- Companies engaged in corporate volunteering and donations activities demonstrated a strong level of commitment, with median employee volunteering rate rising to 70%, up from 50% in 2021
- Supportive leadership culture is key to enabling commitment to corporate impact initiatives
SINGAPORE, 6 FEB 2026 – 1,100 companies comprising 699 SMEs and 401 large enterprises across nine major industries in Singapore participated in the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC)’s inaugural National Corporate Purpose & Impact Study 2025 (NCPIS).
Building on NVPC’s earlier Corporate Giving Study in 2021, the NCPIS aims to better understand how companies practise corporate citizenship – including how companies create positive societal impact through their business practices, workplace policies, governance structures, and social initiatives.
To provide a snapshot of corporate citizenship practices, the study examined broad trends across the following five impact areas based on the National Corporate Purpose Framework (refer to Annex A for more details):
- People: Initiatives that support employee well-being, professional development and inclusion
- Society: Corporate volunteering and donations activities to uplift communities
- Governance: Practices that foster an ethical, transparent and responsible business environment
- Environment: Efforts to promote environmental sustainability and reduce ecological impact
- Economic: Innovative initiatives that contribute to Singapore’s economic development
Key findings from the NCPIS include:
- Nearly 8 in 10 companies agree that they have a moral duty to support broader societal goals, with all companies reported engaging in Corporate Purpose initiatives in at least one of the five impact areas – People, Society, Governance, Environment and Economic.
- Across the five impact areas, the “People” impact area saw the highest engagement with 94% of companies engaging in at least one Corporate Purpose initiative, while the “Society” impact area shows strong potential for growth with 30% of companies currently engaged.
- Among companies that engage in Corporate Purpose initiatives in the “Society” impact area, there was continued strong commitment to volunteering and donations activities.
- Supportive leadership culture is a key factor in enabling commitment to Corporate Purpose initiatives.
Strong interest in engaging Corporate Purpose initiatives, while recognising broader societal goals
Nearly 8 in 10 companies (79%) agree that they have a moral duty to support broader societal goals, showing strong intent to do good beyond business.
All companies surveyed in the NCPIS also reported engaging in Corporate Purpose initiatives that positively impact at least one impact area, with 21% actively engaged across all five impact areas.
Among companies participating in Corporate Purpose initiatives, the leading industries included construction, financial and insurance, information and communication, and manufacturing; while other industries such as wholesale and retail trade and business activities tended to be in the earlier stages of their Corporate Purpose journeys.
The encouraging number of companies engaging in Corporate Purpose initiatives across different impact areas demonstrates that companies in Singapore are actively considering the needs of diverse stakeholders and are committed to making a positive difference through their corporate practices.
Opportunities to expand corporate social impact
Across the five impact areas, the “Society” impact area – which focuses on corporate volunteering and donations – saw 30% of companies engaging in at least one Corporate Purpose initiative, presenting opportunities for expanding their corporate social impact.
While few companies have launched corporate volunteering and donations activities, those that have done so tend to demonstrate a strong level of commitment in contributing to both.
Among these companies, the median employee volunteer participation rate rose to 70% in 2025, a significant increase from 50% in 2021. The median value of donations also grew tenfold over the same period, from $1,000 in 2021 to $10,000 in 2025.
This reflects the deep commitment and growing impact of companies dedicated to social causes, suggesting strong potential for broader adoption of corporate initiatives on volunteering and donations across the corporate sector for the betterment of society as a whole.
Supportive leadership culture is a key enabler of corporate impact
Companies embrace corporate citizenship for different reasons – from enhancing reputation, to creating meaningful societal and environmental impact, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance. While regulatory compliance typically leads to baseline corporate participation, reputation-focused motivations were the strongest driver of deeper involvement.
While rules and mandates are essential for setting minimum standards, they are less effective in fostering sustained commitment. The study found that regulatory compliance alone was the weakest driver of corporate citizenship, and generates positive business sentiment only when paired with reputation objectives.
This underscores the importance of incentives and recognition, rather than mandates alone, in encouraging long-term corporate participation.
The key barriers faced by companies looking to adopt Corporate Purpose initiatives include the lack of senior management interest, financial constraints, and limited staffing.
While financial limitations are often cited, deeper analysis shows that leadership commitment is the decisive factor in determining adoption of Corporate Purpose initiatives. This highlights the central role of leadership culture in shaping corporate participation and ensuring that Corporate Purpose initiatives are embedded as part of long‑term business practice – demonstrating that the primary challenge is attitudinal rather than resource-based limitations.
Advisor for the NCPIS, Associate Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, David Gomulya, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, said “What’s striking is that corporate citizenship isn’t primarily a resource problem. Companies cite financial constraints, but our data reveals that senior management interest is the most significant differentiator between participants and non-participants. The real barrier isn’t “can we afford this?” but rather “do our leaders believe this matters?”
Strengthening Corporate Purpose Participation in Singapore
The NCPIS demonstrates that companies in Singapore are increasingly interested in embracing Corporate Purpose and have taken initial steps towards creating positive impact in society.
Whether through formal strategies or more ad hoc initiatives, businesses demonstrate intent to align their operations with broader social and environmental objectives. These efforts represent an important foundation for corporate citizenship and opportunities for continued collaboration and supporting conditions to enable deeper, more sustained engagement.
Based on the NCPIS findings, several strategic recommendations that companies can take to further strengthen their corporate citizenship and foster deeper commitment include:
- Keep corporate volunteering and donations activities central to national narratives on good corporate citizenship
- Enhance visibility and recognition of company efforts to strengthen reputation and ensure sustainability
- Offer structured and accessible volunteering opportunities to ease resourcing limitations and encourage employee participation, and
- Leverage networks and partnerships to encourage senior leadership as leadership buy-in is key to the adoption of Corporate Purpose initiatives.
“NVPC’s National Corporate Purpose and Impact Study shows that many companies in Singapore have already begun engaging with Corporate Purpose, even if they are at different stages of the journey,” said Tony Soh, CEO of NVPC. “There is a growing recognition that a company’s long-term success and social licence to operate are inextricably tied to how it contributes to the well-being of its people, the wider community and the environment. With more purpose-driven companies making the shift that empowers them to do well by doing good, we can accelerate the “profit with purpose” movement and contribute towards a ‘We First’ society.”
The full NCPIS report can be found at https://nvpc.org.sg/research/ncpis-2025/.
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Annex A – About National Corporate Purpose Framework
The Alliance for Action on Corporate Purpose (AfA-CP), led by NVPC, is a coalition of over 40 representatives representing various stakeholder groups in Singapore’s corporate ecosystem. The AfA-CP co-developed a national framework on Corporate Purpose to help companies articulate and demonstrate their purpose—the North Star which guides the ethos, and strategy, to facilitate good corporate citizenship in Singapore. More about Corporate Purpose can be found at: thecompanyofgood.sg/corporate-purpose