{"id":6144,"date":"2025-01-09T13:54:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T13:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/?p=6144"},"modified":"2026-09-05T16:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T16:15:47","slug":"study-corporate-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/study-corporate-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Season of Giving, Corporations Aren&#8217;t Particularly Charitable"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"box-container\">This story originally appeared on BuchhaltungsButler and was produced and distributed in partnership with DataPulse Research.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Despite record profits, a new analysis finds that companies today don\u2019t donate as generously as they used to.<\/em><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019Tis the season to be giving! Charitable donations are historically concentrated in the final weeks of the year, specifically between \u201cGiving Tuesday\u201d (the week following Thanksgiving) and the last day of the year. It\u2019s during this period that people are in the religious and holiday spirit. It\u2019s also when nonprofit organizations blast fundraising campaigns\u2014and when donors rush to qualify for tax deductions. In fact, nonprofits raise between 17% and 31% of their online donations in December alone, according to data from Donorbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But not everyone pulls their weight and despite record profits, company donations are down. Last year, charitable donations totaled $557 billion. Just $37 billion of that\u2014or a measly 6.6%\u2014came from companies. Corporate America donates through cash and in-kind contributions, as well as grants and gifts made by their company-affiliated foundations &#8211; but why, when many companies are making more, are they giving less? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While $37 billion is an impressive sum on its own, it\u2019s the smallest share of all giving sources. Through the last four decades, corporate giving has stubbornly hovered around 5% of all donations, even as other sources like bequests (from wills and trusts) and independent foundations (unaffiliated with corporations) have grown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/iNKAR\/?dark=true\" height=\"auto\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){\n        if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){\n            var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");\n            for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)\n                if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){\n                    var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";\n                    e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the record profits that companies have enjoyed in recent years, it\u2019s perhaps alarming that there isn\u2019t a greater share of philanthropic funding coming from the business sector. That\u2019s why <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buchhaltungsbutler.de\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BuchhaltungsButler<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a software accounting firm based in Germany, and research experts at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DataPulse Research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, teamed up to uncover what\u2019s happening behind the scenes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team analyzed historical data from Giving USA, which publishes an annual report on the country\u2019s giving trends in conjunction with the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lilly Family School of Philanthropy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at Indiana University, and data from the business council Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP). The team also pulled insights from studies and research by Urban Ins<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">titute<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, NonProfit Source, America\u2019s Charities, and Double the Donation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the topline findings from the analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Total charitable giving has surged over time<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The amount of charitable giving generally mimics the strength of the U.S. economy. Despite some dips, such as during the great recession of 2008-09, overall donations have grown significantly, even when adjusted for inflation. American entities and individuals gave today\u2019s equivalent of $200 billion in 1983; they gave $550 billion in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/LQ7o6\/?dark=true\" height=\"auto\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){\n        if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){\n            var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");\n            for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)\n                if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){\n                    var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";\n                    e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Corporations have contributed to that overall increase, boosting their donations from around $13 billion in the \u201880s to $37 billion in 2023. Indeed, both corporate giving and overall giving has tripled over the last 40 years. (That\u2019s in line with the country\u2019s GDP growth, which has also tripled during that period.)<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Multi-billion-dollar companies are falling short<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies should be setting aside 1% of pre-tax profits for \u201ccommunity investment,\u201d according to CECP, an organization that has benchmarked corporate giving over the last 23 years by analyzing data of multi-billion-dollar companies. The firms they\u2019ve tracked include AT&amp;T, Google, Best Buy, Hasbro, Kroger, Walmart, Bank of America, Cigna, CVS, FedEx, Dow, Microsoft, Dell, and some 600 others across many industries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In CECP\u2019s latest report, which was based on a survey of 219 companies, the median giving amount was $22 million, and the median share was 0.92% of pre-tax profit\u2014which falls short of that 1% standard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/kMj5R\/?dark=true\" height=\"auto\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){\n        if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){\n            var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");\n            for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)\n                if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){\n                    var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";\n                    e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the extremely successful businesses perform a little better. Among the 49 companies on the Fortune-100 list, the median giving amount was about $82 million and the median share was 1.22%. The dollar amount reflects both cash giving and non-cash giving, such as product donations and pro-bono services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Companies were much more generous in decades past<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Historical records indicate that donating at least 1% of pre-tax profits was more commonplace before the turn of the century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between 1983 and 2003, U.S. companies consistently donated between 1% and 2% of their pre-tax profits to charitable causes. But in all but four of the last 20 years, businesses have fallen short of that target, according to an analysis of data from Giving USA, an organization that estimates corporate donations in the U.S. using IRS records and other sources.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/Rn5cq\/?dark=true\" height=\"auto\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){\n        if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){\n            var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");\n            for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)\n                if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){\n                    var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";\n                    e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even in the few years when companies have met the goal, they\u2019ve done so only by a hair. In 2023, for example, corporate giving amounted to 1.03% of pre-tax profits.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Profits haven\u2019t bolstered donations<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In general, when profits go down, so too do charitable donations. It makes sense. When the economy is contracting, companies become more conservative and discretionary spending takes a hit. However, that same logic doesn\u2019t track during periods of economic growth; especially in recent decades, corporate giving hasn\u2019t increased during more prosperous times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 1980s and \u201890s, companies donated at least 1% of their pre-tax profits regardless of whether the economy was experiencing an upturn or a downturn. In fact, there were several years when donations went up even as profits went down. That trend changed in the bubble leading into the Great Recession. During the boom\u2014the early 2000s\u2014corporate giving did not increase in tandem with profits. Then the recession hit and companies pulled back even more. Things didn\u2019t get better from there; corporate giving remained low during the economic recovery period of the early 2010s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/tYdCE\/?dark=true\" height=\"auto\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){\n        if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){\n            var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");\n            for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)\n                if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){\n                    var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";\n                    e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2019 and 2020, corporate giving finally looked like it might catch-up. Donations jumped in those years, despite profits being fairly flat. The following year donations jumped for a third time, but profits also surged, widening the gap once again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Largesse that\u2019s still lacking<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a big picture sense, total charitable giving in the United States has grown over the decades, and corporate donations have no doubt played a role in that growth. Even during the last two decades, when businesses have generally been giving less than 1% of their profits, the actual dollar amounts donated have increased.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s more, corporate giving has shot up to record highs in just a half decade. Adjusted for inflation, donations had ticked up gradually from $11 billion in 1983 to $23 billion in2018. Donations have also surpassed $35 billion in each of the last three years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/FBUxY\/?dark=true\" height=\"auto\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    !function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){\n        if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){\n            var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");\n            for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)\n                if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){\n                    var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";\n                    e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this largess, there\u2019s still the question of what more companies can do. The answer seems apparent, if companies look to the past.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a seemingly bygone era, charitable giving was simply a bigger part of the balance sheet. After years in the weeds, corporate America finally seems to be on track to meet the recommended standard of giving away 1% of its pre-tax profits. The season of giving could be upon us once again. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-business"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6144"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10798,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6144\/revisions\/10798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.datapulse.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}