Corporate Philanthropy Update - June 2017

It was nice to see so many of our corporate members at our annual conference in Dallas where we were joined by more than 1,000 attendees. It was an action-packed week that brought together leaders from across the world to discuss the most pressing issues in our sector. If you haven’t done so yet, check out some of the highlights.

As we mark the first week of summer, I hope you are staying engaged with the Council as we plan for an eventful season. Below are a number of updates related to our corporate members and future opportunities for you to engage with us as well as with your peers in the field.

Here we go!

Legal Webinar Series

Next week, on June 29 from 2:00pm – 3:30pm, we have the second installment of our Legal and Tax Compliance for Corporate Grantmakers webinar series. In this webinar, participants will see an in-depth review of the rules against self-dealing, where they come from and what they involve. We will also analyze a case study, a real-life “corporate opportunity” fact pattern received by the Council’s legal team.

Topics will include:

• A technical definition of “disqualified person”
• The law of self-dealing under IRC § 4941
• Payment and allocation of shared expenses
• Expenditures that provide impermissible benefits to the sponsoring company
• Expenditures that provide permissible, incidental and tenuous benefits to the sponsoring company
• “Corporate opportunity” fact pattern analysis: Corporate Foundation Could be Whistled for Self-Dealing Foul

Be sure to register on our website, and if you’d like to submit a question in advance, feel free to send them directly to me at jeff.west@cof.org.

For those of you who missed our first one and are interested in viewing it, please see the recording here. 

Corporate Advisory Group Update

The Council recently convened our Corporate Advisory Group for the first time in New York City. Special thanks to American Express for hosting what was an incredibly productive day full of valuable discussions and ideas that are helping us cultivate relevant, timely programming for our corporate members.

During our meeting, we discussed a variety of issue areas that were on members’ minds ranging from employee engagement and connecting to the broader field of philanthropy to the business case for philanthropy and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Three issues that rose to the top included:

Navigating the New Political Landscape: how to demonstrate leadership in an unpredictable, complex, and rapidly evolving political climate.

Aligning Social Impact with Company Expertise: how to fully utilize the strengths of your business to enhance the impact of your grantmaking programs, including the integration of employee engagement programs and emerging forms of philanthropy, like new product development and impact investing.

Amplifying Your Work and Demonstrating Impact: how to respond to the increasing pressure to communicate and promote the work you’re doing to internal and external stakeholders with limited resources and staff bandwidth. 

If you are interested in partnering with the Council on any of the topics above or have other areas you’d like to see us focus on, please reach out to me anytime.

Look Ahead – 2017 Activities to Attend

Mark your calendar for the third Endowments and Finance Summit, the premier convening to gain expert insights and have in-depth conversations on the best practices and financial strategies to get a competitive advantage in the philanthropic advisory marketplace. This year’s summit will take place in New York City on October 12 and 13. Make sure to register.

Additional events for you to consider include:

• Aug 4: Philanthropy’s Impact in the Southwest: Strengthening Local Communities to Achieve Global Goals, Albuquerque, NM
• Aug 16 Summit: HR Summit, Minneapolis, MN
• December 5-6: CEO & Trustee Winter Retreat, Miami, FL

Engage

Our public policy team continues to stay engaged with your members of Congress on various legislative issues that have an impact on philanthropy. Stay informed on issues like the charitable deduction, donor advised funds, private foundation excise tax, and more by subscribing to Washington Snapshot to receive weekly updates on tax reform developments. Take a look at previous updates, and subscribe here.

Read our most recent blog posts, 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.