11th Annual Report on Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Engagement Trends
This Established Report Analyzes Data from the YourCause® Portfolio of Software for Centralized Social Impact to Show How Companies and Their Employees Engage with Purpose
Since 2015, the Industry Review has been developed to provide corporations insight into employee engagement and social responsibility. Observations of key learnings and trends throughout this report were analyzed through data collected within the CSRconnect® and GrantsConnect® platforms. Findings in this report are from a subset of the entire client and employee population and evaluate program data from January – December 2022.
We continue to connect companies in the Global Good Network™ to each other by providing data and insights that help CSR leaders make decisions about how to build and grow their programs.
Key Insights from the 2023 CSR Industry Report
“Companies are evaluating their social impact strategies and looking for ways to capitalize on the momentum of increased employee engagement while shifting to allow their program offerings to align towards trends for year-round giving, disaster relief initiatives and a diverse volunteer portfolio that includes a balance of virtual and in-person opportunities”
– Andrew Troup
Director of Giving and Engagement, Corporate Impact at Blackbaud
NEW DATA
Each year we take feedback from our employees, customers and industry partners on what data to analyze and incorporate in the report. This new data reflects questions we have been asked about how employees are engaged with board service, trends for newly hired vs.tenured employees and how companies are deploying grant awards.
In addition to 2022 data from the YourCause portfolio, this report includes a preview of how organizations using EVERFI from Blackbaud products are making an impact. EVERFI from Blackbaud data shows how corporations, foundations and nonprofits are reaching thousands of K-12 learners in a classroom setting to deliver education to impact 21st century skills.
Download the infographic for the report highlights.
Highlights from the Report
As the world of work moves towards an increased focus on flexibility and hybrid environments, the ways of employee engagement are also adapting. Companies are navigating these changes and creating meaningful opportunities for employees to make an impact together with the nonprofits and the communities they serve. Since 2020 we have noticed a big shift in the changing landscape of volunteerism. Many companies and nonprofits are still adapting to the challenges they faced at the height of the pandemic.
How has volunteerism changed?
The average hours for large team events continues to decrease. Since 2020 when we first started reporting the average volunteer hours per team events we have seen an increased amount of hours spent at individual volunteer opportunities and/or small team events. Large team events of 51 people or more has continued to decrease. This trends applies across all company sizes from 0 – 100,000+ employees. This makes sense considering the shift in volunteerism due to the pandemic and changing needs of nonprofits. Learn more about the trends and Changing Landscape of Volunteerism.
In-person volunteering increased. Of the more than 8.5 million volunteer hours recorded, 82% took place at in-person events. This incredible resurgence and shift back towards in-person engagements and interactions shines a light on the impact volunteering has with providing a sense of community and belonging. Learn more about the value of employee volunteering to the business and to employees in this insights article from ACCP: How Volunteerism Drives Human-centric belonging.
How has employee engagement changed?
More employees engaged with giving and volunteering leading to higher combined engagement rates which measures participation across the total employee base. Although we saw an increase in participation among employees there was a decrease in the average donation amounts since 2021. Despite the continued changes in our world, whether due to natural disasters, complex geo-politics or increasing pressures due to economic uncertainty people are still looking for ways to give back.
This trend of increased engagement rates was seen across all company sizes. Company size 1,001 – 5,000 employees saw the biggest increase in volunteer engagement from 12% in 2021 to 18.3% in 2022. When looking across enterprise size engagement trends three companies stood with >90% combined engagement rate, compared to the rate across all companies evaluated in this report of 11.2%. Uncover the purpose behind the companies with the highest combined engagement rate for their enterprise size among companies with 0 – 10,000 employees.
0-1,000
96% Combined Engagement Rate
1,001-5,000
91% Combined Engagement Rate
5,001-10,000
95% Combined Engagement Rate
Curious to see how your company’s employee volunteering and giving engagement rates compare to the averages in this year’s report? Our benchmark calculator tool has been updated with data from this year’s industry review. This comprehensive tool allows companies to see where their CSR programs align with their peers. This calculator groups companies evaluated in the 11th Annual Report by industry AND enterprise size. For example you can see how your program stacks up against companies that are manufacturing and 10,000-50,000 employees etc.
Companies and their employees make an impact around the world.
Companies and their employees rallied together to support disaster relief around the world. Total funding for disaster relief increased from $5.8 million in 2021 to over $12.2 million in 2022 with 84% donated to campaigns supporting Ukraine.
We also looked at U.S. vs. international grant dollars for the first time and ~$24.3 million (4%) of the total in grants was awarded to charities outside of the U.S. Companies using CSRconnect and GrantsConnect can take advantage of the vast network of global partners to amplify and scale their impact reaching more charities around the world, all while feeling confident in the vetting process.