At a Glance
Corporate philanthropy is structured giving, whether through donations, grants, volunteering, or disaster relief. It’s a voluntary action that builds social impact, brand trust, and employee engagement. With KindLink, businesses can manage fundraising, donation matching, payroll giving, and impact reporting while aligning their corporate philanthropic efforts with CSR and ESG strategies for long-term benefits.
Corporate Giving For Businesses
Businesses need to look beyond accumulating, and increasingly consider how they can make a meaningful difference in society. As companies continue to grow, so do their responsibilities towards the communities they serve. This is where corporate philanthropy comes in. Consumers and employees are increasingly inclined towards companies driven by a purpose, making corporate giving less of a side initiative and more of a strategic priority.
But what is corporate philanthropy, and why is it important for businesses today? We explore these questions and give corporate philanthropy examples in this guide.
What Is Corporate Philanthropy?
Corporate philanthropy is the voluntary actions that businesses take to give back to the community and society at large. It can be through monetary donations, employee volunteering, or other charitable activities that support social causes.
Unlike impromptu giving, corporate philanthropy is a more structured and strategic way of giving to social causes, often in line with an organisation’s culture and values. It's often a reflection of a company’s commitment to giving back and creating positive change while generating goodwill and improving its public image. A well-thought-out corporate giving programme has the power to build trust with its employees, customers, investors and other stakeholders.
It may seem like a modern business concept, but corporate philanthropy dates back to the late 19th century when prominent business leaders started investing in various philanthropic initiatives.
What Is the Difference Between Corporate Philanthropy and CSR?
Corporate philanthropy and CSR are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct purposes.
CSR or corporate social responsibility is a broader concept that covers a company’s overall social, ethical, and environmental commitment and responsibilities.
Whereas corporate philanthropy focuses on the actions businesses take for charitable causes. It focuses on direct giving through donations, grants, and volunteering. Corporate philanthropy is often a key component of an organisation’s overall CSR strategy.
In simpler words, corporate philanthropy is what a business gives back, while CSR is how a business operates responsibly.
Why Is Corporate Philanthropy Important?
Everyone talks about corporate philanthropy in today’s modern business age. But it’s more than just a gesture of generosity; it’s about creating tangible benefits for society and businesses alike.
Social Impact: By investing in communities, your company helps address pressing social challenges. Your contributions can create stronger and more sustainable environments.
Build Reputation and Brand Equity: Consumers today expect businesses to invest genuinely in activities that drive social impact. Corporate giving programmes and initiatives can help build your business’ reputation while demonstrating its integrity and purpose to society and its stakeholders.
Increased Employee Retention: Your employees are more likely to feel motivated and connected to your company when it’s actively involved in philanthropic activities. Employees tend to stay longer with a purpose-driven organisation.
Long-Term Business Impact: Contributing to causes such as sustainability or supporting community projects can benefit organisations in the long run. For example, investing in local community development projects can greatly improve the local residents’ quality of life by creating jobs and improving infrastructure.
Common Types of Corporate Philanthropy
Corporate philanthropy is applied widely. Some of the popularly practised approaches are:
Donations or Direct Giving
Direct giving is the most straightforward type of corporate philanthropy. It can involve donating funds directly to charities, non-profits, or community projects. These donations can be one-time or recurring every month through automated and structured employee payroll giving programmes. You can have your employees earmark funds for special causes in an employee non-profit account.
Donation Matching
Another popular way to engage your employees and encourage them to donate is through donation matching or matched giving. It’s a corporate philanthropic strategy where businesses match employee donations to eligible charities or non-profits. It’s a great way to inspire more employees to give and amplify the impact of the donations.
Grants
Grants are structured donations that allow businesses to fund projects or initiatives that are in line with their mission. Companies can offer grants in specific areas such as the environment, education, or related causes that have the potential to create long-term, measurable results.
Disaster Relief
Companies can step up and help people and communities, especially in times of need. When a humanitarian crisis or a natural disaster strikes, businesses can provide disaster relief by quickly helping and supporting with direct financial donations, in-kind contributions like supplies, or launching emergency funding appeals.
Volunteering
Volunteering is the most powerful and impactful form of corporate philanthropy. Businesses can encourage employees to pledge their time and talent to causes they care about. Through corporate volunteering programmes, offering paid time-off for volunteers, and organising volunteering days and events, companies can make a lasting difference, one volunteer at a time.
UK Corporate Philanthropy Examples
Many businesses in the UK commit to corporate philanthropy, but only a handful lead by example. Here are a few UK corporate philanthropy examples that show how businesses can be a force for change.
British Airways’ Flying Start
This is a corporate philanthropy initiative by British Airways, in partnership with Comic Relief. It’s a programme to help disadvantaged children in the UK and globally, and offer them a better start in life.
Their fundraising efforts have raised over £24 million, reaching over 800,000 people.
Barclays’ Community Aid Package
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Barclays UK committed to supporting charities with a £100m Community Aid Package. Through partnerships with 370 trusted charity partners, they aided frontline relief efforts, from food distribution to financial advice. Furthermore, their 100x100 programme allowed UK charities to apply for donations of £100,000 each to support COVID-19 relief work.
These corporate philanthropy examples clearly show that businesses can scale philanthropic contributions while they align with their company’s values and resources. From funding environmental initiatives to supporting mental health projects, SMEs are also making their mark in corporate philanthropy, proving that these actions are not limited to large, global businesses alone.
How KindLink Helps Businesses - A Case Study
Here's how we helped one of the world's largest banks' CSR programme become more digital, accessible and engaging.
-
Our platform helped their internal CSR team manage complex philanthropic tasks, be it organising campaigns to collating data and reporting.
-
We offered an organised and secure way of managing and reporting activities.
-
Some of the results include more than 70 organised corporate social impact campaigns and an employee engagement rate of over 60%.
KindLink for Corporate Philanthropy Efforts
Here's how we support your corporate philanthropy strategy:
Corporate Giving: Raise corporate funds and donations easily from one platform. We don’t charge a fee for your fundraising, matched or online donations, with 100% going to your charity.
Donation Matching: Automate and manage donation matching, increasing engagement without the administrative hurdles.
Payroll Giving Software: Set up an easy, automated way to give, encouraging your employees to donate from their salaries or pensions.
Grant Management: Set up, track, and report on grant distributions with ease, with KindLink’s software handling the process from start to finish.
Volunteering Platform: Coordinate employee volunteering opportunities, track participation and impact while boosting greater employee participation.
Corporate Disaster Relief and Emergency Response: KindLink offers your business the tools to provide relief when disaster strikes.
Impact Tracking and Reporting: Track your results, from CO2 offset and kWh energy saved. Show your stakeholders how funds and time are being used through KindLink’s reporting tools, building trust and accountability.
By using KindLink as your corporate philanthropy platform, your business can align philanthropy with its broader CSR and ESG strategies, with every action and contribution, be it financial or voluntary, delivering measurable outcomes for communities as well as businesses.
Book a demo to learn more about our corporate philanthropy solutions.
