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by Gary Larkin

Based on the economic news of the past week, it’s probably not a good time to bring up corporate philanthropy. But then again, maybe it is.

Corporate charitable giving has become an even more important part of doing business over the past five years as corporate citizenship has moved up the board agenda. With a sell-offÌý in the equity markets under way since last month amid the controversy over the U.S. government debt ceiling debate and sovereign debt worries overseas, many public companies may not have charitable contributions high on their to-do list.

With that said, it is worth noting that charitable giving by corporations will most likely be flat in 2011 [See,ÌýJuly 24]. However, according to a survey from the Chronicle, cash giving rose by 13 percent in 2010 after there was a 7.5 percent decline in 2009 during the recession.