Corporate Citizenship in Transition: Lessons from 2025, Planning for 2026
Summary
This report, based on a survey of more than 80 corporate citizenship and philanthropy leaders at US and multinational firms, reviews how corporate giving and citizenship evolved in 2025 and highlights priorities for planning in 2026.
Organisations largely kept budgets steady in 2025, but new US tax rules (a 1% floor for deductible charitable contributions) and heightened federal scrutiny of DEI initiatives introduced fresh uncertainty. Many companies tightened governance and increased legal and compliance oversight of grants. Nonprofit partners faced volatile public funding, triggering layoffs and programme cuts; corporate responses ranged from unrestricted and bridge funding to streamlined partner portfolios. The report recommends closer coordination with finance and legal, clearer policies for event giving, multiyear commitments to nonprofits, and stronger due diligence to manage reputational and legal risk.
Key Points
- Corporate citizenship budgets remained broadly stable in 2025, but nearly 1 in 5 leaders expect cuts in 2026.
- New tax law limits deductibility: only aggregate charitable contributions above 1% of taxable income qualify—adding planning complexity.
- Federal scrutiny of DEI influenced giving decisions; many companies reframed identity-based programmes toward universal themes like education and economic opportunity.
- Governance tightened: one-third require senior or legal approvals for contested grants and 60% increased coordination with legal/compliance teams.
- Two-thirds of corporate grantees reported nonprofit partners lost government funding in 2025, causing layoffs and programme reductions.
- Corporate responses included more flexible support (in-kind, unrestricted funding, bridge capital) and technical assistance to build nonprofit resilience.
- Recommended actions include early engagement with CFOs/tax teams, scenario planning for event giving, multiyear commitments, streamlined reporting, and joint funding mechanisms with peer funders.
Context and relevance
Why this matters: the combination of tax changes, political and legal scrutiny, and public funding volatility is reshaping how companies plan and justify corporate citizenship. For CSR leaders, legal teams and finance directors, the findings show that giving is no longer just a neighbourhood or HR issue—it’s entwined with tax strategy, compliance risk and corporate reputation.
The report sits at the intersection of several ongoing trends: tighter corporate cost discipline after market volatility, legal challenges to identity-based programmes following the post-2023 legal environment, and a nonprofit sector under pressure from shifting public funding. Planning for 2026 therefore requires cross-functional approaches that balance impact, tax efficiency and reputational risk.
Why should I read this?
Short version: if you manage corporate giving, legal risk or charity partnerships, read this. It pinpoints the new tax snag (the 1% deductibility floor), explains how DEI scrutiny is forcing rewrites of programmes, and gives practical moves—like talking to your CFO now, setting disaster-giving rules, and offering nonprofits multi-year or unrestricted support. We’ve saved you the full read and pulled out the parts you’ll actually need to act on for 2026 planning.
