TCG Bulletin

August 2008, Volume 31, Issue 8

MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH

Giving USA 2008 Finds that Charitable Giving Topped $306 Billion in 2007
Report Finds Most Corporations Not Maximizing Philanthropic Opportunities

Giving USA 2008 Finds that Charitable Giving Topped $306 Billion in 2007

Giving USA 2008, a report researched and written annually by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, finds that charitable giving in the United States rose by 3.9 percent in 2007. The report also projects that every surveyed subsector (including Arts and Culture), except private foundations, is projected to have seen increases in 2007. According to the Center on Philanthropy, 2007’s increase is likely due to strong stock market performance in the first half of the year, overall growth in the economy and increases in corporate and personal income as reported at the end of the year.

Action: Visit the Giving USA website to order a full copy of the report. The report is available in several formats (book, e-book, CD presentation, newsletter etc.) The book costs $75.00.

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Report Finds Most Corporations Not Maximizing Philanthropic Opportunities

In the recent report Business’ Social Contract: Capturing the Corporate Philanthropy Opportunity, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy finds that only a small percentage of companies are “truly efficient” in their philanthropy. According to the report, efficient corporate philanthropy is characterized by strategic giving that engages CEOs and senior executive leadership, and is aligned with the company’s overall business strategy. The report finds that although the field of corporate philanthropy has become much more efficient and sophisticated since 1999, the year the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy was founded, there is still a large gap between companies leading in corporate philanthropy and the rest of the field. The report argues that unless CEOs take steps to close this gap, their companies will miss opportunities for both social impact and better business performance.