CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY

New research from nonprofit Kiwisaver manager Simplicity found that New Zealand companies give less to charity percentage-wise than equivalent companies overseas, but it seems that is beginning to change, as societal expectations on the corporate sector grow.

The paper Community or Shareholder? A survey of corporate philanthropy in NZ found that New Zealanders are amongst the world’s most generous individuals, giving 0.79 percent of GDP to charity annually, ranking third behind Myanmar and the United States.

But Simplicity’s study of the top 50 NZX listed companies found they trail behind other developed countries in corporate philanthropy, giving 0.07 percent of pre-tax profits. This compares with 1.75 percent for FTSE100 companies, an average of 1.69 percent for large companies in the USA and 0.59 percent for Australia’s 50 largest companies.

While the parameters may be somewhat different offshore, it seems