7 Key Takeaways from ACCP’s 7th Annual CSR Insights Survey

Main Takeaways

• CSR teams are gaining visibility and strategic influence across their organizations.

• The demand to measure impact and demonstrate business value continues to increase.

• AI adoption has become nearly universal, helping teams improve efficiency and scale their work.

• Lean CSR teams are managing growing responsibilities, contributing to rising burnout and resource pressures.

Corporate social impact teams are being asked to do more than ever before. They are navigating increased visibility with leadership, adapting to a changing external landscape, embracing new technologies, and facing growing expectations around impact measurement and accountability.

The latest 7th Annual CSR Insights Survey from the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) and YourCause from Blackbaud offers a detailed look at how the profession continues to evolve. The survey gathered responses from 120 companies representing approximately $1 billion in community investment, providing a valuable snapshot of the state of corporate social impact in 2026.

The findings reveal a field that has become more strategically integrated within organizations but is also facing significant resource and measurement challenges. Here are seven trends every CSR leader should be watching.

1. CSR Has Never Been More Visible Inside the Organization

One of the strongest findings from this year’s survey is the growing visibility of CSR within companies. Eighty-three percent of respondents reported increased visibility across their organization, up substantially from previous years. At the same time, 63% reported growing pressure to make the business case for CSR, while 66% experienced increased demand to measure impact.

This reflects an important shift in how corporate social impact programs are viewed. CSR is increasingly seen as a strategic business function that supports employee engagement, community investment, reputation, and business goals.

For CSR leaders, increased visibility creates new opportunities to influence decision-making. However, it also raises expectations around demonstrating value, outcomes, and alignment with broader organizational priorities.

2. The Demand for Impact Measurement Continues to Grow

As expectations rise, many teams are facing a measurement challenge.

For the first time, the survey asked respondents about their confidence in measuring impact and making the business case for their work. While 44% described themselves as confident and 36% as slightly confident, only 13% reported being very confident.

The results highlight a gap between what organizations expect from CSR teams and the tools, resources, and frameworks available to support those expectations.

This is particularly important as executives increasingly look for evidence that CSR initiatives contribute to business priorities such as employee engagement, talent attraction and retention, community relationships, and corporate reputation.

Organizations that invest in stronger measurement capabilities, reporting tools, and data-driven decision-making will likely be better positioned to demonstrate impact and secure future investment.

3. Business Alignment Is Reshaping the CSR Function

If there is one theme that runs throughout the survey, it is alignment.

CSR teams are increasingly working across departments and connecting their strategies to organizational goals. According to the survey, HR saw the largest increase in cross-functional integration at 42%, followed by Legal at 33% and ESG initiatives at 29%.

The findings suggest that corporate social impact is becoming more embedded across the enterprise rather than operating as a standalone function.

The survey also observed a growing shift toward “community investment” language and other investment-oriented terminology. This evolution reflects how many organizations are positioning social impact efforts as strategic investments tied to business outcomes rather than purely philanthropic activities.

For CSR professionals, stronger integration can help elevate programs, build executive support, and create deeper partnerships across the organization.

4. AI Adoption Has Accelerated at an Unprecedented Pace

Artificial intelligence has rapidly moved from experimentation to mainstream adoption within CSR.

According to the survey, 93% of respondents reported using AI in some capacity in 2026, compared with 53% just two years earlier. Additionally, 73% reported having formal AI guidance or policies in place.

Today, teams are primarily using AI for communications, storytelling, productivity, and efficiency-related tasks. Adoption for more advanced use cases such as grant analysis, benchmarking, and strategic decision support remains relatively limited.

The rapid growth of AI reflects a broader desire to improve efficiency as teams manage increasing responsibilities with limited additional resources. Looking ahead, many organizations may find opportunities to expand AI use beyond content creation and administrative support toward deeper impact analysis, reporting, and program optimization.

5. Lean Teams Continue to Manage Expanding Responsibilities

Despite growing visibility and broader responsibilities, most CSR teams remain relatively small.

The survey found that 55% of CSR teams consist of just two to five people, regardless of company size. At the same time, 73% of respondents said their teams have taken on additional responsibilities during the past year.

Many teams are managing employee volunteer programs, grantmaking, employee giving initiatives, ESG-related work, ERGs, community partnerships, and impact reporting simultaneously.

As workloads increase, resource constraints are becoming more apparent. When asked what resources they need most, respondents most frequently identified additional financial resources for community investment, stronger executive support, better alignment between business and social impact goals, and improved impact measurement capabilities.

The findings underscore a reality many CSR professionals already know firsthand: expectations are growing faster than team capacity.

6. Burnout Has Reached a Record High

One of the more concerning findings in this year’s survey is the sharp increase in burnout.

Sixty-four percent of respondents reported burnout as a result of increased responsibilities, up from 39% in 2025. The survey also found increases in longer working hours and fear of not meeting expectations.

This trend comes at a time when CSR professionals are balancing growing compliance requirements, expanded reporting expectations, technology adoption, and increased internal visibility.

While increased influence and executive attention can be positive developments, organizations must also consider how to sustainably support the people responsible for delivering these programs.

Investment in staffing, technology, leadership support, and operational efficiency will be critical to preventing burnout from becoming a long-term challenge for the profession.

7. Corporate Giving Priorities Continue to Evolve

The survey also highlights shifts in where companies are focusing their community investments.

Food insecurity emerged as the top issue area for 2026, cited by 48% of respondents, followed closely by K-12 education (47%) and workforce development (44%). STEM-related investments also continued to rise.

These priorities reflect growing emphasis on areas that directly impact communities while also connecting to workforce readiness, economic mobility, and talent development.

At the same time, environmental sustainability showed signs of stabilization after declines in previous years, with 43% of organizations identifying it as a priority area. ESG integration also increased, suggesting many organizations continue to view sustainability as an important component of their overall social impact strategy.

For CSR leaders, these evolving priorities reinforce the importance of regularly evaluating community investments to ensure they align with both organizational goals and evolving community needs.

Looking Ahead

The 2026 survey paints the picture of a profession that has successfully established itself as a strategic business function. CSR teams have greater visibility, deeper organizational integration, and growing influence on business conversations than ever before.

At the same time, the findings reveal persistent challenges. Teams are being asked to deliver more with limited resources, measurement expectations continue to rise, and burnout has reached concerning levels. Meanwhile, AI adoption is creating new opportunities to improve efficiency and scale impact.

The opportunity for corporate social impact leaders now is not simply to prove the value of their work. It is to build the infrastructure, measurement capabilities, and organizational support needed to sustain that value over the long term.

To explore all of the findings, download the full 7th Annual CSR Insights Survey today.