Community Involvement Study

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship’s Community Involvement Study 2019 explores how companies are investing in communities and how these efforts connect to their business. The Center has conducted this survey 12 times since 1995 and, during this time, has seen how the role of community involvement has evolved to become an incredibly important strategic component of business.
As evidenced by findings from the 2019 study, companies are now, more than ever, committed to making their community involvement initiatives as strategic as they are impactful. For example, 2019 data reveals that:
> Nearly all (95%) of companies surveyed have a community involvement strategy (including giving, volunteering, or both) or are in the process of setting one up, an increase of 13 percent from nearly 84% a decade ago. Most companies (95%) track participation in employee volunteer programs and have done so for years.
> A majority of companies surveyed (80%) offer a workplace giving program, and more than 70% of those that offer a program also offer a match when employees give cash. Forty-three percent offer a cash match for volunteer hours.
> More than 80% of respondents report that their companies align the social issues addressed in their community involvement efforts with their business priorities.
> Ninety-five percent of companies in the current study that measure the relationship between participation in employee volunteer programs and employee engagement scores have found a positive correlation.
> The percentage of companies that have a disaster relief program increased from 60% to 72% in the current study.