Company heads say businesses should do more for charities and
communities
7 December 2009
Businesses may be set to give more support to charities and
communities according to a new survey by the Charities Aid
Foundation (CAF a registered charity) with 100 heads of medium and
large companies. The majority (82%) agree that companies should do
more for charities and communities and 77% of those surveyed think
that community investment is an area of increasing importance for
industry as a whole.
All those surveyed run companies that operate a community
investment programme and despite a feeling that they should do more
the vast majority (91%) said that current corporate contribution to
society is undervalued by the public.
Russell Prior, Executive Director of Enterprise and Philanthropy
Development at the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “Such strong
support from the top means there is a great opportunity to increase
community investment. Business leaders are telling us that they see
community activities as core to their companies. Nearly two-thirds
(60%) of them said that genuinely sustainable business is only
viable with a strong CI programme and 82% are motivated to have a
CI programme because they see it as good business practice.”
Nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents said that government has
a role to play in encouraging companies to increase their community
investment. Only one fifth think government is doing enough. Most
(88%) felt that increasing tax relief on donations would encourage
companies to give more and 70% would support the government
introducing a universal payroll giving scheme.
Russell Prior said: “Giving through your payroll with a scheme
like Give As You Earn is one of the easiest and tax effective ways
to give but only 44% of PAYE employees have access to it. It is
easy to set up a payroll giving scheme for employees and if it were
mandatory for employers to offer it in the same way as a
stakeholder pension millions more would go to charity and wouldn’t
necessarily mean donors giving more. When a basic rate taxpayer
gives £10 in this way it only costs them £8.”
When asked what CSR professionals could do to develop community
investment, engaging employees more effectively and focusing on
local communities rather than national ones were seen as key. Half
agreed that in the future CI will be increasingly driven by
concerns about climate change.
Notes to Editors:
- research carried out for the Charities Aid Foundation by GfK
with 100 CEOs, MDs, COOs, and Presidents of companies with no less
than 500 employees. Companies spanned industries including finance,
retail, communications, manufacturing, professional and legal
services, utilities, construction and property, pharmaceutical,
manufacturing and transportation. Research was conducted between
5th and 12th November 2009.
- the Charities Aid Foundation is a charity set up to help other
charities by working with donors, companies and charities to
encourage and facilitate a culture of giving. They do this by
offering products and services that make giving easier, tax
efficient and help charities to make the most of donations through
their banking and fundraising support services.
Media contact
George Leigh
Press Officer
T: 03000 123 272
M: 0796 018 2471
E: gleigh@cafonline.org