The world seems polarized – donation data paints a different picture

• The vast majority of employee donations do not go to polarizing issues.

• When polarized giving occurs, support leans firmly toward nonprofits advocating for change.

• Impact leaders will be expected to lead through reputational and business risk during the coming year.

Source: Benevity’s 2024 State of Corporate Purpose report

Corporate leaders are balancing two truths: both caution and courage. Data from our 2024 State of Corporate Purpose Report showed that impact leaders are more discerning about how to use their voices and resources due to risk to brand reputation, or the possibility of inadvertently enabling hate speech or discrimination. This has many considering adding restrictions and exclusions on nonprofits in their giving programs. But on the side of courage, the majority of leaders agree inclusion is more important than ever in increasingly polarizing times. 

Getting this right is not easy but it's critical to brand trust and reputation. 

Over the past five years, half a billion dollars has gone to polarizing topics on the Benevity platform. While that’s a significant amount of money, it only accounts for 4% of all donations on Benevity. The remaining 96% of giving supports issues society is more unified on, and therefore perhaps less vocal about: feeding the hungry, providing education opportunities, supporting healthcare initiatives and more. 

What this means is, though there is a lot of noise around more divisive issues, purpose-driven giving programs are still largely delivering on their intent – to improve lives and communities while engaging employees on issues that matter to them. 

Among the set of divisive topics analyzed from nonprofits identified as “pro-” and “anti-,” an average of 95% of donations support organizations advocating for change. We analyzed donations to the following five highly publicized divisive issues on Benevity’s platform: reproductive rights, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, trans rights and gun control. 

As we enter into the next four years of a new administration in the U.S., we can all anticipate a heightened level of scrutiny around divisive issues. Because of this, executives and CSR professionals should continue to practice due diligence when managing open giving programs; however, the numbers show us overindexing on restrictions is not required – and is potentially risky. 

Here are some actions leaders should consider to prepare themselves for this tumultuous time: 

Best practices for managing risk

• Define program guidelines: Make your specific company principles and program guidelines clear regarding nonprofit eligibility criteria.
• Promote your open program: Employees choose to work for companies that are values aligned. Let your teams know they have a vehicle for change on issues that matter to them by continuing to raise awareness about your open programs.
• Clarify individual agency: Reiterate that showing or not showing support to certain nonprofits is a personal issue that will not be evaluated at the individual level.
• Enable employee diligence: Let employees know they can flag nonprofits they feel fall outside of your or Benevity’s guidelines, provide them with the resources to nominate a nonprofit they feel falls within the guidelines and have them encourage organizations they care about to self-register on the platform.
• Leverage expert resources: For help with your due diligence, if you’re a Benevity client, lean on your Benevity Client Success Manager to request enhanced screenings on nonprofits prior to making decisions on nonprofit inclusions or exclusions.
• Establish an advisory group: Form a steering committee or advisory panel made up of people from areas like legal, risk and compliance, communications and HR or DEI to make determinations and craft messaging for more complex cases. You can also consider engaging relevant employee groups to input on issues.
• Allow time for acceptance: Be prepared for immediate reactions to your decisions and communications, but don’t feel the need to respond too quickly – give people time to understand and accept your company’s decisions.
• Set clear timeframes for crisis campaigns: Be clear with your messaging around time-bound disaster and crisis campaigns. Explain they will come to an end when the needs change, but that employees can continue to donate to nonprofits they care about beyond the time of that specific campaign. 
  
  

The data shows that giving in the workplace is not as polarized as we think, and that in the limited instances when polarized giving occurs, support leans firmly toward the side of change. Leaders exercising caution around their workplace giving programs can confidently manage a balance with courage by executing strategies around their specific programs. This will require the support of various other leaders in their companies and sharpen skills and acumen around risk management that will be required in the months and years to come.

Despite divisive times, there remains an opportunity to strengthen existing employee purpose programs and provide employees with the outlet they need to act as agents of change, which not only provides a source of efficacy during difficult times, but bonds people to their companies in a time of low trust. It’s how it’s done that will matter.