Corporate Philanthropy Update — February 2017

Greetings!

It’s been a busy month here at the Council: We’ve been hard at work planning for our Annual Conference in Dallas as well as strategically engaging the new Congress and administration.

Below are a number of updates related to corporate foundations, plus future opportunities for you to engage with us and your peers in the field. Here we go!

Legal Webinar Series

Earlier this month, the Council held the first in a series of members-only webinars focused on topics that often challenge corporate foundations and corporate giving programs. Our Senior Counsel and Vice President of Legal Affairs Suzanne Friday helped attendees explore the complicated landscape of legal and tax compliance. She also discussed how you can stay compliant while maximizing your impact.

Topics included:

• The differences between corporate foundations and corporate giving programs, and why you may want both
• Public charities versus private foundations
• Corporate foundations going public
• An overview of private foundation rules found in the Internal Revenue Code
• State regulation (in addition to the IRS and federal law)
• What state charity regulators are thinking about

We had a great number of corporate members participate and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

Corporate Advisory Group

The Council is strongest when its members are engaged and helping to inform the strategic direction of our programming. With that in mind, we have established a corporate advisory group consisting of 15 corporate philanthropy leaders. They will serve as advisors and share insights on the Council’s agenda, including corporate priorities, initiatives, and programs.

We kick off our first meeting next month in New York City. Of course, we’ll share the outcomes of this meeting in the weeks following and will continue to keep you informed throughout the year.

Highlight from the Field

Each month, we feature a story from one of our members demonstrating excellence in the field. This month’s highlight comes from the Citi Foundation.

Young people today make up the largest youth population in history. Their successes and struggles are as diverse as their personalities and aspirations. In all corners of the globe, this generation faces a common challenge: persistent, high rates of youth unemployment. When young people don’t have a sustainable economic path, families and communities also suffer.

There is a silver lining, however: We know that young people remain optimistic, entrepreneurial, and have an idea for what they need to succeed. The Citi Foundation wanted to capture these drivers and learn how municipal leaders, civil society, the private sector, and others can work together to bridge the gap between the economic aspirations (where they want to go) and the reality of young people (where they actually are).

This month, the Citi Foundation announced its expanded Pathways to Progress commitment with a new $100 million investment. With this new commitment, Citi aims to connect 500,000 young people to jobs and economic opportunity by mentoring would-be young entrepreneurs as they start their businesses; supporting the crucial foundation that comes with a first job experience; and sharing what has helped others succeed and fail. With Pathways to Progress, the Citi Foundation is doing its part to help the next generation be the most employable yet.

Click here to learn more about this initiative. Congrats, Citi Foundation!

Look Ahead – 2017 Activities to Attend

The 2017 Annual Conference comes to Dallas on April 23-26, 2017, and the full schedule is now live on our website.

Start planning your itinerary now. We have 50+ sessions to choose from, plus dynamic plenaries, Leadership in Action talks, and networking opportunities galore.

You also may be particularly interested in a special preconference session — Grantmaking into Latin America: Regulatory Challenges, Strategic Partnerships, and Emerging Opportunities — on April 23.

Plus, if your foundation works on veterans issues, we will have our Veterans Philanthropy Exchange immediately following the conference on April 26-27. Registration for this opportunity will open in the coming weeks, but you can view last year’s itinerary here.

Additional events for you to consider include:

• March 9: Looking to the Future: Localizing the Global Goals in Minnesota
• March 20 – 22: Foundations on the Hill
• June 14: Corporate-focused legal webinar
• Summer 2017: HR Summit
• Fall 2017: Endowments and Finance Summit
• Winter 2017: CEO and Trustee Winter Retreat

Engage

Our public policy team continues to stay engaged with Members of Congress on potential comprehensive tax reform and its impact on philanthropy. Stay informed on issues like the charitable deduction, donor advised funds, the private foundation excise tax, and more by subscribing to Washington Snapshot to receive weekly updates on tax reform developments.

Read our most recent blogs, and please reach out if you wish to author a post.

Connect with your peers by visiting the Philanthropy Exchange.

Stay informed on all things philanthropy by checking out our newsroom.