CSR Program Benchmarking For Small And Mid-Size Companies

Key takeaways

Programs that offer cause choice drive 5x greater participation — making it one of the most impactful design decisions you can make when building a CSR program.

Volunteering and matching work best together: 70% of mid-market companies offer combined options so employees can choose to donate time or money, and 93% offer matching.

Adding Missions to your program can nearly double participation rates, with a 60% increase in donations when giving campaigns are paired with Missions activities.

Looking to start your CSR journey or engage more employees in giving and volunteering? These benchmarking stats and insights show how companies with fewer than 5,000 employees are building corporate purpose programs that maximize engagement and impact.

*Data gathered between May 1, 2020, and Apr. 30, 2021, from Benevity clients with 500-5,000 employees and who have run a program for at least one year. All currency in USD.

Participation leads to engagement

The first step to building an effective program is making a strong first impression with your employees. Inclusive programs that empower grassroots action will inspire your people to support the causes they care about — and when they do it through a workplace program, they’re more likely to stay and feel better about their place of work.

Across mid-market Benevity clients, participation looks like this:

28% overall average program participation (and growing)
22% increase in participation in the first year
5x greater participation when employees can choose the nonprofits they want to support
62% of companies allow employees to start their own giving and volunteering initiatives

“We launched our program company-wide with Benevity in January 2019. The increase in employee participation has been unprecedented.”

Emily Wheeler, Manager of Corporate Citizenship, GoDaddy

Make volunteering flexible and rewarding

Benevity’s software connects employees with thousands of volunteer opportunities — and the communities and causes that matter to them most. Many successful programs include volunteer rewards (dollars for doers), matching volunteer hours with donation funds to further amplify impact.

48% of clients offer volunteer rewards
$16/hour average volunteer reward rate
2 hours/person average volunteer time
70% of companies offer combined matching options, so employees can choose to donate time or money

Ciena Cares put this into practice by increasing their matching program to a 3:1 match. The change added an extra $1 million to their regular matching budget and drove a significant increase in engagement. They also boosted volunteer rewards from $20 to $30 per hour — giving employees even more incentive to give back.

Matching drives more giving

Generous match rates further incentivize employees’ decisions to donate to company-wide and personal initiatives. The data bears this out:

93% of clients offer matching on employee donations
86% of clients who offer matching offer 100% matching or more
$1,000 average matching budget per employee
$173 average annual donation amount per employee

Splunk’s first company-wide giving campaign illustrates the power of a simple nudge. A small incentive — just $10 in each employee’s Giving Account — was enough to engage 62% of Splunk’s global workforce, generating nearly $50,000 in donations to 1,300 different causes.

Doing good has a ripple effect: Missions

Missions is a feature in Benevity’s CSR software that helps employees take positive actions that add up to major social, personal, and business impact. Missions include easy-to-complete activities and purpose challenges that promote awareness, develop empathy, and encourage socially conscious behavior.

40% participation for clients whose program includes Missions — almost double those who don’t
60% increase in donations when giving campaigns are paired with Missions
32% of first-time participants donate or volunteer after completing Missions

“We launched a Missions pilot, and in just three weeks, we saw 45% engagement, with an average of 5.9 activities per participant. We posted two new Missions activities each week, and each time engagement spiked. We saw super users from all demographics and departments, and they kept going after the pilot period.”

Nicole Frisch, Senior Director, Community Engagement, First Tech Federal Credit Union