Corporate Katrina gifts could top $1B
Published: September 14, 2005
Corporate donations to help victims of Hurricane Katrina are now more than $400 million and could eventually exceed $1 billion, according to a published report.
USA Today, citing three organizations tracking corporate donations, said that corporate donations now stand at $409 million, with donations from the companies’ customers adding another $138 million. That means corporate funds raised now stand at $547 million, close to the $565 million raised for tsunami relief after that Dec. 26, 2004, disaster.
Stephen Jordan of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Corporate Citizenship told the newspaper that he expects Katrina donations to eventually top $1 billion, breaking the record $750 million collected after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The chamber says that 145 companies had each pledged $1 million or more in cash and products through Monday.
Employee giving is not counted as corporate giving, but companies including Baxter International (Research), Chubb (Research) and Verizon Communications (Research) are among those that try to influence their employees with a $2 match for every $1 they contribute.
Total giving is higher than reported, Jordan says, because many companies give without issuing a press release.
Wal-Mart Stores (Research), Office Depot (Research) and General Electric (Research) are so far the largest corporate givers to the hurricane relief effort, all near or surpassing $20 million in cash and products, according to the newspaper.
Wal-Mart has given $17 million in cash, the largest corporate cash contribution to date, in addition to $3 million in products.
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