Sir Winston Churchill once wrote, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.“ Canada’s business leaders imbue this sentiment in their responses to this week’s survey on corporate philanthropy. Helping their community is the number one driver of giving, according to CEOs and business leaders. Generating publicity and increasing staff morale are seen as middling motivators for inducing charity. Meanwhile competing with other businesses to see who can give more is not a motivating factor.

When COMPAS explored the theme of corporate giving a year ago, the data then showed that corporate charitable giving strengthened employee morale. A similar pattern emerged this time, though perhaps not quite so strongly.

CEOs and business leaders feel strongly that charitable giving should not be prescribed for employees. As an owner of a consulting group said, “When charitable giving becomes mandatory, it becomes a tax not a choice.” Respondents strongly oppose mandating staff to give to charity, as was proposed by the CN rail workers union in the current strike negotiations. Respondents have mixed feelings about the issue of matching staff donations, as seen during recent disaster charity campaigns (i.e. Tsunami and Katrina relief).

These are the key findings from the current web-survey of the panel of CEOs and business leaders undertaken for the Financial Post under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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