Most Big Companies Expect Flat Giving, Despite 2011 Gains

Charitable giving by America’s biggest businesses rose slowly last year and shows little sign of gaining in 2012, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy study of 166 large companies.

(See an interactive table that pinpoints how much each company gave in cash and products and the causes they supported.)

Donations grew by 4 percent in 2011, according to the 115 companies that provided two years’ worth of data. That’s far less than the 13 percent rise from 2009 to 2010, when companies saw a sharp rebound in profits after the recession.