A recent member-requested Society Quick Survey on director spouse attendance at board/company-related events, which garnered approximately 150 issuer-member responses (45% large-cap/35% mid-cap/14% small-cap), revealed that most companies (~54%) invite spouses or significant others of directors to attend board or company-related events (e.g., board dinners or other outings hosted in conjunction with regular board meetings) in certain circumstances; however, 37% don't ever do so, and just over 5% do so routinely. For those that invite spouses or significant others to attend such events in certain circumstances, relatively few do so more than once/year.
For those 87 respondents who addressed reimbursables, approximately 65% of those companies reimburse (whether subject to a reasonableness standard or otherwise) the following costs for spouses:
- Air transportation
- Ground transportation
- Food
- Beverages
- Accommodations
A substantial minority (~43%) reimburse costs for activities, other than entertainment - which is reimbursed by about 25% of companies.
Note that our popular member-requested Quick Surveys are always conducted and reported out promptly after the survey closes in the weekly Society Alert on an anonymous basis.