Corporate Citizenship Briefs

Will the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) reduce the amount individuals give to charity? Research from Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy suggests troubling phenomena that could bring the nonprofit arts sector to a critical tipping point.

Water is a precious commodity, but it's in danger. The UN has cautioned that Sustainable Development Goal #6, which seeks to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030, is not on track. Companies need to help not only manage their own water use and discharge, but to also be a catalyst for change.

Detroit's recovery is starting to gain ground, guided by, among other things, Detroit Future City (DFC), a 50-year vision for the city developed with input from more than 100,000 Detroiters. Companies have always been an important part of Detroit and they're critical to its recovery. Quicken Loans, JPMorgan Chase, and Ford are among several organizations that provide a model for corporate engagement in Detroit.

If you were the founder or CEO of a start-up company or later-stage firm, would you be willing to pledge 1 percent of your equity to charity? Building a purpose-based company from the beginning can be difficult without cash or profit, but pledging 1 percent of your equity is a quick and easy way to get started. Pledge 1% is a global on-line movement that encourages and empowers companies of all sizes and stages to do just that.

As companies file their 2018 taxes, several corporate philanthropic leaders have contacted the Council on Foundations with concerns surrounding the new excise tax. As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Section 4960 of the bill imposes a 21 percent excise tax on highly-paid executives of nonprofit organizations.

Are you using technology effectively to engage employees in community programs? A partnership between Georgia Power and Purposity is showing how disruptive technology can be used to boost the long-held practice of community engagement.

Is a lack of benchmarking capabilities hampering you from pursuing continuous improvement and innovation in your social impact measurement? With a corporate culture that values data and benchmarking, The Allstate Foundation was lacking a data-driven social impact measurement framework that aggregated metrics across its entire portfolio. The Impact Genome Project helped the organization update its metrics and devise an outcomes-based social impact measurement and reporting strategy.

Are your social impact measurement efforts providing useful results? If not, it might be time to up your game. Moody's reinvented its CSR approach to mirror the company’s global footprint, be authentic to its culture, and align with its businesses. In doing so, the company engaged the Impact Genome Project to assess the Moody’s Foundation’s grant portfolio for alignment with its focus areas.

Are nonprofits—a crucial economic sector—getting the support they need to flourish? According to Independent Sector, there are over 1.6 million tax exempt nonprofit organizations in the United States—the third largest workforce in the country behind retail and manufacturing. Yet, the nonprofit sector is critically understaffed, under-capitalized, and overwhelmed. It needs support to fulfill its vital mission.

Do you have a firm grasp of the outcomes your societal investments are achieving, or are you still counting inputs and outputs? New research from The Conference Board, in collaboration with the Impact Genome Project and supported by Moody's, uses standardized metrics to measure social outcomes, enabling companies to more effectively report and benchmark the performance of their societal investments. Being able to compare social outcomes helps companies make smarter societal investments.