After a short hiatus, we’re back with a new infographic, courtesy of CECP, a coalition of one hundred and fifty CEOs ”united in the belief that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance,” and the Conference Board, a global business membership and research association. Based on an annual survey, it provides a nice snapshot of “social engagement” at 271 multi-billion-dollar companies, including 67 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500.

 

 According to CECP, the growing willingness of companies to apply employee skills and their own resources to solving societal challenges is demonstrated by growth in five key indicators:

• Pro bono (40 percent to 51 percent of companies) and nonprofit board leadership (43 percent to 53 percent) were the fastest growing volunteer programs, while paid-release time was the most common (60 percent of companies);
• The overwhelming majority of attendees (nine out of ten) at the 2015 CECP Summitsaid their companies had increased support for innovations such as cross-company collaborations and impact investing;
• The majority of companies surveyed (85 percent) measured the impact of their community programs, with companies that measured results reporting an 18 percent jump in giving;
• Companies that increased their giving by 10 percent or more saw a 14 percent median growth rate in pre-tax profits;
• Community investment staff size at companies stayed the same or grew for 65 percent of the companies that reduced their overall headcount.

“These five indicators confirm that companies are adding to traditional societal investment programs to become more strategic and innovative, and infuse purpose throughout the entire company,” said CECP chief executive office Daryl Brewster. “To these companies, purpose means making societal improvement an essential measure of business performance, and we call on companies to invest even more in this pursuit.”

What do you think? Are the largest corporations in America (and globally) becoming more socially engaged? Are they doing enough to help fund and find solutions to urgent social and environmental challenges? Should they be doing more, or should they stick to their knitting and focus on making profits and creating jobs?