TODAYonline-Corporate charity in question

TODAYonline: "Corporate charity in question
Singapore companies lack the spirit of selfless giving

Tor Ching Li
chingli@newstoday.com.sg

SINGAPOREANS seem to know how to give to charity, each having dished out $155 on average to a charitable cause in the past year.
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But the corporate face of Singapore seems to be straggling far behind, with less than three in 10 corporations having made donations in the past year.
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Even worse, corporations in Singapore donate just 0.22 per cent of their net profit before tax � a staggering seven times less than companies in the United States.
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In fact, about half of the $954 million charitable dollars last year came from donations from individuals.
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These surprising findings were unearthed in an 18-month study on philanthropy in Singapore, carried out by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).
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'Corporate giving here is still quite low compared to other countries,' said Prof Cham Tao Soon, chairman of the Nanyang Fine Arts Foundation, at a panel discussion on 'New realities of giving in Singapore' yesterday.
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