Corporate giving increases amid pandemic

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.