Companies increased philanthropic giving in 2010, with a large portion of the increase coming from pharmaceutical companies, according to preliminary survey findings announced by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP).
The preliminary findings show that 65 percent of companies gave more in 2010 than they did in 2009, with 40 percent of companies increasing giving by 10 percent or more.
[See also: Charitable giving for U.S. healthcare plunged 11 percent in 2009.]
However, median total giving, indicative of the typical company’s giving in the CECP sample, remained largely unchanged at $24.88 million. Aggregate total giving surpassed 2009 levels by almost 18 percent, driven by increases from a handful of companies. More than half of this increase can be attributed to pharmaceutical companies that made significant investments in their signature initiatives or donated more medicine through their Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs).
In addition, upward shifts were also driven by the consumer staples, financials, industrials and iInformation technology sectors, most of which gave 20 percent to 30 percent more in 2010 than the year before. In contrast, the consumer discretionary and utility industries reported reduced aggregate giving.
Setting these 2010 gains in context, CECP found that 53 percent of companies gave more in 2010 than in 2007, before the economic crisis set in.
CECP’s survey on 2010 contributions included 184 companies, 63 among the top 100 companies of the FORTUNE 500 list, combining to report a total of more than $15 billion in cash and product giving. To more accurately report on year-over-year trends, CECP narrowed the analysis to a matched-set of 110 companies which responded to the survey in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. These companies account for approximately 84 percent of total giving in CECP’s survey.
“In looking at our four-year matched set,” said Alison Rose, Manager of Standards and Measurement at CECP, “we were struck by the divergent paths of companies from pre-downturn giving levels: In 2010, a quarter of companies increased giving by 25 percent or more than 2007 levels, while 21 percent of companies reduced contributions by 25 percent or more. This shows that while some companies have been able to surpass pre-crisis levels, others are still in a period of rebuilding.”
Companies frequently cited the impact of corporate financial performance on giving budgets as reasons for both increased and decreased giving in 2010. Seventy percent reported increased profit, with 50 percent reporting increases of 10 percent or more. For some companies, this improved corporate performance contributed to expanded corporate giving levels, but for others, the enduring economic uncertainty resulted in reduced giving budgets.
Among other reasons for increased contributions, giving professionals reported additional funding for disaster relief and recovery efforts for the major disasters of 2010 (including the earthquake in Haiti and the Pakistan floods), heightened contributions for signature philanthropic programs and areas of strategic focus and combined budgets that exceeded historical contributions resulting from mergers and acquisitions.
The full survey report, “Giving in Numbers, 2011 Edition,” will be available in the fall.