Despite rebound in profits, giving by big companies still lags...

August 10, 2010

Despite rebound in profits, giving by big companies still lags

A survey of the biggest U.S. companies by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and USA Today finds that while corporate profits are on the rebound, most big companies do not expect their charitable giving to return to previous levels for some time, USA Today reported Aug. 9 (see corporate giving story). The survey says Wal-Mart Stores gave $288 million in cash in 2009, more than any other company, followed by AT&T Corp., which gave nearly $240 million, and Bank of America, which gave $209 million.

Execs at big museums pay no income taxes on free housing

Big museums are giving their top executives free housing worth millions of dollars for which the executives are not paying income taxes, a tax break to which the museums say the executives are entitled because they are required to live on a "business premises," The New York Times reported August 9 (see museum perk story).

Johnny Carson's posthumous giving totals $156 million

The Smoking Gun website reported that, since his death in January 2005, a foundation the late TV entertainer Johnny Carson created in 1988 has received $156 million from a personal trust he created, The Hollywood Reporter reported Aug. 9 (see Johnny Carson story).

Pioneering social-justice foundation shuts down

The Vanguard Public Foundation, which was established in 1972 and was one of the first social-justice foundations created by the children of wealthy families, has shut down, its nonprofit status suspended by the California secretary of state, and its assets apparently gone, Blue Avocado reported Aug. 3 (see Vanguard Foundation story).

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