During the pandemic, we saw a rise of corporations giving grant extensions, increasing their charitable donations, and redirecting their wealth from grant purposes to more immediate needs. Actually, 72% of corporations are increasing their main contributions to charities worldwide. A lot of change has happened over the past year and a half! So we’re going to do a basic overview of what exactly is corporate philanthropy.
What is Corporate Philanthropy?
Corporate philanthropy refers to the investments and activities that a company voluntarily undertakes to responsibly manage and account for its impact on society. These activities and investments can include money, donations of products, in-kind services, technical assistance, employee volunteerism, and other business transactions. These are given for the purpose of helping out or advancing a social cause, issue, or to advance the work of a nonprofit organization.
Corporations may feel like it is a responsibility of theirs to help out or give back to the community, because without the community, they wouldn’t be successful.
Seven Types of Corporate Philanthropy
The seven most common forms of corporate philanthropy are
- Matching gifts: Corporations will financially match the donations that their employees give to nonprofit organizations.
- Volunteer Grants: Corporations provide grants to organizations where employees volunteer regularly
- Employee & Board Grant Stipends: Companies award grants to employees/public boards to donate to a nonprofit organization.
- Community Grants: Companies award nonprofit organizations themselves based on a set of criteria.
- Volunteer Support Initiatives: Companies work with their employees, putting them with nonprofit organizations to provide support.
- Corporate Sponsorships: Companies provide grants to nonprofit organizations in return for the nonprofit to acknowledge that the corporation has supported them.
- Corporate Scholarships: Corporations provide scholarship funds to colleges for students seeking help in continuing their education.
Benefits of Corporate Philanthropy
When companies give to nonprofit organizations and value what they do, they benefit from higher employee engagement, employee retention, and they also attract a higher standard of workers interested in being employed. They also bring about a better, more positive work environment, enhanced customer relationships, consumer confidence, as well as a boost in the company’s public image and reputation.