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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become almost an essential part of doing business in Canada, and a key part of many CSR programs is community investment – giving to charities and nonprofits. But what does this mean? How much are businesses giving and where is it going? The Canada Survey of Business Contributions to Community (CSBCC) research initiative, generously sponsored by the EnCana Corporation, looks into these, and more, questions about Canadian business practices in community investment. This survey provides a board picture of the scope and nature of these efforts, allowing both businesses and charities and nonprofits to gain a better understanding of current community investment practices.

The findings for the CSBCC were drawn from a representative sample of all businesses with annual sales of $100,000 or more and at least one paid staff member. A total of 1,500 businesses were used to complete this study. Ipsos Reid was commissioned to interview representatives from the senior management of the sample.

The "large corporation" section of the study contains only businesses with revenues of $25 million or more, leading to a total of 93 businesses in this category. By doing this, you can see how “large corporations” differ in their community investment practices from "all businesses".

Reports from the BCTC initiative

• Insights for Strategic Corporate Fundraising, released in December, 2010, examines how community investment differs by industry sector. It takes an in-depth look at the types of support businesses tend to give (e.g. Cash donations, employee volunteerism etc.) and examines which industry sectors are most likely to give which types of support. By gaining a better understanding of the types of support that a given industry is most likely to supply, charities will be in a better position to acquire the precise type of support they need. Charities will be able to assess their resource needs and approach the type of business that is the most likely to give the charity that resource.
• Corporate Community Investment Practices, Motivations & Challenges: Findings from the Canada Survey of Business Contributions to Community focuses on the community investment practices of large corporations in Canadian, as compared to the rest of the business community. This report, published in 2008, provides the first detailed look into how and why large Canadian businesses contribute to the community. This valuable insight is not to be missed. Available in print-form only, click here to purchase this great resource to learn more about corporate giving practices. Book an appointment at the Imagine Canada library at 2 Carlton St to read this report free of charge. Click here to download the executive summary.
• Business contributions to Canadian communities : findings from a qualitative study of current practices, published in 2007, summarizes the findings of the literary review and roundtable consultations, which made up the first phase of the CSBCC.

Presentations from the BCTC initiative

Interested in learning more about how and why businesses contribute to nonprofit organizations? Find the answers to these, and more, questions in these short presentations about the results of the CSBCC. This project was generously support by Encana Corporation.

• Corporate Community Investment Practices, Motivations and Challenges: Findings from the Canada Survey of Business Contributions to Community (2010).  Learn about how corporations view nonprofit organizations and what drives corporations to work with them.
• Trends in business contributions to nonprofits (2010).   Learn about the trends in business contributions to nonprofit organizations and how you can use these trends to work better with businesses.
• Nonprofit Sponsorship : A presentation for businesses! (2009).  The answers to seven key questions about corporate sponsorship for the nonprofit sector, including why businesses should work with nonprofits, what the current corporate sponsorship landscape is like and how to maximize the benefits of nonprofit sponsorship.

We would like to acknowledge Encana Corporation for its generous funding and support for this research. Click here for the media release.