How Corporations Can Impact the World

Corporate Giving Facts

We have an opportunity to make a difference.?

In 2022, US statistics on spending (in billions):

Turkeys : $1.3

Black Friday : $9.1?

Cyber Monday : $11.3

Corporate Donations : $21.1

Charitable Donations : $499.3

From one perspective, this was more encouraging than I thought. Corporate donations are almost twice as much as Cyber Monday. Charitable donations (primarily given from individuals) are nearly 50x the spending on Black Friday.

From another perspective, we have a lot of opportunity to improve. In this next table, I purposely put the numbers in long form.

I pulled the annual corporate profit data in 2022 from FRED (Federal Reserve):

Corporate Profits:

$11,922,197,000,000. ($11.9 Trillion)

Corporate Giving:

$21,080,000,000. ($21.1 Billion)

Corporate giving in 2022 was .18% of corporate profits.

Perhaps, this isn’t clear enough. Therefore, I created a graph. A visual comparison of corporate giving versus corporate profits.

Perhaps, a pie chart will be better to see after Thanksgiving weekend.

Imagine 1%

If corporations gave 1% of their corporate profits to charity, this would be 5.7x more than they donated in 2022.

The largest charity in the US is the United Way , and they have $3.9B in annual revenues. If corporations increased their donations to 1%, we could fund 25 more United Ways. United Way is currently serving 48 million people every year. If we did the same math, that is equivalent to 1.2 billion people, every year.

Imagine that impact on the world, on those people. Imagine how the viewpoint of corporations would change, if we simply donated 1% of our profits.

Podcast Season of Giving

As many of you know, giving is the heart behind 40 Strategy. We take an unconventional approach and give the first 10% of our net revenues to charity. Our goal is to give at least $1 million to charity. And yes, we still have a profitable company as well.

We donate to charitable organizations where we have validated their ability to fulfill their mission, and we have been able to develop a personal relationship. Anytime that I have a difficult day, I simply have to connect with one of these leaders to put things in perspective.

More importantly, these leaders and organizations, give me hope.

Through the holiday season, you will hear special conversations with a handful of these leaders on the Measure Success Podcast. In the first episode after Thanksgiving, Thomas Vozzo, CEO, Homeboy Industries , shares lessons he has learned expanding the Homeboy Industries mission by transforming gang members off the street, and how he has had to adapt his strategies from being a Fortune 200 CEO. Author Mark Lutz, Unpoverty, executive from Opportunity International , provides a graphic example of how micro-loans transformed a village from India. Chairman and President, author, Brad Ketch discusses the difficult long-term focus to positively impact one of the most diverse and poorest communities in Oregon. Founder Bert Waugh of Transitional Youth shares how they have been able to focus on the homeless between 18 and 25 years old and help them find a life with purpose. Finally, we will hear from the Shack , author Paul Young.

My personal ask. Please listen. Learn how these wonderful leaders are making an extraordinary difference. Then, consider making a donation to one or more of these organizations.?

If any of these messages positively impacted you; please email. If you would like to connect with them directly, I will be happy to provide a warm introduction. Or simply tell the charitable organization that you heard about us from our blog or podcast. This encourages these great leaders to know their time was worth being on the Measure Success Podcast.?

Enjoy this season of giving, I know these messages will provide you hope. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy Holidays!

PS - This is an excerpted version of our full Strategy 4 Saturday blog, ThanksGiving Perspective, you can find here .

PPS - Watch Jose's story from Homeboy Industries here .