Reports of the death of corporate philanthropy may be exaggerated, but if the 2012 Corporate Partnerships Survey is anything to go by there are clear changes. Celina Ribeiro pulls out some of the annual survey’s main findings.
>>Click here to access the full survey<<
There are two things which motivate corporate philanthropy: the desire to good, and the desire to be seen to do good.
Corporate social responsibility, according to the companies which have spoken to Fundraising magazine over the last year and a half, is no longer an add-on. It’s becoming a requirement of staff, customers and other companies alike.
But as many companies start to see the CSR solution in fair trade, carbon neutrality, workplace equality, and cleaning up their supply chains, where does this leave the hallowed tradition of charity of the year partnerships? Word around the charity traps is that charity of the year partnerships are under strain. Companies are expecting more and promising less.
So what has happened to charity of the year partnerships over the last year? Has the tough economic terrain put companies off partnering with charities? Are they going it alone, feeling the most effective, efficient way to be – and be seen to be – good corporate citizens is to practise a more ethical capitalism?
Fundraising magazine’s Corporate Partnership Survey 2012 has found that the recession has done little to radically change the philanthropic behaviour of companies. However, fewer charities participated in the survey, potentially indicating that fewer charities have corporate partnerships to report on.
It is a complex picture. Indeed there are many companies that are expanding their corporate social responsibility programmes, many which are raising increasingly more for their partners every year. But at the same time there is a steadily increasing emphasis on supporting charity partners via means other than a straight donation from the company’s bottom line.
