H.R 944 would require that companies disclose corporate charitable giving for the prior fiscal year in connection with every solicitation of a proxy. H.R. 945 would provide for a shareholder vote on corporate charitable gifts. The bill is ambiguous.
Some companies have programs under which an employee's charitable gifts are matched by the employer.
In the case of the United Way, an employee may designate the United Way client charity to receive the donation. The bill could be read to require disclosure of each employee's gift, which may prompt employees to decline to participate. The bill does not specify whether a gift to a large institution that aids other groups, such as the United Way or Catholic Charities, would be disclosable as one gift, or whether companies would have to disclose the ultimate recipients of the gifts. Nor is it clear whether gifts by corporate foundations such as the BankAmerica Foundation are disclosable. Counterproductive Requiring companies to track and disclose this information will result in additional costs which may cause some companies to reduce their charitable giving to compensate.