CSR Today: Culture, Brand, Strategy: All Rolled Into One

Part 2 of Deed’s Purpose-Led Giving: A New Era of Corporate Generosity Series 

Corporate philanthropy is undergoing a transformation. What once centered on annual check-writing and top-down giving strategies is evolving into something more participatory, more personal, and more powerful. Companies are rethinking the role of CSR—not as a side initiative, but as a core lever for culture, brand, and business strategy.

Deed’s series - Purpose Led Giving: A New Era of Corporate Generosity - explores what stakeholders want from corporate giving today—and why those expectations are reshaping the future of CSR. It’s about moving from legacy CSR to a participatory, employee-driven culture: integrating purpose into everyday work, scaling global programs with local relevance, and making it easy for employees to take action in ways that feel authentic, engaging, and meaningful.

The next era of corporate generosity won’t just be measured by dollars donated alone, but also by how meaningfully companies empower their people to participate and drive impact.

What is CSR today—and why does it matter?

CSR isn’t what it used to be. It’s no longer just about writing checks or publishing annual reports. Today, whether we call it CSR, corporate social impact, or ESG, it’s about how a company shows up—for its people, its communities, and the planet—every single day.

It’s a company’s commitment to take ownership of its impact—on people, communities, and the environment. It’s about asking: Are we making things better, or just making things?

CSR today goes far beyond philanthropy. It’s reflected in the daily choices companies make:

• How we treat our employees
• How we source products
• How we respond when disaster strikes
• How we prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains

That commitment shows up in tangible ways:

• Matched giving for employee donations
• Skills-based volunteering
• Crisis response and recovery programs
• Long-term nonprofit partnerships

And it matters now more than ever. Employees—especially younger ones—want more than a paycheck. They want purpose. They want to work for companies that stand for something beyond quarterly earnings. The same goes for customers, partners, and investors.

When CSR is aligned with your mission, has executive buy-in, and is embedded into your operations, it stops being a feel-good initiative. It becomes a strategic advantage. It’s culture. It’s brand. It’s business.

So, how do you drive real employee engagement?

I’ve seen the most meaningful employee engagement happen when CSR is built into the employee experience—not bolted on. That takes a few key ingredients:

1️⃣ Executive engagement

Leadership sets the tone. When executives don’t just endorse CSR but actively participate in impact efforts—by volunteering, serving on nonprofit boards, speaking about impact at all-hands meetings, or amplifying employee stories—it sends a powerful message: this work matters.

At Flywire, that message comes through loud and clear. Employees are empowered to drive impact through two “FlyBetter” volunteer days and FlyMatch, a donation matching program— powered by Deed. Their CEO Mike Massaro is an executive champion of Flywire’s annual service trip with School the World and actively engages in Slack channels like #flybetter to celebrate employee contributions and spotlight community impact. That kind of visible, hands-on leadership transforms CSR from a program into a shared company value.

2️⃣ Mission-aligned programs

Leadership engagement only resonates when it’s rooted in purpose. The most effective CSR programs aren’t bolted on—they're built into the business. When social impact aligns with your company’s values and core mission, employees don’t just participate—they feel personally invested.

Take Otis Elevator Co.: their Made to Move Communities initiative empowers students across 15+ countries to design solutions for inclusive mobility, guided by 250+ Otis employee mentors and backed by senior leadership. It’s not just a feel-good program—it’s a direct extension of what Otis stands for.

3️⃣ The right tools

Experience matters. Employees want simple, intuitive ways to take action—discovering causes they care about, accessing donation matching, and signing up for volunteer opportunities in just a few clicks. Social impact leaders, meanwhile, need flexible, turnkey tools with real-time data and enterprise-grade functionality.

That’s where tech makes the difference. I’ve evaluated workplace giving platforms for Fortune 500s and high-growth tech companies, and ultimately chose Deed to implement at both Snyk and Flywire—because it strikes the perfect balance: seamless for employees, powerful for program leaders, and embedded into the tools people already use, like Slack and MS Teams.

4️⃣ Shared accountability

When employees lead, momentum grows. Volunteer ambassador networks, employee resource groups (ERGs), and community champions help bring programs to life from the ground up. That peer-to-peer energy builds trust, broadens reach, and creates a culture in which everyone has a stake in impact.

When executive engagement, mission alignment, peer-driven energy and momentum, and the right tools come together, CSR stops being a program—and starts becoming culture.

🚀 Ready to lead with purpose?

At Deed, we help companies scale CSR programs that are local, authentic, and employee-led—from donation matching and volunteering to disaster response and ESG integration.

The next era of corporate generosity won’t be measured by dollars donated alone—but by how deeply companies empower their people to drive change from within.

👉 Want to see how Deed can help you bring your culture of impact to life? Request a demo and let’s build something meaningful—together.

About the author: Tori Hay Lindahl is a corporate social responsibility leader with nearly 20 years of experience helping Fortune 500 and high-growth tech companies design CSR strategies that engage employees and drive business value. Through her consulting practice, she provides fractional and project-based CSR leadership to brands like Flywire, Verizon, Otis Elevator Co., and more.