Majority of Companies Increased Giving from 2010 to 2013: Corporate Giving and Revenues Rise Together

New York, NY, May 20, 2014 /3BL Media/ - From 2010 to 2013, a majority of companies--64%--increased their community investments, which was driven by improved business performance and growth in non-cash giving. CECP, a coalition of 150 CEOs united in the belief that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance, released the Giving in Numbers Brief, an inaugural look at corporate giving trends based on Giving in Numbers Survey data from a record 261 companies carried out in association with The Conference Board. Companies that increased giving by more than 10% (52% of companies) since 2010 also increased revenues by 11% since 2010, signaling that societal engagement is not a financial tradeoff but a sound business strategy. Understanding that happy employees lead to increased productivity, among other benefits, companies used their community engagement strategies to tap into their employees’ interests and values, experiencing a 37% increase in hours volunteered on company time from 2010 to 2013 and expanded opportunities for further employee engagement.    

Infographic: Investing in Communities is Good for Business

“As CECP and companies build the business case for investing in solutions to societal challenges, we are very interested in seeing that generous companies are doing well financially. Investors, consumers, employees, and other stakeholders are increasingly judging a company’s value by its stake in the community, as the data suggest,” stated Michael Stroik, Manager, Research and Analytics.

Giving in Numbers Brief Fast Facts:

• 261 of the world’s largest companies took part in the 2014 Giving in Numbers Survey of 2013 corporate contributions.
• Giving grew for 64% of companies between 2010 and 2013, and it grew by more than 10% for 52% of companies. 
• Improved business performance was cited as the primary reason for giving more in 2013.
• Companies that increased giving by more than 10% since 2010 also increased median revenues by 11% since 2010, and pre-tax profits increased for 59% of those companies. 
• Participating companies had median revenues of $16 billion and median pre-tax profits of $1.9 billion.
• 76% of companies are measuring and tracking the societal outcomes and/or impacts of their investments and starting to use to the data to inform their core programs.
• How and where companies gave:
• 64% of companies made non-cash gifts, including product, pro bono, and other in-kind contributions in 2013.The average noncash gift increased by 66% for companies that increased by giving by more than 10% from 2010 to 2013.
• Community & Economic Development was the fastest growing program area, with total contributions increasing 34% from 2010 to 2013.
• For the second straight year, Education (K-12 and Higher Education) was the most popular funding area for the average company (28%) in 2013, slightly ahead of Health and Social Services (27%).
• Among companies making international contributions in 2013, the average company gave 22% of its total giving budget to recipients outside its headquarters country. 

Employee engagement was a major focus of companies as they became more strategic about their community investments and looked for new ways to provide a more rewarding work experience for their staff. 

• 59% of companies provided paid-release time volunteer programs in 2013, up from 51% in 2010.
• The median number of hours volunteered on company time grew 37% from 2010 to 2013.
• 50% of companies provided pro bono service programs in 2013, up from 34% in 2010.
• 86% of companies offered matching gifts programs in 2013.

Seventy six percent of companies are measuring the outcomes and/or impacts of their programs. However, many also report that they are just starting out and want to improve and expand these evaluation practices in the future. Many companies are measuring their core, signature programs and they are beginning to use the data to inform the way they carry out their programs. Companies care deeply about the effect their programs are having on the community and want to do more to measure their value.   

The Giving in Numbers Brief was released in front of an audience of 250 corporate societal engagement professionals at the CECP Summit. The Giving in Numbers repository now holds more than $250 billion in corporate societal investment data, collected since 2001.

Custom analysis of the data is available to CECP-affiliated companies at no additional cost; these companies can access data through CECP’s secure online portal or by calling CECP. 2013 data is now available online. 

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ABOUT CECP
CECP is a coalition of CEOs united in the belief that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance. Founded in 1999 by Paul Newman and other business leaders, CECP has grown to a movement of 150 CEOs of the world’s largest companies across all industries. Revenues of engaged companies sum to $7 trillion annually. A nonprofit organization, CECP offers participating companies one-on-one consultation, networking events, exclusive data, media support and case studies on corporate engagement. For more information, visit http://cecp.co.