The UK’s top 400 companies gave a total of £658m to charity in the last two years, an increase of 9.9 per cent from 2013 according to a new report by the Directory of Social Change.
The DSC today released the tenth edition of their The Guide to UK Company Giving which ranks companies based on total pre-tax donations to charities across the United Kingdom.
Lloyds Banking Group has again topped the list of corporate givers, donating £53.7m in cash to various organisations – up from £43.8m in 2013.
Tesco overtook Goldman Sachs International in second place, with £25.4m in cash donations, although its total donations were almost unchanged from last time.
Goldman Sachs fell to third, with its total cash donations in the UK falling from £40.1m in 2013, to £22.1m in 2015.
While the total figure of £658m represents an increase from the last guide, total cash donations by companies have decreased in the last two years by 21.5 per cent, falling to £369m. However DSC said changes to reporting requirements which were introduced in 2013 make it difficult to compare accurately.
It said 41 per cent of the 400 companies surveyed in the guide chose not to report their charitable cash giving in their last annual reports.
DSC’s Denise Lillya, who helped author the guide, said: “Companies in some numbers are returning to previous unenlightened times by choosing not to declare the one thing they can’t put a spin on, the hard cash they give to community and voluntary organisations.
“This is a disappointing and backwards step in transparent reporting and seems to have no logical reasoning or justification. We would advise fundraisers to choose carefully to which companies they apply and for what, tailoring their applications towards specific corporates.“
The top ten companies are listed below:
- Lloyds Banking Group: £53.7 million
- Tesco plc: £25.4 million
- Goldman Sachs International: £22.1 million
- Santander UK plc: £17 million
- HSBC Holdings plc: £14.5 million
- Shell (UK Limited): £11.8 million
- FIL Holdings (UK) Limited (formerly Fidelity Investment Management Limited): £10.2 million
- Barclays PLC: £9.1 million
- Berkeley Group plc: £9 million
- Marks and Spencer Group plc: £8.4 million
The 2015/16 guide also features a new section, which focuses on 111 corporate charities, including the details of grantmakers associated with featured companies. According to the DSC, donations for these charities account for around £200m worth of total donations made in the UK.
