CECP Launches 2016 Survey

NEW YORK, January 19, 2016 /3BL Media/ -- CECP, a nonprofit that believes business can and should be a force for good in society, is pleased to announce the opening of the 2016 Giving in Numbers Survey, in association with The Conference Board. The survey is open online January 15, 2016 to March 31, 2016 to companies with revenue of US $2 billion or more, including companies not yet affiliated with CECP. The Giving in Numbers Survey since 2001 has collected data on corporate societal engagement programs globally to provide benchmarking and essential support for making the business case for the value of societal engagement. Results of the survey will be available at the CECP Summit, May 24-25, 2016.

“CECP ensures that leading companies and CEOs are able to track and measure their work and its results, as well as use those insights to invest more deeply in community issues that in turn help build the business,” said Daryl Brewster, CEO, CECP.

Last year, 271 companies, including 67 of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500, submitted data on their programs, allowing CECP to convert big data into the ultimate tool for corporate giving officers. Data sourced from the world’s largest companies on a range of areas including cash and non-cash contributions, cause areas of allocation, and employee and stakeholder engagement, are used to develop the seminal yearly CECP report Giving in Numbers, in association with The Conference Board. Data also inform a range of infographics, blog posts, and media articles.

2015 Giving in Numbers Trends and Insights

• Measurement and evaluation are on the rise: 84% of companies measured the outcomes and/or impacts of at least a portion of their portfolio. Those that did reported an 18% increase in total giving.
• Purpose propels performance: Societal investment is just one gear in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) machine. And a company’s overall performance is influenced by countless factors, only one of which is its ESG actions. However, research shows that societal investments correlate with financial performance and encourage companies to take a long-term view towards strong sustainable returns.
• Company skills are being applied to solving societal changes: From 2012 to 2014, pro bono and board service had higher growth rates than any other volunteer program, demonstrating the importance of leveraging employees’ skills.
• Doing good beyond giving is growing, too: While total giving (cash and non-cash) is stable and strong, companies are also using cross-departmental collaborations, new product development, and impact investments to be more innovative in solving community issues.
• Elevation of the role: Giving officers reside in a variety of departments with increasingly diverse and high-level titles despite other corporate downsizing.

New This Year and Additional Resources

New this year in the survey is an updated valuation of Pro Bono Service, created by Taproot Foundation in partnership with CECP. The updated weighted average values a pro bono hour at $150, an increase from $120 as published in 2009.

CECP’s Global Guide criteria, first released in 2012, are now the definition of qualified recipients in the survey Valuation Guide. CECP’s Valuation Guide is an industry standard for measuring a company’s Social efforts (of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)). 

CECP leverages the Giving in Numbers Survey and additional research on corporate societal investment from around the world to develop the complementary Giving Around the Globe report. All CECP reports, trends and insight analysis are provided at no cost to the public at cecp.co. Custom analysis is available to CECP-affiliated companies that complete the survey.

CECP identifies the trends, best practices, and insights to support the continued evolution and effectiveness of corporate societal investment from survey research and more than 1,000 individual consultations with the world’s largest companies. To learn more and take part in the survey, contact Jinny Jeong at jjeong@cecp.co.

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ABOUT CECP: THE CEO FORCE FOR GOOD
CECP is a coalition of CEOs united in the belief that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance. Founded in 1999 by Paul Newman and other business leaders, CECP has grown to a movement of 150 CEOs of the world’s largest companies across all industries. Revenues of engaged companies sum to $7 trillion annually. A nonprofit organization, CECP offers participating companies one on-one consultation, networking events, exclusive data, media support and case studies on corporate engagement. For more information, visit http://cecp.co.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE BOARD
The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world’s leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. https://www.conference-board.org/