edition provides an analysis of 2008 corporate contributions, explaining the impact of the first year of the economic crisis on corporate giving.

 2008 in Review

The world watched in 2008 as the stock market plummeted; equity prices for every industry finished in deeply negative territory for the year.  As such, it was not surprising that 68% of corporate respondents reported declines in corporate profits from 2007 to 2008. This decrease in profits was quite severe for many respondents, with 29% of companies seeing pre-tax profits drop by a quarter or more, and 16% of companies suffering outright financial losses for the year (not just profit declines).

Continued Contributions

However, despite the dramatic economic pressure, 53% of surveyed companies nonetheless increased their giving from 2007 to 2008, with 27% of companies increasing giving by 10% or more.  Among the companies that gave more, direct cash increased by a median of 7%, foundation cash remained relatively stable, and non-cash contributions soared by a median 29%. In a time when cash grants were limited, non-cash giving—such as product donations, pro bono service, use of company facilities, and equipment donations— helped to connect nonprofits with highly-valued assets that they may not have been able to afford otherwise, especially in a declining economy. 

Reasons for Changes in Giving

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By BJ Parker

With just 11,000 jobs lost in November instead of the 130,000 expected by economists, Americans are increasingly hopeful that a jobs recovery is in the works.

Despite that good news, the U.S. jobless rate is hovering at 10 percent, and this number doesn’t include part-timers or millions of despondent workers who have given up looking for employment. With these “underemployed workers” added in, more than 17 percent of America is either out of work or forced to accept a part-time schedule.

Put mildly, this is a national crisis.

But as White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel famously quipped before a gathering of business leaders, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” From the perspective of corporate social responsibility, not letting a crisis go to waste means rethinking the role of business in society—and that means taking a fresh look at the CSR Pyramid.

As the CSR Pyramid illustrates, businesses have a primary economic responsibility to “be profitable.” Resting on this foundational responsibility are three additional responsibilities: the legal responsibility to obey the law, the ethical responsibility to do what’s right and avoid harm, and the philanthropic responsibility to be a good corporate citizen. The top-tier citizen role is exemplified by firms like Wegmans Food Markets, a company whose food-bank sponsorship and other philanthropic efforts recently earned BCLC’s 2009 Corporate Stewardship Award (pictured: Danny Wegman accepts the 2009 Corporate Stewardship Award).

When an economy goes south, we are forced to reexamine the myriad social benefits a business gives to society. Take Wegmans for instance. This Rochester-based grocery chain began in 1915 as a mom-and-pop shop, yet today the company employs 37,000 people. That’s 37,000 Americans who can afford housing, provide food for families, own transportation, buy clothes, or perhaps even own an HDTV. The social benefit here is enormous, especially when compared to the standard of living of unemployed workers who struggle for the basic necessities of food, water, shelter, and clothing. In terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Wegmans meets the base physiological and safety needs of 37,000 people simply by operating its core business successfully. In this light, the “be profitable” responsibility of a business offers more benefits to society than most realize.

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Katy McElligott is regional development officer for the Grameen Foundation.

Grameen Foundation is ready to launch both our new Web site and our online fundraising effort that aims to create a community of online advocates and funders that will spread GF’s messaging throughout their networks.

You know how important the work we’re doing is to improve the lives of the world’s poorest through access to microfinance, information and technology. Already, your contributions and activities have enabled Grameen Foundation to build large scale, easy-to-replicate solutions to help end the cycle of poverty in developing countries around the world.

Today is launch day, and we’re planning a wide awareness campaign to juxtapose the small amount of the original $27 loan made by Muhammad Yunus with the tremendous impact made by Grameen Foundation. To celebrate this spirit, we are asking people donate $27 (or more) today, October 27th – “$27 on the 27th,” in short.

To successfully launch this effort online, we need your help. We are seeking a group of generous donors willing to contribute to a pool that we can use as a matching challenge. The goal is to provide an incentive to new donors who hear about the $27 on the $27th campaign, letting them know that each dollar they give will be matched by friends of Grameen Foundation.  

The 27 on the $27th campaign will be repeated in November and December as well.

We are also asking our current supporters to join us in getting the word out about the launch of “$27 on the 27th” in the days leading up to and following October 27th. There are several options:

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As reported by the BCLC blog, the Asia breakout session at the 2009 Global Corporate Citizenship Conference began with a statement of concern about the disastrous situation caused by the recent tsunami, earthquake, and typhoon. 

At the conference luncheon following, Gerald McSwiggan, head of the BCLC’s Business Disaster Assistance and Recovery Program, shared an Asian disaster summary that included an appeal letter from the Executive Director of the American Chamber Foundation of the Philippines asking for donations for the flood victims. 

The urge to act was overwhelming, especially with the potential to move the appeal from a simple copy of a faxed letter on a conference table, to something that has global reach—and importantly, potential for global donations. 

With the help and support of BCLC, and a fast introduction to the American Chamber Foundation of the Philippines, you may now view and act on the live appeal on the Foundation’s ammado profile. 

By way of introduction, ammado is a Dublin-based internet enterprise that has built an advanced communications and giving platform connecting socially responsible companies to a network of international nonprofit organizations toward a goal of positive social change. 

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By Sue Santa, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, The Philanthropy Roundtable

The congressional summer recess grants us a moment to pause and think critically about legislation on the horizon. While there are rumblings about energy and education, healthcare is the behemoth that will nearly eclipse the autumn sun.

We can generally expect that a segment of the American people will shoulder the burden of healthcare reform through a mixture of tax increases and reduced tax incentives. Regardless of your personal feelings on the subject, you may want to consider the unintended consequences of this legislation on philanthropy and possibly your corporate giving programs.

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Today the Office Depot Foundation, led by President Mary Wong, donated 1,225 backpacks containing essential school supplies and $1,225 to a foundation created by an 11-year-old boy.

Young philanthropist Zach Bonner founded the Little Red Wagon Foundation — at the age of seven — in order to raise awareness about the plight of the 1.3 million homeless children in the United States and to spur action to solve the problem. Zach’s tactic was to walk … for three years and across 1,225 miles.

The Office Depot Foundation’s donations represent the 1,225 miles that Zach walked from his home in Tampa, Florida, to the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building, where he arrived this morning.

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