Covering changes in corporate giving over the last 50 years, a new report by The Conference Board has found that while giving has not kept pace with profits, more and more companies are making it a priority.

Despite the recent economic boom, the study found corporate giving has not kept up with increasing revenue. In 1986, companies in the United States were giving 2.36 percent of pretax profits to charity. By 1997, that number had fallen to 1.1 percent.

While that decrease may be seen as a reason for pessimism, the study's author says that increasing acceptance of corporate giving as an integral part of business means that corporations are paying much more attention to it.

"One major development has been gradual management acceptance of corporate contributions over the past half century," says Sophia A. Muirhead, senior research associate in The Conference Board's Global Corporate Citizenship Center. "Contributions budgets are now regarded as no different from budget allocations for wages, raw materials, advertising, and other sources of corporate expense."

That increasing attention means such individualized charity as noncash giving are gaining popularity. More companies are finding ways to give such as donating products, equipment and talent, and encouraging employees to volunteer, the study found.

However, that new giving does not fit well on a balance sheet. These gifts often are reported as business expenses instead of contributions, concealing the actual amounts that companies are giving. By 1997, noncash contributions averaged 24% of all corporate charitable grants, the study found.

Another new way of giving, the study finds, is social responsibility or corporate citizenship, in which businesses are beginning to realize they can affect the world in positive ways even without giving to charity. Several corporations are publishing what the study refers to as "social reports" to detail exactly how they are meeting their responsibilities as corporate citizens.

Information on ordering this report, entitled "Corporate Contributions: The View from 50 Years," is available through The Conference Board's Customer Service Department at (212)339-0345.

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