Amid a contentious and ongoing national debate regarding the role corporations should play in society, a new survey released by the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP), the nation’s leading advocate for corporate social impact professionals and purpose-driven companies, provides insights on the anticipated level of impact the new presidential administration will have on corporate social impact programs and initiatives at leading companies, as well as what areas their social impact work will most likely be affected.
In the new survey, 90% of respondents anticipate their company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) will either stay the same (77%) or increase (13%) under the new presidential administration. When asked about the anticipated impacts of the new administration on their CSR programs, the top two answers included:
- a shift in message and communications and likely decrease in external communications about the work; and
- increase in legal oversight of social impact work.
“Our survey offers an important perspective from frontline corporate and social impact professionals who are responsible for carrying out CSR programs and initiatives at leading companies,” says Andrea Wood, president and CEO at ACCP. “Over 90% of survey respondents report that even during this challenging environment, they anticipate their company’s commitment to CSR will remain strong. While this runs counter to headline grabbing news stories, most companies remain strongly committed to social impact programs, such as employee volunteerism, employee giving, corporate giving, and community investment because of the many business and community benefits that result from this work including employee engagement, talent recruitment, revenue growth, and brand loyalty.”
The survey also asked about how corporate commitments to DEI and ESG may change under the new administration. Not surprisingly, the most profound impact is expected to be around DEI initiatives. That said, most respondents expect their company’s commitment to ESG (82%) and DEI (69%) to either remain steady or increase under the new presidential administration.
