For Many Central Ohio Companies, Corporate Giving is Becoming More Strategic

For more than two years, the COVID-19 pandemic affected businesses in a way no one had ever seen. Some saw skyrocketing profits, as the pandemic made their goods or services more essential than ever. Others struggled as spending habits shifted and workers became scarce. But in the world of corporate giving, the pandemic had a surprising effect: Companies began donating more than they had before.

According to data from The Conference Board, a global nonprofit think tank and business membership organization, 2020 and 2021 marked consecutive years of increased charitable giving nationwide, with surveys indicating that companies intended to maintain those levels even after the pandemic subsided.

In Central Ohio, nonprofit and business leaders say interest in charitable giving remains steady, but the focus is shifting toward more strategic, impactful philanthropy.

Angela Parsons has been working with corporate charitable giving for more than 15 years, currently as vice president for donor services and development at The Columbus Foundation, which was created to facilitate philanthropy and connect corporations with effective charitable efforts. In her experience, corporate giving budgets are largely “pretty consistent year-to-year,” with most organizations making steady long-term financial commitments. But what isn’t always consistent, she says, is the strategy behind those contributions.

“When I first started working with corporations, it was a lot of spraying dollars all over and wanting to help every organization and be out in the community as much as they could,” Parsons says. “The trend now is to be a little more strategic and find some larger partnerships that really combine their charitable strategy and corporate strategy.”

At New Albany-based Bob Evans Farms, the company has become more strategic in an effort to maximize its philanthropic efforts, says Cassandra Binkley, senior manager of community, engagement and philanthropy for the packaged foods maker, which split from the restaurant group in 2017. Binkley worked in human resources until the company created her current role in 2022 to put a sharper focus on its philanthropic efforts. “We’ve determined that this is a key part of our business,” she says. “Just from information from our employees, it’s a big part of what people like in a company. They want to feel like they’re part of the mission and the vision of what a company does.”

With corporate citizenship increasingly under a microscope and the “spraying dollars” philosophy waning, more companies are seeking a way to quantify their efforts. Parsons says organizations are determining that, with limited dollars to give, they want to see a tangible return on their investments. More than ever, companies are asking for data about their giving. “I don’t think they had to show the ROI, [philanthropy] was just a good thing,” Parsons says of previous giving environments. “But now it’s like, ‘Oh no. Now we have to show it.’ And there’s not always an easy way to demonstrate that.”

That shift in perspective matches larger corporate trends. According to the 2023 Corporate Social Impact Practices report from The Conference Board, “rising external and internal pressures” have led to more ROI-focused giving. “Companies are under pressure to respond and invest in so many areas (including climate, public health, education, racial equality, food, water, and human rights), that philanthropic tools and resources can be stretched,” the report states. “Citizenship teams can manage these pressures by maintaining a consistent approach aligned with company capabilities and strategy, as well as rigorously measuring and reporting on their impact and return on investment.”

The sweet spot for many charitable organizations is demonstrating that return on investment while still offering the intangibles that make philanthropy personal. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective, which serves 20 counties and is Ohio’s largest food bank, aims to provide both. The organization’s 2022 impact report shows it received more than $27 million in financial contributions and $83 million in donated food last year, helping to provide more than 140,000 meals a day. The organization also has a very straightforward way to express ROI: Every $1 donated can be stretched to $4.89 worth of impact, meaning a $1 million contribution becomes nearly $5 million worth of food for those in need.

But Craig Truax, director of corporate partnerships for the food bank, says in his experience, it isn’t just about the monetary value of contributions. He says companies are showing more interest in connecting with the donations they make, pairing financial contributions with volunteer days or food drives. Such efforts enable donors to “see their financial commitment at work,” he says, which can be just as critical as ROI.

“We’re seeing more people wanting to return to getting engaged,” he says. “Companies, HR departments and other groups are very interested in team-building and bringing that aspect back because some companies are still in hybrid models. They’re trying to reconnect with those associates after a long period of being away from each other. I think people like what Mid-Ohio Food Collective can provide from the volunteering and team-building aspects.”

In fact, corporate efforts helped make April the nonprofit’s busiest volunteering month on record; the first four months of the year are up 47 percent in donated time compared with 2022.

Beyond ROI numbers, many companies are increasingly tying corporate giving and philanthropy to the principles of their organization and their employees. Binkley says Bob Evans Farms has re-emphasized diversity, equity and inclusion over the last few years, largely thanks to internal feedback. She says the company is “more intentional” about the effort than ever before and is working to ensure that any charitable giving also comes with an equality component.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re changing partnerships, but it means that we’re asking questions and looking to see if we’re hitting communities that don’t always get the dollars, care and funding,” she says. “We want to be sure we’re reaching underserved communities and population groups who are not always given dollars and actions.”

Parsons has seen the same trend spread across Central Ohio and beyond. “The thought used to be that you want to help as many people as you can,” she says. “But, if you’re a bank, you have clients who support all different things, so you want to support all different things. I think the shift is realizing, ‘We can support everybody with small amounts, or we can really try to take the limited amount of charitable dollars we have and see if we can go deeper and make a larger impact.’ ”

Ultimately, neither corporations nor charities can predict what the future holds for giving next year, let alone long term. But Truax says organizations such as Mid-Ohio Food Collective are better positioned than ever to respond to changing environments, and when need for food increases, the collective can alert its donors.

“The thing that swings the pendulum is the economy, how our customers are doing and the number of folks who are coming for services,” he says. “That swings in a way where sometimes we’re feeding more people now than we ever have. But we’re able to communicate that information with our donors and say, ‘Here’s what’s happening; here’s who is coming to see us.’ ”

Andrew King is a freelance writer.

This story is from the Summer 2023 issue of Columbus CEO.