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Shifts in the U.S. policy landscape are prompting corporate philanthropy leaders to make changes to their companies’ philanthropic priorities for 2025.
According to data in a new survey by The Conference Board, more corporate philanthropy leaders plan to ramp up their companies’ efforts around economic opportunity and education. At the same time, they anticipate dialing back their initiatives around racial and gender equality.
“These findings signal a shift, not a retreat, in advancing gender and racial equality. Companies are incorporating these goals into broader frameworks — like workforce development, technical trainings, and financial empowerment — that better align with their core business priorities,” said Andrew Jones, author of the report and senior ESG (environmental, social and governance) researcher at The Conference Board.
The report is based on a survey of more than 120 philanthropy executives from U.S. and multinational companies. Respondents shared their challenges and opportunities for the year ahead in light of the 2024 election outcomes. Additional findings include:
* Corporate philanthropy strategies are increasingly focusing on economic opportunity & education. They are the top two themes philanthropy executives are increasing their emphasis on in 2025. There will be less focus on racial and gender equality. They are the top two themes philanthropy executives are decreasing their emphasis on in 2025.
* Companies are turning more attention to U.S. initiatives. Based on results of the 2024 elections, executives said their companies will increase their emphasis on initiatives in the US, followed by Canada and Mexico. There will be decreasing attention to China and Latin America-based activities.
* Asked to pick the three top obstacles, the executives selected proving the return on investment of philanthropic (ROI) efforts at 43%, followed by measuring, verifying, or attributing societal impact (31%) and navigating political uncertainty and polarization in the US (29%).
“Executives who measure the ROI of philanthropic initiatives ensure their programs add value. Quantifying their value is an important task. Practical steps leaders can take include refining data collection on key business indicators, such as the link between employee engagement and CSR programs, as well as contributions to brand equity,” Jeff Hoffman, Institute Leader, Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, The Conference Board, said via a statement.
More than one-third (37%) of executives are revising language and terminology used to describe their initiatives, both internally and externally. The top-cited reasons for making these changes are companies responding to political, social, and legal developments (44%) and minimizing backlash (41%).
Amid the flurry of change, the level and frequency of communications is increasing, with 41% of executives planning to increase communications internally, while 30% plan to increase externally. Fewer than 10% plan to decrease, either internally or externally.
