The vast majority (94 percent) of large U.S. corporations plan to maintain or increase their charitable giving in 2022, a survey from the Conference Board Environmental, Social & Governance Center finds.

Based on responses from corporate executives at 55 public and private companies with median annual revenues of more than $24 billion, the survey found that in 2021, 97 percent of respondents reported donating the same amount or more than they had budgeted for the year, and 53 percent cited a lack of resources, including money, time, and staff, as the top obstacle to achieving their corporate citizenship goals. In addition, the survey found that 60 percent of respondents donated about the same or more to address COVID-19 impacts in 2021 as they did in 2020; 85 percent contributed about the same or more to address racial equity; and 88 percent have, are, or are planning to evaluate the design and delivery of their corporate citizenship programs through a racial equity lens.

“More than half of the corporate citizenship executives surveyed said the biggest obstacle to achieving their goals in 2022 is a lack of resources,” said Conference Board ESG Center executive director Paul Washington. “Successfully advancing their agendas, however, does not necessarily mean simply adding more staff to corporate citizenship departments, but also harnessing broader resources across the organization, focusing on increased efficiency, and developing partnerships with other companies to maximize impact.”

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