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Corporations Continue Charitable Contributions
NEW YORK -- Despite a less than stellar employment situation and the ongoing war in Iraq, total U.S. contributions to worthy causes have increased by 24% among the country's largest corporations and foundations, according to The Conference Board's annual survey of corporate giving to worthy causes. Among the 232 survey participants, 58% (134 companies and corporate foundations) participated in both the 2002 and 2003 editions of the study. In the matched sample, total U.S. giving among companies and corporate foundations rose from approximately $3.13 billion in 2002 to $3.88 billion in 2003, representing a growth of 24%. Median matched-case U.S. contributions amounted to $7.4 million, compared to $6.6 million in 2002, an increase of 12.88%. Average U.S. giving among these matched cases increased by 24% from $23.35 million in 2002 to $28.97 million in 2003, the survey found.The 24% increase in 2003 total U.S. giving by corporations in the matched-case sample surveyed surpasses the reported 4.2% (1.9% adjusted for inflation) increase for all U.S. companies from 2002 to 2003. In addition, total U.S. giving from 232 of the largest U.S. companies and U.S. corporate foundations surveyed by The Conference Board amounted to $5.73 billion in 2003. This represents 42.5% of the overall estimated $13.46 billion in corporate charitable giving in the U.S. in 2003, the survey found.Corporate U.S. giving ranged from a low of $50,000 to a high of $568 million, with median U.S. contributions at $4.6 million compared to $4.7 million in 2002, a decline of 1.3%. "The pharmaceutical industry has emerged as the largest industry giver in the U.S., with eight pharmaceutical companies being responsible for a third of the $5.7 billion in 2003 giving tracked by The Conference Board," said Sophia A. Muirhead, senior research associate at The Conference Board and author of the report. "This is a clear manifestation of the industry's corporate citizenship commitment to support causes related to health and human services." The matched cases indicate that international corporate giving among the largest U.S. contributions is on the rise. Their total giving increased by 13.82% from 2002 to 2003. Average giving among these matched cases increased from $8.96 million in 2002 to $10.2 million in 2003. Among these matched cases, median contributions increased 256.55%, from $1.34 million in 2002 to $4.76 million in 2003. Most of the international budget ($1.11 billion) consisted of non-cash donations (56%) from headquarters, the survey found.Support for health and human services maintained its position as a top priority in corporate contributions by garnering approximately 41% of the U.S. contributions budget. Pharmaceutical companies were the top donors in the United States, while other top industries include computers and technology; food, beverage and tobacco; and banks. Among industries, pharmaceuticals also donated the largest share of international contributions. Other top-donor industries include computers and technology; food, beverage, and tobacco; and transportation equipment, the survey found. In keeping with historical trends, the majority of contributions made by pharmaceutical companies consisted of non-cash donations."Among companies and corporate foundations that provided budget projections for 2004, we anticipate that companies with budgets in excess of $50 million will increase their U.S. non-cash contributions by 3% and their international cash contributions by 2%," Muirhead said. "All other cash and non-cash budgets generally are expected to stabilize from 2003 to 2004." Other survey findings include:Among companies that maintain corporate foundations, 53.2% made gifts to their foundations in 2003, down from 91% in 2002. While individual gifts varied widely in size (from a low of $10,250 to a high of $118.3 million), the median value of these gifts was $4.3 million, up from $4 million in 2002.Corporate foundations made charitable contributions (payouts) that exceeded the gifts they received from their parent companies (pay-ins) by $716 million in 2003.Visit The Conference Board: www.conference-board.org"