Civic engagement is on the rise in corporate America, according to the results of the 2013 Civic 50 survey published today by Bloomberg. More businesses are giving employees the opportunity to work with community organizations and finding that it simultaneously increases their bottom line and employee satisfaction.

The Civic 50 survey, now in its second year, was developed by the nation’s leading experts on civic engagement, the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), Points of Light and Bloomberg. The survey was administered by True Impact and evaluated by a cross-sector team of independent qualitative evaluators.

The Civic 50 was created to measure corporate civic engagement and recognize top S&P companies that make socially responsible practices and community leadership part of their corporate culture. Corporations recognized as The Civic 50 set the standard for how a company’s time, talent and resources can best be used to improve quality of life in the communities where they do business.

“We are encouraged by the results of The Civic 50 survey, which show that increasingly community engagement is recognized as being core to business success,” said Neil Bush, chair of the Points of Light Board of Directors, and Michael Weiser, board chair, National Conference on Citizenship, in a joint statement. “We hope the best practices of The Civic 50 will serve as a valuable resource for other companies that want to transform their business, make a greater commitment to their communities and change lives.”

"Bloomberg is honored to serve as a lead sponsor of The Civic 50 along with valued partners, Points of Light and the National Conference on Citizenship," said Elana Weinstein, Bloomberg's Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement. "We are encouraged by the results of this year's survey and look forward to continuing a partnership which recognizes the tremendous value that corporate institutions bring to the communities in which we live and work."

Today, at 1 p.m. EST, NCoC and Points of Light will host a press teleconference to discuss The Civic 50 survey and its 2013 findings. Media who wish to participate may join using the following conference bridge: (855) 756-7520 Ext. 23302#. The discussion will review case studies that support major survey trends, including:

• Commitment to community is being institutionalized as a top priority throughout companies. Ninety-two percent of The Civic 50 can describe board, executive or senior leadership resolutions or directives that institutionalize corporate policies and practices related to community engagement – up from 76 percent in 2012.
• The majority of The Civic 50 companies, 96 percent, evaluate the business impact of civic engagement on at least one aspect of their bottom line, such as increased sales, brand loyalty or employee recruitment. In 2012, this number was 86 percent.
• Employees are given more opportunities to volunteer and 88 percent of companies are including community involvement as a component of employee performance reviews, up slightly from 84 percent in 2012.

The 2013 Civic 50, in alphabetical order, are:

• 3M
• Abbott
• AbbVie
• Adobe Systems
• Aetna
• Alcoa
• Allstate
• Altria Group
• Ameriprise Financial
• Apollo Education Group
• AT&T
• Bank of America
• Baxter International
• Campbell Soup
• Capital One Financial
• Citigroup
• Comcast
• Devon Energy
• DIRECTV
• Discover Financial Services
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group
• Ecolab
• FedEx
• Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
• Gap
• General Electric
• Hasbro
• Hershey
• Hewlett-Packard
• IBM
• Intel
• KeyCorp
• Life Technologies
• McGraw Hill Financial
• Microsoft
• Morgan Stanley
• NRG Energy
• Pacific Gas & Electric Company
• Raytheon
• Sigma-Aldrich
• Southwest Airlines
• State Street
• Total System Services
• UnitedHealth Group
• United Parcel Service
• Valero Energy
• Viacom
• Wal-Mart Stores
• Western Union
• Weyerhaeuser

The Civic 50 applicants were evaluated and accrued points based on several criteria, including the amount of financial and human resources applied to civic improvement; whether internal and external resources are used to maximize community impact; how a company’s community engagement activities align with its business interests; how broadly community engagement is supported and institutionalized within a company’s policies, systems and incentives; and how a company measures the social and business value of its community engagement programs.

These criteria are organized into five dimensions. The top five highest scoring Civic 50 companies are ranked in each dimension:

Points of Light

Points of Light

Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through 145 affiliates across 39 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 3.7 million volunteers in 16.7 million hours of service each year, contributing $498.7 million of value in people power into communities around the world. We bring the power of people to bear where it’s needed most. To learn more about Points of Light visit pointsoflight.org. 

Partnering with Points of Light means you’ll have the expertise and support you need to mobilize your colleagues and create community impact using all aspects of civic engagement. We've helped companies with a variety of needs including implementing large-scale employee volunteer events, tackling your larger social impact vision, expanding how you engage communities and consumers, infusing new ideas to your annual employee engagement programs, connecting with peers to bring the latest and greatest ideas on impact measurement, and getting company leadership investment and buy-in. Learn more today.

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