Portland Business Journal Corporate Philanthropy Awards Update – Anvil Media Moves Up

A few posts back, I mentioned that Anvil Media was a finalist for The Portland Business Journal’s first annual Corporate Philanthropy Awards. At the awards banquet, I stood on stage with 9 other finalists in the Small Company category. All were larger companies in terms of employees (the next smallest was more than twice Anvil’s size) but all were very generous across the key metrics of consideration: cash and in-kind contributions as well as pro-bono hours. While we were #10 on the list, I was proud to fall above 19 other respectable companies. Once the buzz wore off from the award (and free drinks) I began thinking more about what the award really means. It’s an attempt to recognize Portland-based companies that give back to the local community. Not surprisingly the largest companies tended to float to the top of the Large Companies list: Intel, Nike and Kaiser to name a few. I figured that sorting the list solely by total cash contributions was not an accurate reflection of each company’s commitment to the community, although it is inarguably a good metric of total impact. I ran my own spreadsheet (using a multiplier of all three metrics) and came up with a slightly different ranking system. Based on my calculations, the top 3 winners in each category would be:

Large Companies: Microsoft, Blazers and Buena Vista Custom Homes

Small Companies: TVA Architects, AFMS and Anvil Media (I discounted one company due to having only 1 employee)

Perhaps if PBJ were to re-evaluate it’s criteria for philanthropy, you would see this years winner give back even more on a per-employee basis, increasing the overall positive impact on the community. I’m happy to share the spreadsheet with whomever is interested, just drop me a line.