Corporate Giving: the umbrella for how companies contribute to causes

What is corporate giving?

Corporate giving is the umbrella term for the charitable contributions a company makes. It spans direct cash donations, in-kind gifts of goods or services, grants, and the giving programs a company runs for its employees, the full range of ways a business channels resources to causes.

It is one of the main operational expressions of a company's corporate social responsibility. Where CSR is the broad commitment, corporate giving is a concrete part of how that commitment is delivered, through money and resources reaching the community.

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What forms does corporate giving take?

Corporate giving takes several distinct forms. There are direct donations and grants the company makes from its own funds; in-kind donations of products or services; employee giving programs such as payroll giving and matching gifts; and rapid contributions in response to emergencies.

These forms differ in who gives and how. Some are the company contributing directly; others are the company enabling and amplifying what its employees choose to give. Recognising the different mechanisms is the first step to managing them coherently rather than as unrelated activities.

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How is corporate giving different from employee giving?

The key distinction is who is doing the giving. Corporate giving, in the narrow sense, is the company contributing as an entity from its own resources. Employee giving is individual staff choosing to donate, with the company facilitating and often matching their contributions.

The two are complementary but should not be conflated. When a company reports its social contribution, it needs to be clear about what it gave directly and what its employees gave with its support, because they represent different commitments and are often treated differently for tax and reporting.

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Managing corporate giving in one platform

Because corporate giving spans direct donations, in-kind gifts and employee programs, seeing it whole is a genuine challenge. A grant management software platform brings these strands together, so a company can run its donation and giving programs consistently and report its total contribution to community investment accurately.