Canadian companies have come through in spades for the tsunami relief effort, but it's only one cause among thousands that they support each year.

In 2003, corporations donated approximately $3.4 billion to charity, according to a recent survey led by Imagine Canada, formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy. By comparison, individual Canadians contributed about $8 billion.

"The whole idea of corporate citizenship is a big trend that's gaining even more ground," Alex Gill, Image Canada's vice-president of communications and marketing, said in an interview.

While the spirit of philanthropy is alive and well, savvy marketing is also a driving force behind those cheques.

Photo courtesy of Unilever
Unilever employees take advantage of company time off to volunteer in the community to plant trees in Toronto's Eglinton Flats.

For the organizations on the receiving end, it's not just a question of writing a charitable receipt and putting the money to good use.

"I think that the lines have blurred a little bit between sponsorships and donations," says Janet Slasor, director of donations and sponsorships for Scotiabank, which contributed $33 million to organizations in Canada and overseas last year. More and more, companies are looking for the recognition and publicity that can come with supporting a cause.

"Everybody likes to be recognized," says Sheryn Posen, corporate and community affairs manager for Unilever Canada. "It's always fruitful for the charities to come up with ways to recognize their donors."

Generally, the charities are happy to oblige. As a major supporter of Toronto's Second Harvest, Unilever's name is on the trucks that collect perishable foods from manufacturers, hotels and grocery stores, and deliver them to 175 social service agencies across the city.

Alex Gill

At the 15 Peter Gzowski Invitational Golf Tournaments for Literacy organized across the country by ABC Canada Literacy Foundation, national sponsors see their logo splashed on program covers, ads, signage and even the flagpins at each hole.

Sometimes, though, corporations pressure charities to undertake events that don't mesh with their mission or would consume inordinate amounts of staff time.

Second Harvest's communications manager, Abby Robins, recalls a recent meeting with a company that wanted to sponsor a concert. She reluctantly said no.

Christine Featherstone

"We deliver food to hungry people," she says. "Sure, we could do a concert and we could get some publicity out of it, but at what cost? The tail can't wag the dog."

Much of the support is aimed at programs or events where corporations can see the tangible results of their generosity. While that's understandable, it leaves organizations without the core funding they need to keep the lights on and a receptionist answering phones, Gill says.

According to Georgina Steinsky-Schwartz, president of Imagine Canada, the focus on project funding is becoming dysfunctional, leaving organizations without an administrative backbone.

Charities also can find themselves grappling with shorter cycles of support.

Sandra Bellisario, corporate alliance manager for The Easter Seals Society, Ontario and Second Harvest's Robins have noticed that after three years companies are often looking for something new to support. That forces organizations to either reinvent the wheel - coming up with a fresh, snazzy event or program - or recruiting new donors every three years.

Each year, charities face competition from the burgeoning number of organizations formed to address some kind of community need, says Steinsky-Schwartz. In the face of so many requests for money, corporations are looking for causes that fit well with their mandate.

Bellisario says there is a growing trend to exclusivity over the past five to seven years. "Where a corporation used to give to a number of charities, (now) they are creating what is called a charity of choice and being more selective," she adds.

Unilever, for example, focuses on charities that benefit young children and the environment.

This year, there's been much speculation that support for the tsunami relief will mean fewer dollars for local causes.

According to a Conference Board of Canada report, 49 of Canada's leading companies have made cash donations for the relief effort totalling at least $6.175 million.

Both Unilever and Scotiabank stress that their corporate giving plans for 2005 remain unaffected, but some charities are feeling pinched.

Second Harvest's annual Lunch Money Day fund-raiser, which sees Torontonians brown-bagging their lunch and contributing the money they save as a result, takes place every February. This year, many companies are running internal campaigns for tsunami relief instead.

Meanwhile, the charity's new ad campaign, which city bus shelters were going to run for free, was bumped to make room for ads promoting tsunami relief.

Robins is prepared to wait it out and work even harder to find donors. "It's just a matter of hunting down the corporations that believe in us," she says.

According to Gill, companies make donations for two reasons. One is compassion: When they see the plight of victims caught in a natural disaster, for example. The other is commitment to a particular cause, and he's convinced that corporations will continue to support causes they believe in, tsunami or no tsunami.

ABC Canada president Christine Featherstone agrees. "If they're already interested in supporting literacy, they're still going to support us," she says.

Bellisario also is convinced that people will consider their donation to the tsunami relief effort as a special one-off gift, similar to the trend she saw following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

She notes that corporate support for Easter Seals' 2005 Siemens Conn Smythe Sports Celebrities Dinner and Auction this month was stronger than last year's, which raised more than $4.3 million for children with physical disabilities.

Whatever cause they support, corporations are increasingly involving their employees. Many encourage staff to get involved in fund-raising events or have programs where they match employee donations. Some - such as Unilever - grant their staff time off to volunteer in the community.

That's an approach Imagine Canada wants to encourage through its Caring Companies program. To date, 580 companies have committed to donating one per cent of pretax profits to charity, having their CEO personally involved in one community project and publishing information on their community activities each year.

"It's good for the company, it's good for the employees and it's certainly good for the charity," says Gill.

Today, corporations are being judged on more than just profitability.

"The more progressive companies in Canada are realizing that partnering in the community is part of their bottom line," Gill says.

(Julie Stauffer can be reached at stauffer@businessedge.ca)