State of Corporate Citizenship
The State of Corporate Citizenship 2024 is a research project of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship that examines how executives view corporate citizenship and their firms' performance in the environmental, social, and governance dimensions of business. This longitudinal study examines how corporate citizenship efforts contribute to business objectives including attracting and retaining customers and the development of innovative new products.
Key takeaways from this year's study include:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs continue to be—and are predicted to be three years from now—the most prioritized program within corporate citizenship.
Executives and community involvement professionals are more aligned on social issues than in previous studies, particularly in regard to community and economic development; health and wellness, and DEI.
More than 85% of executives surveyed reported that stakeholders are encouraging their companies to be more environmentally sustainable by increasing climate-related reporting outputs, adopting emissions reduction targets, engaging in or increasing the use carbon capture technology, and/or subsidizing or promoting environmentally sustainable behavior for employees.
The percentage of corporate executives who reported that their corporate leadership took a stand on social or environmental issues within the past two years increased nearly 55% since the 2020 edition of this study, from 59% to 91%.