Creating a corporate foundation isn’t the only way to get the tax, structure, cost savings, branding, and visibility benefits of a strategic corporate philanthropy program. Here are the five reasons you might want to skip the corporate foundation for one of its several alternatives.
Why would you want a corporate foundation?
Companies generally start foundations (or alternatives to corporate foundations) to help formalize their philanthropic programs. Ad hoc, nonstrategic giving is expensive, ineffective and time consuming, and a formal program can help to prevent that. Here are the four main reasons that companies start their own foundations.
What is a corporate foundation?
How to gracefully say "no" to charity requests
A few days ago I was in a meeting setting up a new corporate foundation for a small business. When I asked whether or not the firm wanted a way to take online requests, one of the partners said, “Absolutely not. We’ll get bombarded! As it is, I get people calling saying, ‘Hi, I’m [big client]’s cousin, would you sponsor my charity event?’”