Vancouver-based Telus Corp. has become the first Canadian company to be named the top philanthropic corporation of the year by the Association of Funding Professionals.

With 30,000 members and more than 2,000 chapters around the world, the AFP awarded Telus the 2010 Freeman Philanthropic Services Award for Outstanding Corporation after the telecommunications giant was nominated by Gymnastics BC.

“A lot of companies talk the talk about philanthropy but Telus really makes giving and volunteering a priority,” AFP’s president and CEO Paulette Maehara said in a news release. “Their approach to philanthropy and their demonstrated commitment to employee involvement through their charitable giving and volunteerism programs sets the standard for corporations around the world.”

Telus has contributed $158 million to charitable organizations and volunteered more than three million hours of service to local communities over the past decade. In 2009 alone, Telus gave nearly $25 million to a variety of community initiatives including children’s hospitals, food banks, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Telus also recently gave $50,000 to two charities to get food and water to Haiti following January’s disastrous earthquake. The company raised an additional $62,000 through its Texting-for-Haiti program, and it supplied a fully staffed call center as part of the Canada for Haiti telethon, which raised $13.5 million, and donated 1,500 cell phone handsets to help emergency services.

I think Telus is one of those rare companies that measures success not only by profitable returns, but by the contributions it makes to society at large. Telus should be a model for all businesses, as a company that reaches out to the community to assist others, and one that champions a culture of giving.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about philanthropy