Moving Forward and Planning for a Post-Covid World Through Data
by Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas, Managing Director, CECP; Martina Lee, Communications & Marketing Fellow, CECP
As originally published on the CECP Insights blog
As companies face the wider economic impacts of Covid-19, CECP is tracking the ongoing decision making and planning of leaders during this monumental year that still has an uncertain future. As we move through this pandemic and gradual economic improvement, CECP is also collecting real-time data from companies through a series of Pulse surveys, helping our partners gauge current practices in the field. There is a progression to these insights over the past several months of Pulse surveys.
An early April survey on 2020 budget changes revealed that 45% of companies predicted an increase in their community investment 2020 budget to respond to the Covid-19 crisis with another 37% of companies stating it will remain the same amount yet repurposed for Covid-19 response. By the beginning of May, 64% of companies predict that their 2021 community investment budgets will remain the same with another 18% predicting it will increase some or a lot. We do know that for another 18% of companies that planning ahead predicts a decrease of some or a lot of their budget. Many companies noted the need for rounds of community investments: they responded with urgency for a phase 1 in March and April, and they are preparing for a phase 2 and 3 as community needs evolve and continually change on the ground, considering issues such as states reopening and outbreaks may grow, and months of food insecurity and job losses will impact the food safety net system.
Once the global community has emerged from the Covid-19 crisis, we will turn to the data before and after Covid-19 to understand shifts in corporate social investments. Our Data Insights team has moved forward with collecting 2019 data for Giving in Numbers, and we look forward to releasing the report later this year.
As companies increasingly incorporate the needs of their broader stakeholders, measuring corporate social investments is vital to growing the practice effectively. As a trusted advisor to our affiliated companies, we will continue to partner with them to advance strategy, measure business impact, and navigate through this uncertain climate.
Read the full post at the CECP Insights blog: https://cecp.me/3fFnMN4
