# Ethical records on top corporate donors published

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/05/26/ethical-records-top-corporate-donors-published/
- Published: 2005-05-26T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Information on the ethical records of the UK’s top 25 corporate charity donors 
is now available online at no charge from Ethical Consumer Information Systems.

Access to this information will enable charity fundraisers, campaigners and policy
makers to scrutinise the ethical records of some of the UK’s largest organisations.
Fundraisers might be surprised at the records of some of the top corporate donors
to charities, based on Ethical Consumer Information Systems’s (ECIS) information.
Visitors to ECIS’ stand at Charity Fair 2005 exhibition were presented with a league
table that highlighted the true ethical performance of the top corporate donors 
to charities.  The league table was based upon the Ethiscores compiled by the organisation’s
Corporate Critic database and the Directory of Social Change’s own table that appeared
in its recent edition of ‘The Guide to UK Company Giving 2005’.  Helen Middleton,
Business Development Director at ECIS, said: “fundraisers were surprised if not 
alarmed to discover that some of the leading corporate donors didn’t always have
the most ethical records. Accepting money directly, or embarking upon corporate 
sponsorship and marketing arrangements with the ‘wrong’ partner, could present long-
term reputational problems for charities”.  The portfolio of the top 25 Corporate
Charitable donors includes organisations such as Unilever, Marks & Spencers and 
Northern Rock plc.  In addition to this free listing, ECIS’ subscription-based Corporate
Critic database is now available at a “substantially lowered” rate.**The Top 10 
UK Corporate Charitable Donors**

**Rank** **Company ** **Ethiscore**

1 Lloyds TSB Group plc 5

2 Northern Rock plc 13.5

3 The Royal Bank of Scotland plc 4.5

4 Barclays plc 1.5

5 Unilever UK 1

6 Diageo plc 8

7 HBOS plc 8.5

8= Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc 12.5

8= Marks & Spencer 3.5

10 GlaxoSmithKline plc 3.5

Note: The company Ethiscores are out of a total of 15. The lower the score, the 
worse the ethical performance.

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