New Trialogue research reveals leaders in corporate giving

According to corporate responsibility advisory Trialogue’s latest research findings, Vodacom emerged as top of the social impact list for the eighth consecutive year in 2024. Its corporate peers ranked the telecommunications giant as having the most developmental impact in a top ten list that also featured Anglo American, Nedbank, FirstRand, MTN, Sasol, Shoprite, Woolworths, Standard Bank and Old Mutual. Nonprofit organisations (NPOs) perceived Nedbank as having the most social impact, followed by FirstRand, Old Mutual, Shoprite, Standard Bank, Vodacom, Anglo American, MTN, Woolworths and Investec.

The reputation findings form part of Trialogue’s broader annual research on corporate social responsibility and the nonprofit sector in South Africa.

The latest findings, published in the 2024 Trialogue Business in Society Handbook, show that South Africa’s 2024 corporate social investment (CSI) spend reflects the strongest growth since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This year's findings are particularly noteworthy as they demonstrate corporate South Africa's sustained commitment to social development, even in a challenging operating environment," says Trialogue director Cathy Duff. "The growth in CSI expenditure signals a meaningful recovery from the pandemic period and shows that companies are prioritising their social commitments despite economic headwinds."

Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2024 key findings

• South Africa’s CSI spend increased from R11.8bn in 2023 to R12.7bn in 2024.
  
• The basic materials sector contributed 35% of the total CSI spend, making it the largest social giving sector.
  
• One hundred of the largest companies accounted for 76% of annual CSI spend, or R9.7bn.
  
• Education is a priority sector for CSI spend for 92% of companies.
  
• Seventy percent of nonprofits receive CSI funding as part of their income.

The state of CSI in South Africa

Trialogue’s industry-leading research found that the total R12.7bn South African CSI spend represents a 2.2% real (7.5% nominal) increase from R11.8bn in 2023.

The basic materials sector, including mining, water, forestry and chemicals companies, leads corporate social giving, contributing 35% of total CSI expenditure. Consumer services follow at 29%, with a significant portion of this representing non-cash contributions from retail and media companies. The financial sector ranks third and accounts for 20% of total CSI spend.

CSI spend remains concentrated, with the top 100 companies accounting for R9.7bn (76%) of total CSI expenditure. Nearly three-quarters of this was spent by 23 companies whose CSI budgets exceeded R100m in 2024.

Most social investment (71%) took the form of cash expenditure through CSI departments, trusts or foundations. Non-cash giving constituted 29% of CSI expenditure in 2024, with 55% of surveyed companies contributing products, services, volunteering time or a combination of the three. Eighty-five percent (85%) of NPOs reported receiving non-cash donations to their causes.

Almost all companies (92%) prioritised spend on education, which received the bulk of CSI spend at 45%. Social and community development received 15% of CSI spend, food security and agriculture 11%, health 9% and entrepreneur and business support and environment each received 5%.

Support for disaster relief declined slightly from 62% of companies in 2023 to 57% in 2024, while support for environmental causes increased from 37% of companies to 44%. The country’s watershed election attracted little support from companies. The majority of companies (83%) and NPOs (72%) did not support efforts enabling free and fair elections. Those that did directed their efforts to staff and community election awareness initiatives.

Nonprofit sector trends

Of the companies surveyed, 93% supported NPOs with an average of 71% of CSI expenditure. Seventy percent of NPO respondents reported receiving income from South African companies. NPOs have funding relationships with an average of five companies with corporate funding making up 30% of their income. Other notable NPO funding sources include self-generated income (16% of income), funding from trusts and foundations (14%), government (13%) and private individuals (12%).

Fifty-six percent of nonprofits surveyed reported an income increase in 2024, slightly lower than in 2023. The majority of NPO respondents reported an increase in foreign government and self-generated income, but a decrease in National Lotteries Board income.

Companies also reported supporting NPOs with capacity building, primarily in the form of workshops and training (41% of companies), mentorship (28%) and academic programmes (21%). The type of support preferred by most NPOs was flexible funding for them to use as needed.

The call for CSI collaboration

Trialogue’s annual publication cast the spotlight on the need for collaboration as a key component of more effective social giving. While CSI practitioners acknowledge the value of collaboration in practice, research found that deep collaborative partnerships remain an under-exercised strategy.

Where collaboration does take place, South African companies are most likely to partner with NPOs and community-led groups for the purposes of programme implementation. Unlike companies, nonprofits are much more likely to collaborate within the same sector. Both corporate and NPO respondents indicated their primary motivation for collaboration being to leverage existing relationships.

“The findings suggest that while South African companies are maintaining their commitment to social development, the landscape of corporate giving is evolving,” says Duff. “Companies are becoming more strategic with their giving, aligning it to the business and supporting fewer, more focused programmes. And while we see companies collaborating with nonprofits, we would encourage them to invest more in multi-party collaborative efforts to leverage their giving and achieve greater impact.”

The Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2024 can be downloaded for free at https://trialogue.co.za/businessinsocietyhandbook/