CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Benevity Inc., a global provider of social impact software, today announced the release of a first-of-its-kind research report examining the state of corporate grantmaking worldwide. This latest report is from Benefit Impact Labs, The Grant Trust Gap: Revealing the Hidden Barriers to Effective Corporate Grantmakingbased on responses from 120 companies around the world.
The report shows that while 74% of organizations say they implement best practices in grantmaking, only 51% believe they do so effectively, demonstrating a lack of trust in their work. This trust gap can create challenges for teams under increasing pressure to demonstrate tangible social and business value, while also opening up untapped opportunities to transform well-intentioned grant programs into truly high-impact programs.
“We often talk about impact in terms of money and results, but data shows that trust is another subtle indicator of an effective grant program,” said Sona Khosla, director of impact at Benevity. “We hope this new research will enable teams to turn their programs into platforms for real, lasting change by identifying areas where they can improve their practices. The fact that so many companies are already adopting best practices proves that the will is there. The opportunity is to support grantmakers to do it well.”
The study takes a deep dive into the underlying practices of a successful modern grants program, what makes a best-in-class grants program, and how grantmakers think about their ability to deliver excellence.
Key Findings
The Grants Confidence Gap report examines four key areas of practice and highlights areas where there is opportunity:
- Strategic alignment and implementation: Almost all organizations that participated in the self-assessment reported that they had key support: management support, annual budgets and even dedicated staff. However, a deeper dive reveals a disparity in grants teams' confidence in the value that leaders place on grant programs, both in terms of participation and budgetary support.
- Interaction and impact of stakeholders: Responses falling under the “Stakeholder Engagement and Impact” section have some of the lowest “do it well” self-assessments. The research shows that there are many organizations actively engaging with many stakeholder groups, but most of them report that they are not achieving the expected success.
- Innovation and adaptability: Grantmakers practice many of the principles of trust-based philanthropy, a movement that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Although fewer people expressed strong confidence in these practices, the scores in this section were noticeably better than the average “do it well” score of 51% for all practices in the report.
- Communication: While 62% of organizations communicate impact data to employees, only 41% believe they do so effectively. Most organizations are focusing communications efforts on ESG reporting and public relations, which indicates an opportunity to increase brand equity, especially among employees.
“The real barrier is not effort, but difficult choices,” said Sona Khosla, director of impact at Benevity. “Grants teams care deeply, but growing programs and partnerships over time requires decisions about where to invest valuable time and how best to build trust. When organizations come together around what really matters, the trust gap closes, creating more opportunities for program growth, partnerships and impact.”
The Grant Mistrust Report is based on data collected through Benefit Impact Indexa comprehensive, proprietary self-assessment conducted by CSR and grants professionals that evaluates companies on the depth and breadth of their impact programs and investments in eight key areas considered critical to success.
About the benefit
Benevity, a certified B Corporation, is the global leader in enterprise social impact software. Benevity's comprehensive platform enables the world's most purpose-driven companies to easily integrate corporate social responsibility into their core business strategy, delivering measurable, scalable and lasting impact. Since 2008, Benevity has supported more than $34.5 billion to more than 500,000 nonprofit organizations and empowered more than 8.5 million changemakers around the world, empowering organizations to build trust, engage employees, increase employee retention, and drive innovation. Its unified platform supports donations, volunteering, grants and employee mobilization, backed by intelligent analytics and a secure global infrastructure. For more information visit benefit.com.
About Benevity Impact Laboratories
Benefit Impact Labs is a social innovation lab that provides new data, research, and insights to help companies, nonprofits, and individuals accelerate their impact and inclusion efforts. With unparalleled access to the world's most iconic brands, Benevity Impact Labs combines Benevity's trusted data and insights with third-party research to report on the top trends driving corporate goals and provide measurable evidence of the value of social impact.
Media contact:
Indrani Ray – [email protected]
