Here are 16 must-know CSR facts. Use them to justify a new social impact initiative, convince your board to increase your corporate foundation budget, or make the case for growing your CSR team.

These statistics are sourced from more than a dozen well-regarded research reports and are grouped into five key themes: purpose, employee engagement, disaster response, customers and cause marketing, and employee volunteering.

Purpose

Fact #1—Companies with a clearly defined sense of purpose are up to 50% more likely to successfully expand into a new market.
Source: The Business Case for Purpose

Fact #2—50% of millennials say they would take a pay cut to find work that matches their values.
Source: The Deloitte Millennial Survey

Fact #3—More than half of millennials would defend a purpose-driven company if people spoke badly of it.
Source: Cone Purpose Study 2018

Employee Engagement

Fact #4—Employees who have a chance to give to charities through their workplace are happier than those who do not.
Source: Harvard Business School

Fact #5—US employees who fall into the “not engaged” and “actively disengaged” categories cost their companies $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity annually.
Source: Gallup

Fact #6—Half of employees believe their employer should connect them with opportunities for charitable engagement.
Source: America’s Charities Snapshot

Disaster Response

Fact #7—Disaster relief accounted for just 3% of overall corporate giving in 2018, with the vast majority of gifts directed to immediate disaster relief, as opposed to risk reduction.
Source: Giving in Numbers 2019

Fact #8—Of 53 companies surveyed, almost all companies (79%) offered a 1:1 match for disaster relief giving.
Source: Giving in Numbers 2019

Fact #9—Globally, more than five times as much is spent on disaster response versus risk reduction.
Source: The Future of Disaster Philanthropy Report

Customers and Cause Marketing

Fact #10—71% of US millennials hope companies will take the lead on the social issues they find important.
Source: Cone Communications CSR Study

Fact #11—40% of consumers seek purposeful brands and trust in brands to act in the best interest of society.
Source: GlobeScan + BBMG

Fact #12—76% of respondents believe CEOs should take the lead on change rather than waiting for the government to require it.
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer

Fact #13—More companies than ever before are linking their brand with a social impact initiative, partially in response to COVID-19 and consumer pressures to play an integral role in recovery.
Source: GlobalGiving

Employee Volunteering

Fact #14—Employees who are engaged and have high well-being are 19% more likely to volunteer their time in the past month.
Source: Gallup

Fact #15—83% of executives believe skills-based volunteerism could help employees satisfy their desire for purpose and hone their teamwork and leadership abilities.
Source: Covestro

Fact #16—Only 26% of executives say their companies have utilized skills-based volunteerism.
Source: Covestro