Clarifying statistics on corporate giving

To the Editor:

Although I was very pleased to see an article on our two most recent research studies in your February 7 issue (“Companies Urged to Update Their Charitable-Giving Plans”), I felt it was important to clarify some parts of the story that might be confusing to your readers.

For instance, the writer’s decision at times to discuss the findings of the two studies collectively was in some cases misleading, in that while the two reports cover similar topics, their participants and focus — and therefore their results — are quite distinct. This blending of the two studies’ findings may have contributed to some of the story’s misleading conclusions.

For example, the article correctly noted that virtually all companies surveyed in both studies believed they should donate strategically, but then stated that our data showed that “many companies said that, despite those intentions, their giving failed to advance those goals.”

In fact, the majority of the respondents in the domestic study said their giving did advance their strategic goals, and in the global report, 91 percent of multinationals said their community-involvement programs benefited their companies in the United States and abroad (with the top three benefits being enhanced brand awareness, improved employee retention and recruitment, and improved relationships with partners and government officials).

Also, regarding CEO involvement, your story noted that “only half of chief executives personally contribute time to charitable activities,” which is only partially accurate.

While we stated that CEO’s are not as engaged as they should be, and the findings of our domestic research showed that just 47 percent volunteered at company-sponsored events, the data also showed that 60 percent of CEO’s contributed to charitable activities by sitting on nonprofit boards.

Linda Gornitsky
President and Founder
LBG Associates
Stamford, Conn.