January 24, 2002 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Donations to U.S. charities by 129 of the nation’s largest corporations rose in 2000
by an average of 13 percent from their 1999 level, according to a new survey by the Conference Board, in New York.
Corporations that responded to the survey, which was conducted in the spring and summer of 2001, said they thought giving would remain flat in 2001. But the Conference Board said it believes giving fell last year because of the economic slowdown.
The Conference Board, a nonprofit research group financed by businesses, gathered data from 207 corporations on the cash and in-kind gifts they made in 2000. The companies reported gifts totaling $3.9-billion to nonprofit groups in the United States and $2.8-billion to groups overseas.
Among the 129 companies that participated in the Conference Board’s study of corporate giving in both 1999 and 2000, contributions to U.S. nonprofit groups rose from $2.55-billion to $2.89-billion. That rise followed a 17-percent increase among a similar group of companies from 1998 to 1999 and a 10-percent increase from 1997 to 1998.
Future Trends
Even though giving by companies has increased in recent years, the Conference Board cautions that some trends in the 2000 data point to less growth and even a decline in future giving. For example, company giving as a percentage of pre-tax profits fell from 1.2 percent on average in 1999 to 1 percent in 2000. In addition, total giving per employee was $336 in 2000, down 23 percent from 1999.
Reductions in corporate employment in 2001 suggest that growth in company contributions could have flattened or even declined last year, said Conference Board researcher Amy Kao, who wrote the report summarizing the survey results.
The Conference Board does not predict how the September 11 attacks may have affected corporate giving in 2001. As of mid-October, corporations had pledged $473-million to relief efforts, the report says. But it is difficult to tell whether the potential reductions in corporate donations caused by the economic downturn will offset any extra September 11-related giving, Ms. Kao said.
Contributions by pharmaceutical companies totaled more than those by companies in any other industry in 2000, according to the Conference Board. The nine pharmaceutical corporations surveyed gave a total of $882-million to U.S. charities, an average of $98-million per company. However, cash donations by the companies totaled only $242-million, meaning that $640-million — or 73 percent — of the gifts were in the form of in-kind donations. The in-kind gifts included medicine, other pharmaceutical products, and patent rights, Ms. Kao said.
The computer and office-equipment industry was the only other in the survey in which in-kind gifts surpassed cash gifts.
Much of the in-kind giving by pharmaceutical companies was to health and human-services charities, which attracted the most corporate donations in 2000 — 32 percent of the total, or $1.3-billion. They outpaced education groups for the first time since 1997.
Groups engaged in culture and arts activities, including museums, arts councils, theaters, performance groups, and nonacademic libraries, received 9 percent of the donations, or $353-million. Gifts to environmental, housing, and community-development groups totaled $481-million, or 12 percent of the total. Both categories received levels of support that were consistent with past trends.
International Gifts
In addition to the almost $4-billion that companies donated in the United States, 73 of the companies reported donations totaling $2.8-billion to overseas charities.
The median international gift — meaning that half of such gifts were higher and half lower — was $1.1-million, up 28 percent from 1999. The Conference Board said it is difficult to make year-to-year comparisons, however, because of inconsistencies in data reported to the research group.
Copies of the report, “Corporate Contributions in 2000,” can be obtained through the Conference Board’s customer-service department at (212) 339-045, via e-mail at orders@conference-board.org, or through the group’s Web site at www.conference-board.com. The reference number for the report is 1308. The report costs $45 for members, $180 for nonmembers, and $20 for scholars and other researchers.
