Corporate Support for Public Affairs Nonprofits

1. Corporate Support for Public Affairs Nonprofits

2. Corporate Philanthropy: Some Basics • There was relatively little corporate philanthropy before the 1960s. • Most large firms now make sizeable contributions to nonprofits. • Corporate contributions are mostly in cash, but some are in-kind. • Two channels of corporate giving to nonprofits: • Direct corporate giving • Corporate foundations

3. Motives of Corporate Philanthropy • Boosting sales and profits; coordinated with marketing and advertising • Enhancing conditions for long-term economic returns • Legitimation: presenting an image of social responsibility • Deterring and providing alternatives to government programs • Coopting and building bridges to potential adversaries • Reducing corporate taxes

4. The Scale of Corporate Philanthropy • Corporate foundations made grants of $4.2 billion in 2006. • This constitutes 11% of all foundation grants. • Total corporate grants (including direct giving) were $13.8 billion in 2005. • If direct giving was included with foundation giving, corporations would account for 29% of all foundation grants. • Corporations account for roughly 5% of all private philanthropic giving.

5. Recipients of Corporate Foundation Grants in 2005 • Education 25% • Public affairs 22% • Human services 19% • Health 12% • Arts and culture 11% • International 4% • Environment and wildlife 3% • Science and technology 2% • Other 1%

6. Motives of Corporate Support for Public Affairs Nonprofits • Corporate conservatism: funding pro-business, right-wing organizations • Corporate pragmatism: building bridges to liberal and moderate organizations

7. Who Gives the Most? 50 Largest Corporate Foundations (2005) • Health and pharmaceuticals (N = 11) : $495 million • Banking and finance (N = 11) : $444 million • Insurance (N = 5) : $114 million • Energy, oil, chemicals, mining (N = 7) : $244 million • Motor vehicles (N = 4) : $169 million • Retail, consumer non-durables (N = 6) : $292 million • Telecommunications (N = 3) : $152 million • Miscellaneous (N = 3) : $75 million

8. Who Receives the Most? The Capital Research Center Data • CRC was founded in 1984 to combat “liberal bias” in corporate philanthropy. • Published “Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy” periodically through 2001. • Rated corporations on the liberalism/conservatism of their public affairs grants. • Ranked public affairs nonprofits from 1 (“radical left”) to 8 (“market right”). • Weighted grants by ideology and dollar amount to give each corporation an overall score. • Publicized results to CEOs in effort to influence corporate giving. • CRC report for 2001: includes 90 corporations and 357 nonprofits for the year 1997.

9. Top 50 Public Affairs Nonprofits Receiving Grants from 90 Large Corporations (1997) Policy Planning and Advocacy ■■■■ 2. Council on Foreign Relations $2,195,050 ■■■■ 4. Brookings Institution $1,722,000 ■■■■■■ 5. Chamber of Commerce $1,517,029 ■■■■■■■ 11. American Enterprise Institute $965,000 ■■■■■■ 15. East-West Institute $793,000 ■■■■■■ 16. Center for Strategic & International Studies $760,000 ■■■■■ 17. Economic Strategy Institute $575,000 ■■■ 18. Committee for Economic Development $547,500 ■■■ 20. Carter Center $480,000 ■■■■ 21. Ethics Resource Center $412,500 ■■■■■ 30. Rand Corporation $360,000 ■■■■■■■■ 32. Heritage Foundation $341,000 ■■■■ 33. National Alliance of Business $331,000 ■■■■■■■■ 37. Citizens for a Sound Economy $317,000 ■■■■■■ 38. Institute for International Economics $317,000 ■■■ 40. Aspen Institute $280,000 ■■■■■■■■ 44. Competitive Enterprise Institute $25,5000 ■■■ 46. Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies $247,000 ■■■■■■■■ 48. Manhattan Institute For Policy Research $222,000 ■■■■■■■■ 50. Cato Institute $220,000

10. Top 50 Public Affairs Nonprofits Receiving Grants from 90 Large Corporations (1997) Civil Rights ■■■ 1. Urban League $3,917,444 ■■ 10. NAACP $1,052,650 ■■■ 22. Anti-Defamation League $406,800 ■■■ 25. National Council of La Raza $392,000 ■■■ 27. National Council of Negro Women $381,667 ■■■ 42. League of United Latin American Citizens $260,500 ■■■ 43. National Organization on Disability $260,000 ■■ 49. Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund $221,500 Health and Human Services ■■■ 6. American Heart Association $1,303,985 ■■■ 12. American Cancer Society $943,509 ■■■ 13. Families & Work Institute $850,000 ■■■■ 19. American Federation for Aging Research $519,000 ■■■ 29. National Council on the Aging $363,500 ■■■ 35. Children’s Health Fund $325,000 ■■■ 36. Child Welfare League of America $320,000 ■■■■■■■■ 39. American Council on Science & Health $299,000 ■■■ 47. Children’s Defense Fund $227,500

11. Top 50 Public Affairs Nonprofits Receiving Grants from 90 Large Corporations (1997) Environment and Wildlife ■■■ 7. Conservation International $1,298,500 ■■■ 8. Nature Conservancy $1,285,145 ■■■■ 41. Resources for the Future $280,000 ■■■■ 41. Ducks Unlimited $262,500 ■■■ 45. World Wildlife Fund $250,260 Education ■■■ 9. National Education Association $1,243,105 ■■■■ 24. Public Education Network $394,200 ■■■■ 28. Education Commission of the States $378,900 ■■■■■■■■ 31. Students in Free Enterprise $350,500 ■■■ 34. National Head Start Association $325,705 Community Development ■■■ 3. Enterprise Foundation $1,940,750 ■■■■ 23. Points of Light Foundation $395,000 ■■ 26. Assoc. of Community Organizations for Reform Now $385,000 International Development ■■■ 14. Accion International $846,128

12. What Influences Corporate Giving to Public Affairs Nonprofits? • Hypotheses from research on corporate philanthropy: • Consumer goods industries contribute widely to promote image. • Corporations tend to concentrate grants in their local region. • Hypotheses from research on corporate PACs: • Traditional regulated industries are more pragmatic/bipartisan. • Defense contractors are more pragmatic/bipartisan. • Regulatory violators exhibit more right-wing partisanship. • Firms in South and Midwest exhibit more right-wing partisanship. • Hypotheses from research on policy board members: • Traditional regulated industries have closer links to moderates. • Sunbelt (South and West) firms have closer links to right-wing. • Hypotheses from research on corporate networks: • Firms with board interlocks exhibit similar political behavior.

13. Industry Differences in Corporate Giving Average CRC Rating (High = Right-Wing)

14. Regional Differences in Corporate Giving Average CRC Rating (High = Right-Wing)

15. Percentage Overlap in Nonprofits Supported by Dyads of Firms

16. Conclusions • Much corporate philanthropy is hidden, so any conclusions must be tentative. • Corporations contribute more heavily to public affairs than do other private foundations. • Corporations adopt a mixed strategy of conservatism and pragmatism. • Conservative grants are concentrated in the policy planning area. • Pragmatic (moderate/liberal) grants are concentrated in civil rights, health, and environment. • Variations in corporate giving follow a similar pattern to other forms of corporate political action. • More speculatively, corporate grants are of sufficient scale to have an impact on the program and politics of public affairs nonprofits. • Even more speculatively, relative to other funding sources, corporate grants are likely pull both left- and right-wing nonprofits toward the political center.

17. THE END