I would be interested to know how much capital publicly-trading companies in Canada are allocating for charitable donations (not including sponsorships). I would also like to know how the amount is derived, for example, a percentage of after-tax net income for the prior year? And lastly, are the budgets generally disclosed? Any comments will be much appreciated. 

A large credit union member writes:

    Our organization is proud to have been deemed by Imagine Canada one of only 120 companies in 2007 who donate a minimum of 1% of their pre-tax profits to community organizations.  In 2007 we donated $5 million to charities and organizations in the communities in which we serve. We are very proud of this  legacy of giving and service to the community.

A publicly traded medium company member writes:

    Many companies in Canada use the "1% guideline" which refers to allocating 1% of pre-tax profit to their charitable giving/ community investment program.  This guideline is used in Canada and the U.K.  In Canada the 1% guideline was proposed and monitored by Imagine and companies will publicly state their commitment to the 1%.  You can check with Imagine for more detail.  In terms of donations policies etc., our website, www.epcor.ca, under Community Investment has details of our focus areas and exclusions.  If you would like more specific information in this regard, feel free to contact our Manager of Community Investment, Joanne McDonald, at joanne.mcdonald@epcor.ca and she would be happy to speak with you.

On a related note, EPCOR was a founding member of the London Benchmarking Group in Canada, which is a member based organization that benchmarks data annually on corporate community investment among members.  It provides a confidential, apples-to-apples comparison of data from companies across Canada which is benchmarked.  Joanne can speak to you more on LBG and the LBG Canada website is:  www.lbg-canada.ca