# Company giving in UK still 'disappointing'

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2002/09/03/company-giving-uk-still-039disappointing039/
- Published: 2002-09-03T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The new edition of “The Guide to UK Company Giving” shows that cash donations and
community contributions from businesses in the UK have changed little in the past
ten years, remaining disappointingly low.
Looking at cash donations and total community
contributions over a ten year period (1990/01 ­to 2000/01) for the top 400 companies,
cash donations and total community contributions have more than doubled in monetary
terms. However, when expressed as a percentage of pre-tax profits they have remained
pretty much constant.

In 1990/01 cash donations amounted to £133 million (0.25% of pre-tax profits) with
total community contributions amounting to £225 million (0.42% of pre-tax profits).

In 2000/01 cash donations were £286 million (0.24% of pre-tax profits). Total community
contributions were £499 million (0.42% of pre-tax profits).

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[⌊[Smyth - UK Company Giving - cover]⌉⌊[Smyth - UK Company Giving - cover]⌉[Researcher 
at the Directory of Social Change and author of the guide, John Smyth said: “The
Directory of Social Change, amongst others, has consistently encouraged corporate
support of voluntary sector and community groups. It is sad to see, therefore, that
over a ten-year period the top 400 companies on average have failed to reach even
the accepted minimum standard of donating 0.5% of pre-tax profits to charity. In
fact, our research shows that giving in real terms has actually declined despite
improved catch-all methods for calculating community contributions being available.

“It appears that whilst some companies have the capacity, skills and resources to
make a real difference in their local communities, and do, others exhibit a distinct
lack of will to follow suit. Until the majority walk the talk of corporate social
responsibility, support for charity appears unlikely to improve to any significant
degree in the near future.”

“The Guide to UK Company Giving”, now in its 4th edition contains valuable information
for voluntary and community organisations seeking to raise money or win support 
from companies. You can order it from publishers the [Directory of Social Change](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/mailto:uk****@*****rg.uk?subject=ISBN-1903991021%20order%20enquiry%20-%20Guide%20to%20UK%20Company%20Giving)
or online from Amazon.co.uk for £25.

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