Corporate giving in Singapore increases during pandemic: NVPC survey

BUSINESSES have continued to give back to the community, with 75 per cent of them engaging in at least one form of giving during the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) showed. This was an increase from 52 per cent in the previous Corporate Giving Survey (CGS) conducted in 2017, said NVPC on Monday (Apr 11). (see Amendment note)

CGS 2021 also found that 12 per cent of businesses had increased their corporate giving during the pandemic, while 54 per cent maintained their pre-Covid levels of contributions and 34 per cent had to decrease their levels of corporate giving.

However, there was a decline in the median philanthropy value - how much a company values its donations in cash and sponsorship value - to S$1,000, from S$3,000 in 2017.

Conversely, the median percentage of employees volunteering increased to 50 per cent in 2021, up from 25 per cent in 2017.

The latest CGS was conducted from May 24 to Sep 3, 2021, and surveyed around 1,014 companies. These companies ranged from local to foreign-owned, and represented various company types and sizes.

Although NVPC aims to conduct the survey once every 3 years, the latest survey had been conducted in 2021 to capture corporate giving during the pandemic, NVPC said at a media briefing.

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This comes as businesses started to think about their purpose and role in society during the pandemic, noted NVPC deputy chief executive officer Tony Soh.

Of the various industry sectors, the financial and insurance, and information and communications industries increased their community contributions the most.

The median philanthropy value for the financial and insurance sector was S$5,000, while companies in information and communications donated S$2,000 in cash or sponsorship value - both higher than the median philanthropy value of all companies in 2021.

Alongside sponsorship and cash donations, these companies advocated for various causes, with the most popular being social services, and community and grassroot causes. These were at 52 per cent and 23 per cent of all causes supported respectively.

The study also found that businesses worked to align their giving objectives with their core values, with the percentage of businesses doing so increasing to 54 per cent, from 44 per cent in 2017.

NVPC noted that the increase in strategic alignment may suggest that there is a growing movement towards companies finding their purpose in giving and in society.

However, mindset shifts are still required among businesses to see the value of investing in environment, social and governance (ESG), as only 14 per cent of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their businesses had contributed to the well-being of society.

The study's adviser, Associate Professor Eugene Tan from the Singapore Management University, noted that ESG expectations should be viewed as a "vital long-term investment", due to the interdependence of businesses and societies.

To facilitate companies' corporate giving, NVPC is working to develop a national framework and blueprint on corporate purpose to be released in January 2023, together with the Alliance for Action on Corporate Purpose.

The framework and blueprint, supported by the Singapore Business Federation and Ministry of Culture, Communication and Youth, will provide clarity on the principles, practices and indicators pertaining to corporate purpose, said NVPC.

Amendment note: An earlier version of this story said that 67 per cent of businesses gave back to the community. It was in fact 75 per cent after taking into account all forms of corporate giving.