When budgets tighten, community investment is often the first line item put under the microscope. So how can Canada's leading companies lean into their commitments to nonprofit partners right now, while everyone seems to be braced for the worst?
That's the question we put to a room of corporate and nonprofit leaders in Edmonton last month. As part of the PRISM Network Learning Series, sponsored by YourCause from Blackbaud, we gathered in person for a reception and panel discussion: Steady in the Storm: Corporate Giving in a Time of Rapid Change, then brought the same conversation to a virtual audience a few days later.
The conversation was equal parts sobering and energizing: a look at the pressures squeezing community investment in Alberta and across the globe, and an honest chat on whether the way we've always done this still works. Here's what stuck with us.
What the Data Tells Us
Our President & CEO Bruce MacDonald opened by walking the room through the numbers.
While overall donations in Canada have increased in recent years, the participation picture is shifting. The donation rate, the share of Canadians claiming the charitable tax credit, has fallen to 16.8%, the lowest on record. Volunteering is following suit, dropping from 44% of Canadians in 2013 to just 32% in 2023. Fewer people are giving and volunteering, even as total dollars rise. The infrastructure of everyday community participation is changing, and nonprofits are sensing it.
That's where companies have a real opportunity. Corporate giving is holding strong. Canadian corporations reported $4.18 billion in charitable donations in 2023, an 18% increase from 2018, and corporate generosity does more than move company dollars. It catalyzes individual generosity. Employees at companies with payroll giving, a workplace campaign, and matching are far more likely to donate to charity themselves. Companies aren't just a source of funding. They're one of the most powerful ways to bring more Canadians back into the habit of giving and volunteering.
"What Doesn't Keep Us Up at Night?"
Moderator Andrew Troup, Chief Impact Officer of YourCause from Blackbaud, opened by naming the feeling so many of us share: waking up unsure what headline the day will bring.
Narissa Kanji, Director of Community Impact at Alberta Blue Cross, echoed the sentiment. "What doesn't keep us up at night?" she said. Her worry is the widening gap between need and capacity, and she offered a number that landed hard: her team had just closed a grant program with 800 applications for only 75 available grants. The question that haunts her is how to support the hundreds of organizations who won't receive funding.
David Wighton, Managing Director of Social Impact at ATB Financial and Executive Director of the ATB Community Foundation, framed impact by what it isn't. "It doesn't look like a passive corporate cheque," he said. For ATB, impact rests on a simple conviction: when Albertans win, so does the business. "For us each to prosper, we go hand in hand together."
Christi Cruz, CEO of BOLD Social Sector Consulting, pushed somewhere more uncomfortable. “I think the more important and less travelled question is whether the model has kept pace with the environment," she said. “Corporate giving can be up while nonprofit sustainability is still down. Those two things can be true at the same time, and that should concern all of us.” She challenged attendees to consider whether the sector has focused on transactions and not enough on transformation. “What if we've built a system that's really good at processing requests but not nearly as good at building the relationships we need to solve complex community issues?"
Three Forces Putting Commitments at Risk
The headwinds were named plainly: budget scrutiny, where community partnerships become the first line item questioned; ESG fragmentation, where community giving gets lost inside the "S"; and short-termism, the pressure to cut anything without an immediate return, even though community relationships take years to build and any real impact takes time to see.
There's been global caution in recent years, too. According to the 2025 Benevity State of Corporate Purpose report, more than half of CSR leaders expect their CEOs to be less vocal on social commitments, and in Canada, Bill C-59's restrictions on environmental and social advertising claims have produced what some in our network call "social blushing." The takeaway for companies isn't to retreat. It's that staying committed has never required more intention than it does now.
Showing Up and Showing Off
While many companies are inclined to approach the current moment with caution, the panel made the case for instead sharing powerful stories that highlight strong nonprofit partnerships and thoughtful employee engagement. Increasingly, how companies give matters as much as how much. It’s the heart of the trust-based philanthropy movement and the new PRISM Practices resource developed with our corporate network.
Narissa described what that looks like at Alberta Blue Cross. Employee support for the community has never wavered, but the way they show up has changed. The company meets staff where they are with four paid volunteer hours a year, team events, and an employee giving campaign with matching. The result has been rising donations and volunteering. She also named the part companies most often overlook: storytelling that centres the partner, not the funder. How do you quantify a scholarship that lets a single mom focus on her studies, and the ripple effect on her family and community? It's that kind of storytelling, she explained, that helps stakeholders understand "the why” for Alberta Blue Cross: a clear connection to health and wellness. It's that story that makes the business case for staying committed.
David put the business logic for their continued commitment plainly. ATB has been moving toward what he called "a more shared value perspective," and the data backs it up: employees engaged in the company's social impact programs show measurably higher cultural health, around 5% on average, have a higher net promoter score, and are less likely to leave. When the company does better, its community investment budget grows. So what's good for business becomes good for the community, in a virtuous cycle.
Christi shared her hope that “companies stay committed to community, trust, relationships, and long-term outcomes.”
Proudly Setting the Standard
This conversation is exactly why we launched Stronger Impact, our national campaign celebrating the companies and organizations setting the standard for social impact leadership in Canada.
And Canadian companies are setting a high bar. Imagine Canada-certified companies are doing remarkable work with lean teams. While giving back 1% of pre-tax profit is the threshold to qualify for the program, most go well beyond it, with a median giving ratio of 2.27% across the network, and insurance companies reaching 4.31%. Together, these companies are punching well above their weight.
The idea behind Stronger Impact is simple: strong leadership drives stronger impact. The campaign puts the Imagine Canada trustmarks (PRISM Certification for companies, Standards Accreditation for nonprofits) and the organizations behind them in front of Canadians. In a moment when it's easy to pull back, that kind of visible, sustained commitment is what keeps communities supported through uncertainty.
Where We Go From Here
If one thread ran through the whole evening, it's that volatility is the new normal and staying the course isn't passive. It means staying relational, remaining accountable, and being honest enough to change the parts of the model that no longer serve companies or nonprofits well.
That brings us to our next stop. Save the date: we're heading to Toronto on October 6th for the next in-person gathering in the PRISM Network Learning Series, focused on the challenge every leader in Edmonton kept circling back to: impact measurement.
The PRISM Network is Canada's leading community of companies committed to reimagining corporate-nonprofit partnerships, contributing more than $1 billion in community investment annually. Learn more about joining the PRISM Network and sign up for the PRISM Viewpoints newsletter to stay up to date with our PRISM Network Learning Series events in 2026.
Missed the live session? Watch the recording here.
