Ara Serjoie
is the Vice President of Development
for Clark College Foundation
In a recent report titled Donating Our Dollars and Hours, Newsweek stated that an estimated $260 billion was donated in the United States in the last year to nonprofit organizations and charitable causes. The latest figure is the peak of a five-year high in philanthropy in this country. Although the increase may be partially in response to providing aid for victims of several disasters, the trends indicate a strong commitment by the American public to charity.
When I speak to various groups about philanthropy, I often ask them to identify the number one reason for such incredible generosity. Invariably, the first or second response presumes that people are giving in order to take advantage of tax deductions. However, the history of charitable giving in the United States dates back to our very first years as a nation. It was not until 1917 that tax deductions were allowed for charitable giving by individuals in the United States. In the years following the depression and during the Roosevelt New Deal era, Congress in 1935 finally allowed corporations to also claim a tax deduction for their philanthropic dollars.
The Newsweek report indicated that more than $14 billion of the charitable gifts in 2005 were provided by corporations. Over the years, as this figure has continued to grow, there have also been many advancements in the ways through which corporate entities conduct their philanthropy. Today, many mid-size to large companies have individuals on their staffs that focus on working with nonprofit organizations. While some of the smaller to mid-size companies plan for charitable giving through their advertising and marketing funds, almost all larger groups include philanthropy in their annual operating budgets.
In my opinion, it is inaccurate to classify all corporate giving as a way for those entities to gain notoriety and increase their sales. Certainly, the private sector has its goals and one of those is to conduct business in a profitable manner. However, whether funding for nonprofits is mixed in with their marketing or advertising dollars or simply as philanthropic giving, I have learned that most corporate donors have guidelines for dispensing their support that seek to do much more than just promote their business interests.
Corporations have taken steps to identify areas of need within their communities. Typically, their contributions focus on education, child and family services, economic development, self-sufficiency, health and human services and social justice issues. A select group of businesses continues also to provide sponsorships for fundraising events. However, in recent years, this form of support has been redirected for events that have a specific goal, such as raising funds for scholarships, adding books to the library collection, opening a new wing of the hospital and so on. Most nonprofits originally had started holding events as means of generating their operational dollars. However, corporations are now less willing to provide unrestricted support in the form of event sponsorships.
Many companies, beyond giving their dollars, also seek opportunities for their employees to get engaged in the activities of the nonprofit sector either as governance or operational volunteers. In some instances, such as with Habitat for Humanity, Race for the Cure and The Literacy Campaign, the volunteers are recruited by the company from their employee pool and given specific tasks to be completed within a certain amount of time with tangible outcomes that can be celebrated either in the form of a new house, money raised or students served. In other cases, intranet and other internal communication systems inform the employees at a company of volunteer opportunities.
Many large corporations recognize their employees’ generosity by matching their financial contributions at rates as high as 3 to 1. Others have chosen to also celebrate their employees’ volunteer work by making a donation in their honor to the nonprofit that is being served by that staff member’s gift of time and talents.
The partnership between the nonprofit world and the private sector has grown exponentially over the last two decades. These relationships have proven mutually beneficial in myriad ways for both entities. The most important outcome of the ongoing rapport between the private sector and the philanthropic sphere has been the sharing of resources, utilizing expertise, generating enthusiasm and creating a sense of responsibility for all of us to take a role in the strengthening of our communities.
