Caring Company Program
Imagine Canada counts more than 100 Canadian businesses as members of the Caring Company program.
- Caring Companies are good corporate citizens.
- Caring Companies drive social innovation.
- Caring Companies invest money, ideas and time in communities across Canada.
This is Canada’s leading corporate citizenship initiative. Caring Company membership assures customers, employees, shareholders and the public that a business is committed to investing in communities. This commitment is a key element in strengthening the nonprofit and charitable sector.
CANADIAN COMPANIES MAINTAINING CORPORATE COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS DESPITE ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY
Ottawa, April 2, 2013 – Canadian companies have maintained or even increased their community investment budgets despite the uncertain economic climate of the past five years, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s first-ever national survey of corporate community investment activity.
Thirty-nine per cent of the 180 respondents to the survey said their budget had increased compared to the previous year and 47% said their budgets stayed the same. Only 14% of respondents reported that their community investment budget had declined.
Over a five-year time frame, more than 50% of respondents reported an upward trend in their community investment budgets. An additional 34% reported that their community investments have remained constant in nominal dollars.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The 180 companies who completed this survey contributed just over $710 million to communities in 2011.
- The most common recipients of community investment dollars are civic and community organizations.
- Almost half of the survey respondents said that they had a program in which the company matched employee donations to the community or a specific charitable organization. These programs contributed $63 million to communities in 2011.
“This will enable better comparisons on programs, identify industry specific trends and recommend options for improvement in Canada,” said Barbara Turley-McIntyre, Director, Sustainability & Corporate Citizenship at The Co-operators Group, an Imagine Canada Caring Company and one of the organizations that supported the research project.
“Charities and nonprofit organizations will be pleased to learn that Canadian companies are maintaining their corporate community investments even amid the economic uncertainty. The report suggests that matching gift programs represent untapped potential," said Mike Meadows, Director, Corporate Engagement and Membership of Imagine Canada. “Companies, employees and charities themselves should explore new ways of communicating these opportunities.”
Download the executive summary
Become a Caring Company Affiliate (pdf)
Download the Caring Company Membership Form (pdf)
The Caring Company Commitment (pdf)
How to calculate the 1% Commitment (pdf)
Did you know that there are 161,000 nonprofilts and charities in Canada?
Did you know that Canada’s nonprofit and voluntary sector is the 2nd largest in the world?
The sector represents $79.1 billion or 7.8% of the gross domestic product
The sector is larger than automotive and manufacturing. It generates $112 billion in revenues and employs 2 million people
Canadians donated $10 billion in 2007
Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick have the highest donor rates.
Canadians volunteered 2.1 billion hours in 2007
Young Canadians aged 15 to 24 are more likely to volunteer than Canadians in any other age group
One percent of nonprofits command 60% of all revenues flowing to the sector
Canadians with the lowest household incomes give a greater percentage of their income than others
Saskatchewan has the highest volunteer rate in the country, followed by the Northwest Territories and the Yukon
Those exposed to giving and volunteering activities early in life are more likely to continue those behaviours as adults
