CSR - Charities hit by corporate stinginess

A timely article in the Telegraph for colleagues and students researching corporate social responsibility. The UK government wants to make 2011 the “year of corporate giving”. But evidence suggests that corporate philanthropy is on the decline. Some good examples are quoted and comparisons with the US are also illuminating. US firms are more generous than their British counterparts. The average FTSE 100 donation is less than 0.2 per cent of profits: many US companies donate 5 per cent!

An interesting example quoted in the article is that of Vodafone: “Vodafone, the £93bn mobile phone group, runs the world’s largest network of charitable foundations – 27 bodies in countries where it operates – but it cut its support sharply last year, reducing payments to its charities from £24m to £18m”