2010 Corporate Citizenship Report Reveals Many Areas of Giving in Silicon Valley Increasing Despite Economic Downturn

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 6, 2010 - Entrepreneurs Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation today released the 2010 Corporate Citizenship Report, a study examining how and why Silicon Valley companies participate in philanthropic and community initiatives. 

The Corporate Citizenship 2010 report revealed that despite the recession, giving in Silicon Valley has increased due largely to the growth of in-kind donations. The average corporate contribution per company in 2007 was $80,000. Today’s average is $100,000.   Although corporate giving strategies have changed in response to the economy, health and human services, and education remain the primary focus areas. Two significant changes, however, are increased funding for the environment and decreased funding for arts and culture.   “Corporations today understand that philanthropy is no longer a nice to have. It is an essential element of supporting and rebooting our civic and economic infrastructure,” said Diane Solinger, executive director, Entrepreneurs Foundation. “Companies and individuals are stepping up and digging deeply—volunteering and donating to community programs, global causes and work-related initiatives to help people survive an economic crisis in a valley with one of the highest costs of living in the nation.”   Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of the community foundation said, “It is remarkable that in the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, more than a third of the companies surveyed said they expect to increase their giving in the next two years. We applaud the commitment many of our region’s corporations have shown and urge all corporate leaders to develop innovative programs that allow them to participate in solving our region’s complex problems.” Additional highlights of the 2010 Corporate Citizenship report: ·      Fifty seven percent of the companies report that they contribute more than $1 million per year to charitable causes from their corporate foundations and all companies in the survey donate some cash.   ·      Twenty-seven percent of the companies pre-funded their corporate foundations with private equity. These companies, should they have a successful initial public offering or be acquired by a publicly traded company, have already designated significant assets towards philanthropy for future distribution.   ·      Reputation is essential to corporate success and 64 percent of respondents believe corporate citizenship plays an important role in reputation building.   ·      Sustainability is on the rise: 82 percent of companies reveal that their sustainability efforts are part of their overall corporate strategy with 73 percent of the respondents saying it’s becoming even more important.   ·      Forty-six percent of companies reported they have a formal volunteer time-off policy that enables employees to take a predetermined number of hours away from the workplace to volunteer.   ·      To help narrow the achievement gap in regional public schools that need additional technology to bring students up to standards, 35 percent of companies encourage employees to donate used computer or electronic equipment.   The full 2010 Corporate Citizenship Report is available for download at http://www.siliconvalleycf.org/ and  http://www.efbayarea.org/.   About The Corporate Citizenship 2010 Report The research was a collaborative project of the Entrepreneurs Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The researching organizations — Communications4Good, Creekside Communications and Jones PR — conducted quantitative and qualitative research with more than 100 member and affiliate organizations of the Entrepreneurs Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Research participants were contacted via e-mail and telephone and encouraged to participate in both an online survey and in-depth telephone interviews.   Additional outreach was facilitated in partnership with the Corporate Community Relations Consortium, Council on Foundations, Northern California Grantmakers, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and United Way Silicon Valley. Companies across a wide swath of industries in the greater Bay Area were interviewed. Participants provided details about programs, budgets, successes and challenges that informed and validated the statistical data collected from the survey.   About Entrepreneurs Foundation Entrepreneurs Foundation (EF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging high growth companies of all sizes in corporate citizenship and philanthropic efforts so that new and leveraged resources are generated for community benefit. Since inception, Entrepreneurs Foundation’s 850+ participating companies have created corporate philanthropic foundations and community programs that are making a positive impact in the social sector. To date, EF and its participating companies have engaged 24,000 employees who have contributed more than $25 million to support 650+ nonprofit and social benefit organizations worldwide. Please visit Entrepreneurs Foundation at www.efbayarea.org.   About Silicon Valley Community Foundation Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region’s most challenging problems and is now one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the community foundation has $1.7 billion in assets under management and over 1,500 philanthropic funds, including 40 corporate funds that awarded $16 million in grants in 2009. The community foundation provides grants through donor advised and corporate funds in addition to its own endowment funds. The community foundation serves as a regional center for philanthropy, providing donors simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org.

 C4G6512