Which of America’s big companies are the most philanthropic? Each year The Chronicle of Philanthropy does a major project on corporate giving, and compiles two lists, one that tallies philanthropy in terms of raw dollars and another that looks at giving as a share of pre-tax profits.
The magazine’s 2012 lists look at 2011 giving as a share of 2010 profits. We think the list that shows giving as a percentage of profits is the most meaningful, because it demonstrates what share of its fortune a company is willing to put into doing good, while the cash list is in some measure based on the size of the company.
For instance, ExxonMobil, the nation’s largest company by revenues, is number three on the cash giving list, but gives away only 0.4% of its pre-tax profits. Click here for the list of companies with the highest cash giving.
This year the Alcoa tops the list of companies that give the largest share of its pretax profits is Alcoa, In 2011, the giant Pittsburgh-based aluminum manufacturing company gave away 6.7% of its $548,000 in 2010 pretax profits.
The total cash amount: $36.6 million. According to Suzanne Van de Raadt, communications manager at the Alcoa Foundation, the company has two giving streams.
More than half of the philanthropic dollars flow through the 60-year-old foundation, which has a total endowment of $445 million.
The company and the foundation share the same two philanthropic priorities: environmental causes and so-called STEM education, for science, technology, engineering and manufacturing.
The environmental programs the company funds include an initiative to plant 10 million trees around the world between 2010 and 2020.
To that end, Alcoa is working with three non-profits, American Forests, Greening Australia and the Nature Conservancy, which has a large reforestation project in Brazil.
In STEM education, Alcoa underwrites efforts such as community colleges that coordinate with local manufacturers and a program to teach elementary and middle school students about model airplanes and applied aerodynamics.
The environmental and STEM programs take up about half of the foundation’s giving. The other half is distributed through local Alcoa offices, which set their own priorities.
For instance, in New York City, Alcoa gives to hunger relief organizations including God’s Love We Deliver and Citymeals-on-Wheels.
Second on the list of companies that give the greatest share of their profits is New Jersey drug maker Merck & Company, which gave 4.4% of its $1.653 million in 2010 pre-tax profits, or $72.6 million.
In third place: Minneapolis-based food conglomerate General Mills, which gave 4% of its $2.2 million in 2010 pretax profits, or $88.7 million. To put together its lists, The Chronicle sent a survey to 300 of the nation’s largest companies by revenues.
This year the magazine compiled data on 166 companies, culled from survey results and tax forms. (For more on the survey’s methodology, click here.)
Of the 166 companies that supplied data, 115 made two years of numbers available.
Among that group, charitable donations increased just 4% in 2011, far less than the 13% rise from 2009 to 2010, when most companies had a rebound in profits following the recession.
The Chronicle also asked survey respondents about their giving plans for 2012. More than seven in ten said they anticipate their philanthropy budge.
Some 17% said they would give more and 2% plan to donate less.
forbes.com
The magazine’s 2012 lists look at 2011 giving as a share of 2010 profits. We think the list that shows giving as a percentage of profits is the most meaningful, because it demonstrates what share of its fortune a company is willing to put into doing good, while the cash list is in some measure based on the size of the company.
For instance, ExxonMobil, the nation’s largest company by revenues, is number three on the cash giving list, but gives away only 0.4% of its pre-tax profits. Click here for the list of companies with the highest cash giving.
This year the Alcoa tops the list of companies that give the largest share of its pretax profits is Alcoa, In 2011, the giant Pittsburgh-based aluminum manufacturing company gave away 6.7% of its $548,000 in 2010 pretax profits.
The total cash amount: $36.6 million. According to Suzanne Van de Raadt, communications manager at the Alcoa Foundation, the company has two giving streams.
More than half of the philanthropic dollars flow through the 60-year-old foundation, which has a total endowment of $445 million.
The company and the foundation share the same two philanthropic priorities: environmental causes and so-called STEM education, for science, technology, engineering and manufacturing.
The environmental programs the company funds include an initiative to plant 10 million trees around the world between 2010 and 2020.
To that end, Alcoa is working with three non-profits, American Forests, Greening Australia and the Nature Conservancy, which has a large reforestation project in Brazil.
In STEM education, Alcoa underwrites efforts such as community colleges that coordinate with local manufacturers and a program to teach elementary and middle school students about model airplanes and applied aerodynamics.
The environmental and STEM programs take up about half of the foundation’s giving. The other half is distributed through local Alcoa offices, which set their own priorities.
For instance, in New York City, Alcoa gives to hunger relief organizations including God’s Love We Deliver and Citymeals-on-Wheels.
Second on the list of companies that give the greatest share of their profits is New Jersey drug maker Merck & Company, which gave 4.4% of its $1.653 million in 2010 pre-tax profits, or $72.6 million.
In third place: Minneapolis-based food conglomerate General Mills, which gave 4% of its $2.2 million in 2010 pretax profits, or $88.7 million. To put together its lists, The Chronicle sent a survey to 300 of the nation’s largest companies by revenues.
This year the magazine compiled data on 166 companies, culled from survey results and tax forms. (For more on the survey’s methodology, click here.)
Of the 166 companies that supplied data, 115 made two years of numbers available.
Among that group, charitable donations increased just 4% in 2011, far less than the 13% rise from 2009 to 2010, when most companies had a rebound in profits following the recession.
The Chronicle also asked survey respondents about their giving plans for 2012. More than seven in ten said they anticipate their philanthropy budge.
Some 17% said they would give more and 2% plan to donate less.
forbes.com
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