Americas Charities | December 14, 2011
Free enterprise and philanthropy are inseparable
‘Tis the season for gift giving, not just to our friends and loved ones, but also to our favorite charities. Studies show that many charities receive half their donations in the final months of the year.
Sadly, thanks to our still struggling economy, many private foundations, corporations, and everyday citizens are once again finding themselves with less to give this holiday season. This situation reflects a truth that some non-profit leaders and their allies in government may find rather inconvenient: free enterprise and philanthropy are inexorably intertwined.
Virtually every source of funding for charitable work around the world hinges on the free market and the wealth it creates. The direct involvement of free enterprise in charity can be seen in the remarkable philanthropy of such American capitalist icons as Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and MacArthur.
The Corporate Giving Survey, based on the data of 184 companies including over half of the Fortune 100, found that those businesses gave over $15.5 billion in 2010. Indirectly, businesses create jobs which allow individual citizens to give, and many private foundations have their charitable assets heavily invested in corporate America.Â
Read the full article.Â
Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox
Explore More Articles
America’s Charities Named ‘Best Nonprofit To Work For’ For Fifth Consecutive Year
Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2025 – America’s Charities, the nonprofit that mobilizes the power of giving as a leading provider of volunteering, workplace giving,…
Read Article
January is National Poverty in America Awareness Month
Hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, disabilities, restricted access to participation in the democratic process. These…
Read Article
How to Take Your Business’s Employee Volunteer Program to the Next Level
Click Here to Tweet This Message! Whether your program was started 10 months or 10 years ago, periodically stepping back to take stock of your #EmployeeVolunteer…
Read ArticleGet Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox
Receive our monthly/bi-monthly newsletter filled with information about causes, nonprofit impact, and topics important for corporate social responsibility and employee engagement professionals, including disaster response, workplace giving, matching gifts, employee assistance funds, volunteering, scholarship award program management, grantmaking, and other philanthropic initiatives.
