Corporate Charitable Giving - Good News / Bad News

[whell]

General Motors Co. is overhauling its $30-million-a year philanthropy efforts to focus on high-tech education, safety and economic sustainability, a move that has some local nonprofits and arts groups worried about funding cuts.

GM’s giving arm wants to use its dollars to more closely align with its corporate mission: to improve vehicle safety and reduce accidents and injuries; to advance education in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math; and to increase high-school graduation rates in cities. It also wants to foster and support sustainable economic development in cities around the world in which it has operations, including Detroit.

The major shift in giving for the Detroit automaker, which mirrors what many corporations are doing nationally, includes eliminating the General Motors Foundation this year.

That change in philosophy has left organizations in Metro Detroit’s arts and nonprofit community wondering if they will be eligible for future funding from GM, prompting some to accelerate efforts to find new sources of funding. Some say they have been given no assurances beyond a year or two.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...ing/102764328/

[CarlV]

So it is "industry wide.

Fundraising consultant Peter Remington, founder of the Remington Group in Beverly Hills, said foundations and corporations locally and nationally have been moving toward philanthropy that’s focused on corporate-based programs and results. “Instead of doing across-the-board fundraising to just about anyone who will ask, they’re being more specific in supporting certain program areas,” he said.

Corporations and foundations have limited funding and are realizing they can’t fund everyone and everything, Remington says. So they are targeting spending to make the most impact. Nonprofits are adapting to the changes by broadening fundraising and examining what they can continue to pay for.

As much profit that the oil companies make, the refineries in Benicia, Martinez, Pacheco, Richmond and Rodeo don't do diddly squat compared to their profits and never have.

[donquixote99]

The great divide continues to worsen. A major bridge connecting wealth to the good of society as a whole, philanthropy, is being cut. It's not for lack of funds; it's for the loss of will. The .1% in charge no longer feels the sense of civic obligation it once did.

It's no coincidence that this comes at a time when Republican administration seeks to drastically reduce government spending on social welfare, and civic goods like the arts. The attitude now is clearly 'public be damned,' with a vengence.

[whell]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

The great divide continues to worsen. A major bridge connecting wealth to the good of society as a whole, philanthropy, is being cut.

No, its not being "cut". GM will likely to make charitable donations at the same or higher levels than they have previously. The difference is that they will redirect the funds to philanthropic pursuits that more closely align with their organizational goals.

[donquixote99]

Right, I saw what was said.

When is philanthropy not philanthropy? When the $ go for self-benefit.

[Chicks]

How sad that we've come from a country whose president fully understood and appreciated the importance of the arts, to a country whose president is detested by artists, and who understands nothing.

[sheltiedave]

Yes, it is being cut.

[whell]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Right, I saw what was said.

When is philanthropy not philanthropy? When the $ go for self-benefit.

Oh, right. So when our family gives to Special Olympics or other charities that support disabled children, that's not philanthropic in your eyes?

[whell]

Originally Posted by Chicks

How sad that we've come from a country whose president fully understood and appreciated the importance of the arts, to a country whose president is detested by artists, and who understands nothing.

Ah, so one cannot appreciate art or artists unless the art is funded by the gov't?

[Chicks]

Originally Posted by whell

Ah, so one cannot appreciate art or artists unless the art is funded by the gov't?

Who the hell said any such thing? Your reading comprehension is terrible.