I have heard that big businesses are required to spend "X" amount of dollars on community service, is it true?

Question

I heard that if you make a certain amount of money as a business, you were required by law to spend a percentage of that on some type of community service, a "give back to the community" type of situation. Is it true? What is the percentage?

Answer 1

Businesses are accustomed to being criticized for neglecting their responsibilities to society. Complaints that private enterprise puts profit before people have long provided reliable applause lines for politicians and assorted activists, and material for the briefs of crusading public-interest attorneys. But in the past few years, the concept of corporate social esponsibility—increasingly part of the curriculum in America’s schools of business and management—has established itself as a political and social force to be reckoned with. This can be seen in recent proposals in Congress and elsewhere to offer tax breaks or regulate differently firms that shoulder their “social responsibilities.” Social responsibility isn’t expected only of large corporations. If commercial activities are perceived to be unethical or destructive, it doesn’t matter what type of business enterprise engages in them. However, publicly traded corporations are the target of most discussion about social responsibility because of how they are created and managed. Corporate social responsibility advocates note that since corporations are “fictitious persons,” created by law and sustained by government grants of limited liability for individual shareholders they have obligations to society that surpass those of sole proprietorships or partnerships. The corporation which acts in a responsible manner may simply be paying society back for the social costs of doing business costs for which the firms rarely receive an invoice.

Answer 2

Not unless you consider taxes as "Give back"
This country was founded on a strong belief in free enterprise, and the encouragement of entrepreneurialism. The Constitution does lay down a basic groundwork for the regulation of commerce between states and with foreign countries. But the Federal government leaves most of the regulations to the states. Even though there have been many new laws and regulations passed through the years the government has never required a business to donate money to any charity. The federal and states powers do however allow businesses to deduct the cost of donations to charitable groups from their taxes.
Remember this is the land of freedom and opportunity. The state and federal levels have passed a number of arduous regulations, concerning employee discrimination, health standards, environmental controls, safety, and consumer protection. In some instances local governments will give tax breaks and even wave taxes to entice new jobs, and might make "Community Service" a stipulation to tax exemptions.
About the only way I can see that a company would be forced to do "community service' was because a judge had ordered it after they were sued. For example cleaning up after an environmental situation such as the Exxon Valdez.

Answer 3

NO.

Sometimes businesses contribute to the community because they feel it is an obligation. Others, they think it improves their image.