“Only thing you got to remember is that even if you’re not having a good time, you got to act like you are.” “The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon,” Tom Spanbauer.

 

A recent Wall Street Journal article described current corporate philanthropy trends.  Attendance at charity balls is down.  Corporate giving is down and projected to continue its decline.  The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (www.corporatephilanthropy.org) recently published a report titled Business’s Social Contract: Capturing the corporate philanthropy opportunity shows that corporate giving is becoming more targeted as it is aligned with an individual corporation’s values and priorities. 

 

Also from the Wall Street Journal, a report on a philanthropy study done by the Center on Philanthropy and Bank of America.  Forty-six percent of wealthy donors (those with income of $200K or more net worth of $1 million or more) said their charitable donations have a “greater impact on their own personal fulfillment” than on those who receive their gifts.

And once again from WSJ, a description of President-elect Obama’s fund raising success since he announce his campaign intentions in early 2007.  As of September 2008,  $605 million had been contributed by 3.1 million supporters of Barack Obama.  Over half of these campaign contributors made small gifts of under $200.  The average gift to President-elect Obama’s campaign was just $86. 

What does this all mean?  Corporate gifts will be scarer because there is less money to go around and corporations are thinking more critically about the organizations they support.  Giving makes the individual feel good.  Small gifts make a difference.  As the economy continues to concern us all how will your giving be impacted?  How will you feel about the gifts you make?  How will those gifts make you feel about yourself?