Opinion: Corporations Get Stingier as Profits Rise

Corporate contributions to charities as a percentage of pretax profits have steadily diminished over the past 30 years, writes Ken Stern in an opinion piece in Slate.

From an all-time high in corporate giving in 1986 at 2.1 percent of pretax profits to roughly 0.8 percent in 2012, Mr. Stern American companies play a small role in charitable giving. Corporations make up only 6 percent of private-sector donations and a little more than 1 percent of the $1.5-trillion charitable economy.

While Mr. Stern is clear to point out that corporate donations have grown in the past 30 years from $3.67-billion to more than $18-billion in 2012, a rise that exceeds inflation by 115 percent, he says giving as a percentage of profits is a better measure of philanthropy. And he maintains that the largest companies do not set a tone of generosity.