The PerCent Club says in-kind giving is up. The Guardian says total giving is down when measured as a percentage of profits. (But did ITV really give 10% of its pre-tax profits away last year? If so, shareholders should be asking management some tough questions. More likely, they are overstating their broadcast time, claiming the notional worth to the community as the cost to the company.) Six months ago the Charities Aid Foundation rather spoilt its survey showing an increase in giving by attributing half the total to just one company, GlaxoSmithKline. Indeed equivalent surveys in America are bedevilled by the inclusion of apparently huge donations by that sector’s behemoths.
If reputable organisations publish dodgy data, does any of the resulting confusion really matter? After all, individual companies are increasingly professional about what they do in this area – community projects clearly linked to the strategic business case, with measures in place to assess the payback on the investment for company and community. And long ago the London Benchmarking Group sorted out a robust evaluation framework that’s there for those who want to use it. (Here Briefing must declare an interest, as our publisher manages the LBG on behalf of its corporate members.) It’s just that we feel the value of individual efforts would be enhanced if the sector as a whole – companies, community beneficiaries and their intermediary organisations – could work together to present a full and accurate picture of the good they achieve.
Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 85 – January, 2006
Mike Tuffrey is founding editor of Briefing and a director of The Corporate Citizenship Company.