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Researching High-Tech Corporate Philanthropy
by Carilu Pozorski The Grantsmanship Center With the stunning series of billion-dollar gifts that Bill Gates made last year through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that charitable foundation was transformed, almost overnight, into the nation's richest. The Microsoft kingpin's extraordinary largess also helped to transform his public image into that of premier philanthropist. It's a makeover that his many rivals may be eager to emulate. Even if they do, however, chances are slim that the overwhelming majority of nonprofit organizations will ever share in the wealth or benefit from the personal donations of high-tech tycoons. There are simply too many nonprofits and too few tycoons. A far likelier and steadier source of support lies in the corporate giving programs of the companies they've created. Support Comes in Many Forms Your agency may never get a check from Bill Gates or a grant from his charitable foundation. But it may well qualify for something of value from Microsoft Corporation -- in the form of product donations, employee matching gifts, volunteer services, and discounts on product purchases, as well as project grants and cash donations. What exactly do high-tech companies give to nonprofits? To answer that question, The Grantsmanship Center conducted an extensive survey of major high-tech companies' community involvement and giving priorities. It was a daunting task. In an industry rife with consolidations, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, data gleaned today can prove obsolete tomorrow. In addition to keeping abreast of changes in ownership, a researcher must be prepared to unravel a labyrinth of corporate hierarchies. Several top firms (including Cendant, Softbank, and International Data Group) are in fact huge multinational holding companies, with dozens of subsidiary business units, most of which operate independently and set their own corporate policies. Finding Out What's Available Considering that technology is their stock in trade, one would expect most high-tech firms to be using well-designed, up-to-date Web pages to describe their philanthropic programs. But in researching several major companies, including Xerox, Ascend, and Seiko-Epson, we found no such pages. A majority of the well-established high-tech giants, such as IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, and Microsoft, do have very thorough Web listings that include helpful information about how to ask for grants, donations, matching gifts, and volunteers. If we were to select model sites, top honors would probably go to AT&T among the veteran companies and Autodesk among the relative newcomers. Several high-tech firms state that one of the main criteria they use in selecting product recipients is the applicant's ability to finish implementation and train staff and users. Often they will help facilitate the process with consulting services. Organizations that receive donations from the major tech companies should also be researched for the equipment, installation services, and consulting or technical assistance that they, in turn, provide to eligible organizations. For example, Intel is the primary sponsor of Students Recycling Used Technology (StRUT), a program that teaches students how to refurbish computers for donation to schools. Hewlett-Packard contributes to the Conservation Technology Support Program (http://www.ctsp.org), which provides hardware, software, training, and technical support to grassroots conservation and environmental groups. And IBM supports Tech Corps (http://www.ustc.org), which organizes volunteer experts to advise recipient agencies on how to use new technologies. Innovative Uses of Stock Because so many new tech companies have yet to show a profit, they have no formal corporate contributions programs in place. But several authorities argue that the best way for new companies to establish a viable charitable program is to do it early, even before the company turns a profit. The founders of online auction house eBay took this approach, using 100,000 shares of company stock to establish the eBay Foundation, administered through the Community Foundation-Silicon Valley. As a result of the phenomenal surge in the value of eBay stock following its initial public offering, the eBay Foundation's endowment went from $2 million to $20 million in less than a year. Peter Hero, president of the Community Foundation-Silicon Valley notes that "less than 3% of people in the Silicon Valley give stock, yet that is where the real income is." Hero hopes the eBay donation will set an example for the principals of other Internet-based start-ups, showing how early stock donations can yield huge dividends for a corporate foundation if and when the company does go public. This article was adapted from Tech Support: Corporate Giving Programs of America's Top High-Tech Firms. Copyright © 1999 The Grantsmanship Center. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. Tech Support contains detailed information on the corporate contributions programs of 46 of the most influential high-tech companies, practical suggestions for researching their corporate giving activities using the World Wide Web and other resources, and a section on how corporations of all types support nonprofits. It is available for $18 (plus $3 shipping and handling) from The Grantsmanship Center, P.O. Box 17220, Los Angeles, CA 90017. For more information about Grantsmanship Center publications, training programs, and TGCI's library of Winning Grant Proposals on CD-ROM, visit. http://www.tgci.com. (Be sure to mention Tech News when you call or write.) |
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