12th 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 2023.
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. As part of an expanded perspective on corporate impact, we also offer a snapshot of data related to the EVERFI® from Blackbaud® workplace training and K-12 education solutions.
Key Insights from the 2024 CSR Industry Report
412
participating companies
7M+
employees
8.27M
number of volunteer hours recorded from employees
104
number of countries where employees engaged in social impact
$1,140
average annual gift per donor including company match dollars
$545M
over $545 million in grants awarded by clients using GrantsConnect in 2023
“Despite increased external pressures, we saw an increase in overall volunteer engagement and steady participation in giving programs globally, reinforcing the idea that employees crave interaction and see value in prioritizing giving back to their communities and those in need.”
Download the infographic for the report highlights.
Highlights from the Report
Trends in employee volunteering and giving
Volunteering participation rises, and there is a continued shift back to in-person engagement. Volunteer engagement rates increased, meaning higher employee participation in 2023, while volunteer hours per volunteer remained the same. Of the more than 8.27 million volunteer hours recorded, 87 percent were in-person, a continued increase from last year. This steady downwards trend since the initial surge of virtual volunteering during the height of the pandemic likely reflects the growing desire for in-person connection.
For larger companies, we also saw a shift towards volunteering in small teams and as individuals. As organizations look to meet the expectations of remote or hybrid work environments where employees are more spread out and working schedules vary, companies may value the flexibility of smaller group size events.
Employee giving remains steady, and the payroll giving method continues to lead in engagement. The average gift per donor, including company match dollars, was $1,140 and 45% of donations were funded by company dollars (such as matching gifts and incentive programs in CSRconnect). While more dollars are donated in total via the offline giving method, payroll continues to see the highest participation rate across all employees, given the low friction and recurring nature of the donation method.
In this report you’ll find data and key metrics on:
- Global Employee Engagement
- Enterprise Engagement Trends
- Donation Method Trends
- Program Trends
- Trends by Industry
- Geographic Trends
- Performance by Work Country
- Performance by Work State
- Payment Processing
Companies that leverages Engagement Elements within CSRconnect to drive donations had an avergage giving engagement rate of 11.2% compared to 7.7% for companies that didn’t. Learn more about increasing employee participation using Engagement Elements in this guide.
Companies with both giving and volunteering programs see higher engagement rates. In line with previous years, companies that offer both giving and volunteering programs see much higher engagement than companies that only offer one option.
Featured customer stories
Highlights:
- 69.1% year-on-year growth in volunteer hours
- Global Month of Service
- Giving back is part of the culture
- International committee of CSR ambassadors
Highlights:
- 89% volunteering engagement rate
- 360-degree nonprofit partnerships
- Flexible micro-volunteering opportunities
- CRA-eligible community programs
Highlights:
- Integrated engagement and grantmaking
- Data-driven insights to enhance programs
- Company-wide Crowe Cares Day
- Stewardship ambassadors to extend reach
Trends in grantmaking and disaster relief
International grantmaking is trending upwards. Almost 20% of grant dollars were awarded to international charities through YourCause GrantsConnect (~$106 million), a significant increase from only 4% of total grant dollars (~$24 million) in 2022.
Earthquake and wildfire relief are significant focuses within disaster campaigns. Earthquake relief within our client dataset totalled $4.04 million in 2023. Most of the funding in this category was in relation to the February 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes. Wildfire relief was another major focus, totalling $2.40 million. A large portion of the funding in this category was in relation to the August 2023 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.