SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNALOctober 26, 2015 Page A5www.sdbj.comGiving Guide Supplement

Corporate Philanthropy Resources

Corporate Giving Options

1. Corporate Giving Program

Many corporations operate an annual giving program to make charitable grants, funded as part of their annual operating budgets. Business owners can blend their family business with family philanthro-py by channeling their charitable support through their family corporation(s). A cor-porate giving program has no independent endowment, and its budget is typically ad-ministered by corporate staff and directed by the CEO or an advisory committee of management staff members. A corporate giving program is not subject to the rules and regulations governing private corpo-rate foundations.

2. Corporate Foundation

A company can create a corporate foun-dation as an independent, tax-exempt pri-vate foundation. A corporate foundation is usually started with a single gift that can become the endowment, to which the company can add future contributions as it wishes. The foundation’s officers are usu-ally the company’s owners and key execu-tives, although leaders from headquarters communities are sometimes included. At some companies, employee committees make giving recommendations about proj-ects they believe are worthy of support. The corporate foundation is subject to the same rules and regulations applicable to other private foundations.

The Salesforce Foundation has some great sample documents to help companies create a foundation, including documents

Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)

The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) is the only international forum of business CEOs and chairpersons focused exclusively on corporate philan-thropy. CECP offers its members essential resources, in-cluding a proprietary online benchmarking tool, network-ing programs, research, and opportunities for best-practice sharing. www.corporatephilanthropy.org/

Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC)

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC) at the Carroll School of Management engages 400 member companies and over 10,000 individuals annu-ally to share knowledge and expertise about the practice of corporate citizenship through the Center’s executive ed-ucation programs, online community, regional programs, and our annual conference. www.bcccc.net/index.cfm

Council on Foundations The Council on Foundations (COF) provides its cor-

porate philanthropy members with publications, profes-sional development opportunities and other resources. www.cof.org/content/leading-corporate-philanthropy

Business Doing Good Business Doing Good is a practical resource focused on helping

small- to mid-sized businesses build give back programs into their organizations. www.businessdoinggood.com/

to help align your board and executive team, foundation executive and staff positions, and grant RFQs, budgets and agreements.  This matrix from EF (formerly Entrepreneurs Foun-dation) shows the various features of dif-ferent corporate foundation options.

Pros and Cons of Corporate Foundations (vs. giving programs):

Pros:• They can pay matching gifts out of

the foundation and won’t have to follow up for acknowledgments from nonprofits for IRS purposes.

• A company-sponsored foundation can in some cases (depending on how it is set up) insulate management from criticism about funding decisions.

• Some corporations use a foundation as a tool to: 1) engage outsiders and/or employees on the board, thus helping

with com-pany loyalty;

2) support an employee matching

fund; and 3) as a buf-fer and one stop shop for

grantseekers.

Cons:• There is no ability to co-mingle mar-

keting and philanthropy dollars, giving the corporation less flexibility.

• The rules and regulations on private foundations. Corporate foundations are subject to pay out, public disclosure and self-dealing rules and other rules that all private foundations are bound by. The self-dealing especially can be problematic for corporate foundations. If for example a corporate foundation buys a table at a charity fund raising event it cannot send corporate employees to sit at the table without technically violating the self-deal-ing rules. These kinds of situations can be handled by having the corporation buy the table, not the foundation.  Corporate

foundations need their own bylaws, grant cycles, giving guidelines, and missions.

• The process of setting up and main-taining any kind of private foundation: fil-ing incorporation papers, keeping records, filing 990PFs, etc (this can be mitigated by creating a corporate fund at a community foundation, as in #3, below).

3. Corporate FundCompanies can create charitable giving

vehicles, like donor advised funds, that are administered and managed by a public charity or community foundation.

4. Employee Matching & Non-Cash Giving

In addition to awarding cash grants to charity, companies often offer to match their employees’ gifts of cash and volun-teer time to nonprofit organizations.

Many companies assist and encourage their employees to give by organizing workplace giving programs (also known as “federated funds”) and by facilitating payroll deductions for employees’ charita-ble gifts.

Companies sometimes match gifts that their employees make through workplace giving programs.

Some companies also organize employ-ee workplace volunteer efforts, donate “in-kind” gifts of their products, or offer their services to charities on a free “pro bono” basis.

Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals (ACCP)

The Association of Corporate Contributions Profes-sionals (ACCP) is the nation’s leading independent orga-nization providing services and support for corporate con-tributions, community relations, and employee volunteer managers. www.accprof.org/

Corporate Citizenship Center The Corporate Citizenship Center (formerly the Busi-

ness Civic Leadership Center) is a 501(c)3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that works with leaders from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to address and act on shared goals. BCLC addresses societal issues that affect business, such as globalization, community de-velopment, disaster response, and more. www.uschamber-foundation.org/corporate-citizenship-center

The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc. The Philanthropic Initiative, Inc. (TPI) is a nonprofit

advisory team that designs, carries out and evaluates phil-anthropic programs for individual donors, families, founda-tions, and corporations. www.tpi.org/about

Reimagining Service Reimagining Service is a national, multi-sector coalition

dedicated to increasing social impact through effective vol-unteer engagement that provides research and other re-sources to achieve this mission. www.reimaginingservice.org/

Salesforce Foundation The Salesforce Foundation has some great sample doc-

uments to help companies create a foundation, including documents to help align your board and executive team, foundation executive and staff positions, and grant RFQs, budgets and agreements. www.salesforcefoundation.org/about-us/pledge1/

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) works with its global network of nearly 300 member companies to devel-op sustainable business strategies and solutions through consulting, research, and cross-sector collaboration. www.bsr.org/en/

San Diego Grantmakers

San Diego Grantmakers is a membership association of organizations and individuals that give strategically and significantly to multiple nonprofits each year, including corporate foundations and giving programs. www.sdgrant-makers.org

Conference Board The Conference Board is a global, independent business

membership and research association working in the public interest. Its mission is to provide the world’s leading or-ganizations with the practical knowledge they need to im-prove their performance and better serve society. https://www.conference-board.org/about/

If you own a family business or are an officer of a corporation, there are at least four options for you to consider for your company’s charitable giving: a corporate giving program, a corporate foundation, a corporate charitable giving fund, and employee matchingand non-cash giving. Read more about each option here.

Items on this page submitted bySan Diego Grantmakers

sdgrantmakers.org