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Unprecedented levels of corporate giving in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami may have left less in the coffers for other corporate donations to charity this year.
Robert Davies, chief executive of the International Business Leaders’ Forum, has warned that much of the money from companies will have been diverted from other areas.
‘It is inevitable that if companies concentrate on the tsunami-affected region, it will lead to funds being switched from other regions,’ he said.
Mike Barry, sustainable development manager at retailer Marks & Spencer, which has donated £250,000 ($467,000), added: ‘We donate one per cent of pre-tax profits to charity each year, so that £250,000 is coming from projects in the UK. It is not new money.’
Corporate donations have exceeded £50million in the UK alone, according to Business in the Community. While most companies donated cash, some – such as the mobile phone company mm02, which has offered traumatized staff advice and counselling through its
24-hour employee assistance programme, and the Scandinavian airline and hospitality group SAS, which provided evacuation flights in areas affected by the tsunami – have helped in other ways.
Non-governmental organizations say that much of the money pledged by governments to disaster relief often fails to turn up, but that the record of companies is far better. Oxfam said: ‘While historically only about 50 per cent of government pledges materialize, we have never heard of money being promised by a corporate and not then being delivered.’
Robert Davies, chief executive of the International Business Leaders’ Forum, has warned that much of the money from companies will have been diverted from other areas.
‘It is inevitable that if companies concentrate on the tsunami-affected region, it will lead to funds being switched from other regions,’ he said.
Mike Barry, sustainable development manager at retailer Marks & Spencer, which has donated £250,000 ($467,000), added: ‘We donate one per cent of pre-tax profits to charity each year, so that £250,000 is coming from projects in the UK. It is not new money.’
Corporate donations have exceeded £50million in the UK alone, according to Business in the Community. While most companies donated cash, some – such as the mobile phone company mm02, which has offered traumatized staff advice and counselling through its
24-hour employee assistance programme, and the Scandinavian airline and hospitality group SAS, which provided evacuation flights in areas affected by the tsunami – have helped in other ways.
Non-governmental organizations say that much of the money pledged by governments to disaster relief often fails to turn up, but that the record of companies is far better. Oxfam said: ‘While historically only about 50 per cent of government pledges materialize, we have never heard of money being promised by a corporate and not then being delivered.’
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