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 first time and experience the excitement (and relief) to have credible data sourced from the largest and leading companies to back-up the case they’ve been making for their company to do more and to do better.
We are particularly proud this year as we celebrate CECP’s 20th anniversary during which Giving in Numbers has been the unrivaled leader in benchmarking on corporate social investments, in partnership with companies for well over half of those years. Giving in Numbers has built a leading role through the years and thus is a big part of our legacy and future.
More importantly, Giving in Numbers is YOURS. You should be equally proud of the 250+ multibillion-dollar companies that are represented and chose to partner together to share their data so the field can have the best research possible. We thank all the individuals and teams who took the time to pull this information from their internal reports, dashboards, software, excel trackers and more; your teams not only collected the data, but you verified it and entered it. The benchmarking data is useful for these teams and their companies, but they have also done a service to the world by contributing to freely available research to let the world know what is happening in corporate social investments.
Here’s a few leading insights, find much more to the story when you download the full report!
What’s increasing:
- Community investments (median up 11%)
- International Giving (up 10%)
- Measuring social outcomes (now at 94%!)
- Disaster response (up 15 pp)
What’s steady:
- Volunteer percent participation (33%)
- Mixed use of corporate budgets, foundation, and non-cash (48%, 33%, 19% respectively)
- Education as leading high-level program area (27% of total)
What’s decreasing:
- Employee giving, median of matching gifts (7%)
What’s new this year (data not previously collected):
- Average hours of volunteer time-off (20 hours)
- Employee participation median across all matching programs/types (24%)
- Companies stating they focus on STEM (62%)
- How many strategic/signature programs large companies typically run (3-5)
- How many companies use a scorecard/dashboard to manage their work (45%)
There is so much more in the report! After you download it, share the link to download with a friend.
In addition to what’s noted above, we’re excited that this year’s Giving in Numbers has an expanded measurement chapter. Companies are digging deeper into business impact to build on all they have learned through social impact measurement including outcomes on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as employee retention, and brand and reputation. Companies still drive to understand the social results of their partnerships and programs but in addition, Giving in Numbers shows how they can increasing identify how their work is solving business problems. Smartly determining when to measure social and business results is part of how companies understand the efficacy and power of their work.
Giving in Numbers also has an expanded global chapter. Leaders of community investments and employee programs continually seek to improve how their work is reflective of the international footprint of their company. In partnership with CECP’s Global Exchange partners, an expanded research effort not only asks American companies how they give and partner internationally, but also how do companies headquartered in South Africa, Korea, Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, and beyond manage and implement their programs.
Whenever I, or any of the CECP team, is out on the road at conferences and corporate gatherings, we hear repeatedly that Giving in Numbers has helped these leaders to start their company’s program, expand their work and reach into communities, increase their budget, and grow their team. This combination of sharing the latest trends and practical benchmarking is core to how CECP creates a better world through business. Share with us your Giving in Numbers story – we value knowing what information is most useful! info@cecp.co