Corporate Giving Statistics (2026): Record Dollars, Flat Real Growth & the Volunteer Gap
Corporate giving hit a record $43.67B in 2025, yet inflation-adjusted growth was just 0.5%. Here are the sourced numbers on giving, volunteering, and matching gifts.
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Corporate giving reached a record in nominal dollars in 2025, but most of that growth is not the kind of money a volunteer program can budget on. Giving USA counted $43.67 billion in corporate giving for 2025, up 3.1% in current dollars but only 0.5% after inflation, and pharmaceutical in-kind donations drove much of the record. This report, part of our statistics hub, pulls together the latest benchmarks on corporate cash and in-kind giving, employee volunteering, and matching gifts, and explains what each means for nonprofit and church leaders planning 2027.
Key takeaways
Corporations are a small share of a record pie
Corporations supplied 7% of all giving in 2025, while individuals supplied 64%, according to Giving USA 2026 as summarized by NonProfit PRO. Corporate giving is therefore a meaningful supplement for most organizations, but it is rarely the foundation of a fundraising plan. Giving USA's estimates rest mainly on econometric analysis and tax data, as described in its methodology notes.
Growth is real in dollars but nearly flat after inflation
Giving USA reported that corporate giving hit a record level in 2025, yet the inflation-adjusted gain was 0.5%. Over five years, corporate giving grew 60%, compared with 29% for total giving, according to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The gap between the five-year trend and the single-year slowdown is the story for budget planners.
Much of the headline growth is in-kind. Analysts note that pharmaceutical in-kind donations drove a large part of the corporate record, and that such gifts often do not translate into dollars flowing to U.S. nonprofits (Focus Fundraising). Giving USA also indicates that corporate giving has hovered near 1% of pre-tax profits for years, which is a useful planning anchor (Convergent Nonprofit's analysis).
How much of their profit companies give back
The Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP) 2026 edition, built on 2025 data from 152 companies, measures giving relative to profits. CECP encourages companies to give 1% of pre-tax profits, counting cash, product, and volunteer hours together. The median company in the survey gave well below that line, while the top quartile cleared it. Figures below are from The Chronicle of Philanthropy's report on CECP's 2026 edition.
| Benchmark (CECP, 2025 data) | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CECP guideline for giving as share of pre-tax profits | 1% | Chronicle of Philanthropy |
| Median share of profits, all surveyed companies | 0.78% | Chronicle of Philanthropy |
| Top quartile share of profits | 1.61% or more | Chronicle of Philanthropy |
| Companies surveyed (2025 data) | 152 | Chronicle of Philanthropy |
A split market: the median rose while half of companies pulled back
CECP's data show a divided picture. The median company's total community investment rose from $21.9 million to $23.5 million, yet 52% of companies spent less on community giving in 2025. The median was pushed up because a group of large increases outweighed the cuts elsewhere. Across all participants, total giving was essentially flat. For a nonprofit, the practical implication is that a single company's trajectory can flip year to year, so renewal conversations matter more than a one-time ask.
Employee volunteering is at record volume, but it is getting shallower
Benevity's 2026 report found that corporate volunteers logged 23.7 million approved hours in 2025, a 175% increase since 2019, and that unique volunteers more than tripled to 1.87 million. The depth of each commitment has moved the other way. According to the same Benevity release, average hours per volunteer fell from 16.4 to 12.7 per year over the six-year period. Benevity also reports that only about 20% of nonprofit leaders say corporate volunteers contribute meaningfully to long-term capacity, a gap worth planning around.
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