Dive Brief:
- Most corporate social responsibility teams — 66% — are experiencing increased demand to measure the impact of their work in 2026 compared to last year, according to a survey from the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals.
- The report, which is the seventh iteration published by ACCP, also found that around 63% of CSR professionals surveyed faced increased demand to make the business case for corporate social responsibility in front of companies’ internal stakeholders.
- A record number of respondents, 64%, said they experienced burnout, up from 39% in 2025. ACCP said this spike coincided with other complexities impacting companies simultaneously, including legal compliance demands; increased adoption of artificial intelligence; restructuring of diversity, equity and inclusion objectives; and ESG reporting requirements.
Dive Insight:
Teams in charge of executing companies’ social responsibility strategy and objectives have also undergone several changes in the past year. The report found that nearly two-thirds of CSR departments experienced restructuring of some kind, with 27% undergoing a change in leadership. ACCP said these shifts could make it difficult to sustain long-term strategies.
As part of this restructuring, 42% of professionals reported increased integration with human resources, reflecting a stronger link between CSR and employee resource groups because it can improve recruitment and retention, ACCP President and CEO Andrea Wood said in an interview with ESG Dive. In addition, 33% of professionals reported additional legal oversight, driven by DEI-related litigation risk, presidential executive orders affecting CSR, and stricter scrutiny of ESG claims.
A majority of CSR professionals — 83% — reported increased visibility overall within the company, up from 62% in 2025, meaning other departments are more aware of the work they do. However, 61% said they needed more financial resources for community work, and 43% said they are underresourced in general, down from 58% in 2023. Most professionals reported flat budgets this year, but those likely did not come without a fight, Wood said.
“A lot of our members are having to defend their budget, just to maintain the status quo,” she said. “There are a lot of internal and external stakeholders who are asking our members, what’s the work you’re doing? How does it add value to the company?” That comes as a consequence of increased visibility, she said: “We’re really seeing that corporate social impact professionals have secured a seat at the table.”
But as they become more visible, more than half of CSR employees are reframing the narrative for talking about their work, as the work itself continues to evolve, per the survey responses. DEI continues to be downplayed, with 10% of respondents — rising to 30% in the tech sector — reporting that the DEI department or function had been eliminated in 2026. Another 10% said DEI work had been paused or eliminated, and 24% said DEI integration had decreased. Meanwhile, increased ESG integration was reported by 43% of respondents, up from 41% in 2025. Increased AI adoption proved to be a strong trend, with 93% of professionals saying they used it in some capacity, up from 53% in 2024.
The new survey included responses from employees at 120 companies representing $1 billion in community investment. Industries included financial services; technology; manufacturing; energy, pharmaceuticals, medical technology and professional services; healthcare; retail, consumer goods, insurance, travel and hospitality; and media and communications.
