Canadian businesses make significant contributions to community life. Through donations to nonprofits and charities, sponsorships, in-kind support and employee volunteering, business contributions are a growing source of support to the sector.

Yet we know very little about the nature of this support.

Imagine Canada researchers were the first to launch a comprehensive portrait of business contributions to community.

Our annual survey of 2,400 Canadian businesses will tell us:

• Which industries give the most?
• What are the levels of giving? Are they going up or down?
• How do businesses support volunteering?

Key Findings

• 3% of Canadian businesses claimed charitable donations totaling $1 billion in 2003
• Of this 3%, more than half came from two industries: Finance and Insurance (32.1%) and Manufacturing (19.4%)
• Accommodation & Food Service companies gave the highest percentage of their pre-tax profits in donations (2.6%)
• 71% of businesses either support or accommodate employee volunteering
• Businesses give for 4 main reasons: 1. To build their company’s brand or reputation; 2. to build strong communities that will support their business interests; 3. to build social capital and support among citizens and governments; 4. to recruit and retain employees

Main Topics Covered by our Research

• State of the field of community investment
• Business support for volunteering (pdf)
• Levels of charitable giving by businesses (pdf)