Question: Our hospital contributes money for the production and distribution throughout the community of a video produced by a nonprofit organization to help people better understand our country's democratic and economic system and how that impacts health and well-being as an American. We also help with voter registration in our rehab facility and the local community health center. Can we count these expenses as either community benefit or community building?
Recommendation: These activities do not appear to address an identified health need. Therefore, we recommend that you do not report the expenses as community benefit. However, these activities reflect your organization's story as a good corporate citizen so you may want to include them in the narrative report.
(June 2012)