CECP Insights Blog

More than half of Americans under the age of 30 have already hit financial rock bottom spurred by mental health challenges, job loss and debt, according to new research by the Principal® Foundation into the financial barriers, attitudes and behaviors of today’s young adults. The research report, “Youth Finances in the U.S.: Stories of Adversity […]

In CECP’s 2019 Giving in Numbers survey, roughly 80% of companies reported having a corporate foundation, and of those companies, the average number of foundations a company operated was 3. It is clear that companies view having their own corporate foundations as a fundamental component to their corporate responsibility strategies. We also know that CECP […]

On November 7, 2019, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) and Edelman hosted a webinar titled Communicating Long-Term Plans: Best Practices and Examples from the Industry, which can be accessed here. The combined Strategic Investor Initiative and Edelman Long-Term Plan presentation is here and the underlying research on which the content guidance we provide to companies is found here. There […]

As companies settle in this world of “corporate purpose”, 2020 will focus on what those purpose statements mean—moving from words to action. Strength will be in solutions, not rhetoric. Stakeholders will be the golden thread of corporate purpose, requiring companies to understand what matters to them, meet their needs in line with the business, work […]

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of CECP – now, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose. Corporate Purpose became part of our name over the past year, marking how more than ever CECP believes companies can create a better world through business. In a year when 181 CEOs signed the Business Roundtable’s Statement […]

For data-lovers, too many metrics is still not enough. That said, no matter how many ways you run the numbers, each day has 24 hours, each week 7 days, each year 12 months. When CSR leaders share information with senior executives, time constraints limit what they’re able to present, which is typically only the vital […]

The below post is from CECP’s forthcoming book on the history of the organization Paul Newman was worried. In 1982, he’d started his own food company, Newman’s Own, Inc., to give all of its profits to charitable organizations to address pressing social challenges. He’d won awards for his work as an actor, a racecar driver, […]

3M benchmarks annually against the world’s greatest companies to ensure we empower our people with game-changing community engagement programs. CECP recently released their annual report on trends in corporate community relations: Giving in Numbers 2019 Edition. CECP analyst and author, André Solórzano, spotlighted unique data indicating how companies are becoming more employee-centric in their quest to […]

With 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg making headlines with her recent UN speech on climate change, you may have noticed that kids today are more environmentally and socially conscious. If you have kids, you know that they love to ask, “WHY?” about everything. Kids are seeing headlines, especially as they relate to climate, equality, and […]

When Heather Dickey began unpacking from her second move to Herndon, Virginia, one thought that didn’t enter her mind was, “I need to get a job.”  That is because Heather was able to keep her job despite the move, but most military spouses are not so fortunate. Moving between duty stations wreaks havoc on military […]

On Veterans Day, we honor our country’s military veterans who served to protect our freedom and rights. Many of us at CECP have family members and friends who have served or are serving in the military, and in our  special salute, we want to highlight the commitment by companies to support military families and veterans. […]

CECP, over the past few years, has been advancing practices related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) both inside companies and with our companies’ external partnerships and community programs. In 2018, CECP released a research paper supported by the Walmart Foundation, , and a group of companies continued to explore these topics through an Accelerate […]

Pro Bono service has been a cornerstone of corporate volunteerism for decades.  As the kids would say, it’s the “OG” of skills based volunteerism.   As companies continue to refine their corporate responsibility strategies to 1. align more closely with business goals and 2.  enhance the impact of the nonprofit organizations they support, pro bono service […]

On the day that Giving in Numbers is released, the CECP team envisions everyone diving into this year’s insights for the first time. Many have read the report for years, are tuned into the nuances of trends, and can quickly spot new topics that pop up in the report. Others find the report for the […]

When presenting to investors, CEOs need to go deeper than just telling a good marketing story. Institutional investors want to hear more from CEOs about how they are positioning their company to succeed in the long-term. CEOs need to demonstrate that the company’s leadership understands how long-term issues impact value creation and has developed a […]