Global Companies Say Charity Key to Business, Survey Finds

By Harvy Lipman

Nine out of 10 multinational companies say they recognize that supporting charitable and other community programs represents a potential source of business for them, according to a new survey by the Conference Board.

Two-thirds of the 198 companies that participated in the survey said corporate-citizenship issues are of growing importance for business. But most said that they are unable to measure the extent to which efforts to help society affect their business performance.

Three activities topped the list of the types of community involvement the companies practice: Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) said they try to pay attention to the concerns of the cities and towns where they manufacture and sell their products, as well as other localities that are affected by their products’ use or disposal. More than half (55 percent) said they are involved in corporate giving to worthy causes. A similar proportion (52 percent) said they are working on issues involving the environment and global warming.

More than half the companies, however, said they lack an active strategy to develop new business opportunities arising from those concerns, the report found. Corporations that do find ways to link their business to their support of social causes have much to gain, said David J. Vidal, research director for Global Corporate Citizenship at the board, citing the example of General Electric, which has focused on finding ways to manufacture energy-efficient products. “It saw an emerging need for clean technologies as the promise of the future, and so has bet millions on the strategy,” Mr. Vidal said. “The risk of being a producer of environmentally unfriendly technology was converted into the opportunity of creating new, cleaner ones.”

The full report, “Reward Trumps Risk: How Business Perspectives on Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Are Changing,” is available only to members of the Conference Board. For information, contact the board at (212) 759-0900, http://www.conference-board.org.