Author | Bruce Farr
To give or not to give…
For large and small companies—as well as their employees—it’s hardly a question any longer. Now, it’s a matter of prioritizing “corporate social responsibility” and a company’s long-term strategies for giving, as well as how to support the volunteering and/or charitable work of employees.
Evolution of corporate citizenship
Corporate philanthropy is hardly a new idea; all manner of companies have been busy establishing direct channels to make financial and other in-kind donations to worthy causes for many generations.
The broad roots of modern-day corporate social responsibility really got their start in the 1970s and 1980s, when the contemporary idea of “corporate citizenship” began to take shape. The concept underscored the idea that businesses weren’t only in it to make profits. Rather, it suggested that—in the course of conducting their business—they also bore a social and ethical responsibility to aid in the welfare and well-being of their communities and citizens.
It was then that companies began to increase their public awareness of social causes, and established a moral imperative that they and their employees include giving back as a direct function of their business activities and their employment.
Corporate philanthropic has evolved further over the last decade. One of the key developments is how responsive corporate causes have become to the leading
cultural and political issues of our times. In fact, a recent survey in Forbes magazine revealed that in 2022, nearly a third of U.S. companies allocated new funding to support recovery and disaster relief in Ukraine as a result of the war in that country. Here at home, more than 90% of the companies surveyed reported an increase in funding that addresses racial inequality.
Today, the importance of corporate social responsibility can’t be overstated. Businesses—especially large corporations—are generally expected to take a leadership role in addressing social, educational, health-related and environmental challenges. That corporate mandate is reflected in innumerable strategies to actively fund charitable causes and organizations.
Customized volunteer experiences
One of the major outcomes of the emphasis on today’s corporate charitable giving is reflected in how many different opportunities it presents for employees to give back to their communities. Companies are clearly getting creative.
Project Angel Food, for example, is a Los Angeles County-based nonprofit that cooks and delivers healthy meals to people suffering from serious, disabling illnesses. The organization exists largely through individual, corporate and governmental donations, as well as individual and corporate-sponsored volunteering.
In fact, volunteers are the heart of Project Angel Food. Each year, thousands of local individuals, many of whom participate in corporate “give back” initiatives, dedicate more than 40,000 hours helping prep food in the kitchen, pack meals, deliver meals or help with administration.
Another program for corporate-sponsored volunteerism in the community is Dollars for Doers, which provides financial donations, or service grants, to nonprofits based on the number of volunteer hours corporate employees perform. According to Bright Funds—an organization whose sole purpose is to assist companies in developing corporate social responsibility strategies—for every hour volunteered, a company will match those hours at a designated rate-per-hour, and donate those matching funds to the charity where the employee volunteers his or her time.
Banking and giving
While it’s true that companies and corporations of all stripes are involving themselves in strategic charitable giving, banks and other financial institutions are in a particularly advantageous position to play a more pronounced role in aiding charitable causes.
Aaron Tunison, a senior vice president and senior wealth planning strategist for California Bank & Trust, sees this firsthand.
“Because it is their business to advise and assist their clients in the ways and means of financial planning, banks are in a unique position to further advance these worthy causes across the board,” he says.
Tunison notes that as an employee of CB&T, and in his very specific role of advising and educating clients on how to accomplish their charitable goals, the bank is fully behind charitable work and that philosophy of doing business.
“In my view,” he continues, “what’s interesting is that the emphasis on corporate giving to worthy causes has had a trickle-down effect on the employees of those companies. Company leaders are encouraging them to personally get involved in charitable organizations the company supports, as well as charities of their own choosing.”
Primarily, Tunison says, the bank’s responsibility in promoting charitable giving is a moral one. “It’s just the right thing to do. Anytime we have a client who is charitably inclined, it’s important to recognize and support that inclination to help others.”
From the bank employees’ perspective, that philosophy of giving back takes many forms, Tunison explains. “There are numerous CB&T bank employees who serve on the boards of a variety of charities. So, at any given time, there might be a lot of different charitable causes that the bank is supporting, either in the form of straight allocations of funds or through the ‘roll-up-your-sleeves’ activities our employees engage in to personally support those causes.”
Looking back at the past six years that he’s been with CB&T, Tunison says he’s seen more of that activity—that tendency for employees to get involved in charitable causes.
“Personally, I believe strongly in giving back to the community, so I think it’s fantastic that we’re seeing an increase of philanthropic involvement, whether it’s working in a soup kitchen or feeding the needy during the holidays and things of that nature.”
Gifting as part of estate planning
On the bank client side of philanthropic giving, it’s still the province of the wealthy, as Tunison points out. Although there are several avenues for less-affluent individuals to structure charitable giving into their estate planning, the overwhelming number—and amounts—of philanthropic investments are made by the extremely wealthy.
“In my world, a lot of times, people factor in the tax benefits of charitable giving into their financial planning, and that’s one of the primary drivers for this kind of estate-based planning,” he said. “Of course, there’s always an underlying commitment to the cause, to the mission of that charity. I even have some clients who go so far as to create their own foundations to support causes that they strongly believe in.”
Indeed, while tax breaks are a big factor in structuring charitable giving, legacy estate planning offers many individuals a chance to personally fulfill their lifelong goals for ongoing generational giving to their most heartfelt causes. And that’s precisely where Tunison says he devotes the bulk of his work on behalf of CB&T.
“In many cases, we’re helping our clients transition from having been a business client to a wealth management client, helping them continue to accomplish their personal financial goals.”
This involves developing sophisticated estate planning and business succession strategies. For clients interested in establishing multi-generational philanthropic giving into their estate planning, Tunison urges them to include their families in the discussions surrounding their goals.
“Regardless of what causes or charitable organizations you ultimately choose to support, keep in mind that, in addition to being personally fulfilling, it enables your family members to carry on that tradition of giving far into the future, and that is, without a doubt, a winning strategy for everyone.”
This content was originally published in our award-winning magazine In Your Corner. See Issue 15 here: In Your Corner Magazine | Fall 2023