In the Sesame Street Layoffs, a Reminder of Corporate Philanthropy

This story about the layoffs at Sesame Street made the rounds within the past few days. Some stories were sober some tongue-in-cheek, but it was a reminder of the extent of our economic woes and it made news because it hits a cultural icon near and dear to most everyone who was born in the last few decades. This story provides a little more analysis, noting that Sesame Street relied on Wall Street firms like Bear, Stearns and Merrill, Lynch for funding and that dried up in light of the recent unpleasantness.

However, in among the ashes there is a morality tale and an object lesson. So much derision is regularly heaped upon corporate America that along the way, people often forget that corporate America -- besides creating a hundred million-plus jobs and providing the tax base for the country -- also donates billions of dollars in time and money to charitable causes. You only get to see it at times like this, when it dries up. According to the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, among 155 leading companies in the US, median total giving climbed from $24.67 in 2006 to $26.05 million in 2007. For 56 of the Fortune 100 companies surveyed, median total giving grew from $45.7 in 2006 to $49.6 million in 2007. That's a lot of money by any measure. 

Sesame Street has lots of corporate partners that you can see here and here, and no doubt there will be more. But it is an opportunity to remind people that corporate philanthropy provides so much opportunity for the underprivileged in this country, provides great programming in the case of Sesame Street and they do it all without much fanfare and in fact sometimes despite withering criticism.

By the way, you can click here to donate to Sesame Street, if you want to help take up the slack. And if you see a corporate titan, you may want to say thanks for all the good they've been doing.