The 2025 Business Generosity Report, released by goBeyondProfit and Georgia CEO, confirms that the definition of business generosity has fundamentally changed, and executives appear to be doubling down on strategies based on an outdated definition.

When asked what first comes to mind when considering business generosity, the contrast in responses between employees and executives was striking.

Employees clearly value internal generosity; they ranked exceptional employee care as the top definition (35%), followed by a positive, values-based company culture (26%) and business operations that positively impact the planet and people (22%). Notably, charitable efforts once again ranked lowest, with just 17% of employees viewing charitable donations and volunteerism as the primary form of business generosity.

When comparing these opinions to those of executives, a stark difference becomes apparent: executives prioritize more traditional forms of philanthropy, such as charitable contributions and volunteer outreach.

What’s more, we found that executives’ mindsets were reinforced by their financial investments, with 70% planning to increase their charitable donations and volunteer activities in the next year.

While employee care ranks first in importance among employees, and charitable outreach ranks lowest, for executives, this traditional generosity remains prominent—a clear indication of a significant misalignment between executive and employee preferences.

A key insight for executives to consider is that 83% of employees aren’t considering charitable outreach when it comes to business generosity. This suggests that traditional philanthropy was likely not the motivator for the 54% who pursued roles at companies they perceived as generous nor for the 48% who left companies they thought were ungenerous.

This isn’t a sudden shift in mindset. Employees have consistently communicated the same priorities year after year. The opportunity for executives now lies in fine-tuning business generosity investments to align more closely with employees’ expectations and to communicate frequently the full scope of their company’s generosity. Doing this correctly helps prevent key employees from seeking generosity elsewhere. The 2025 Business Generosity offers a clear roadmap for executives to accomplish this goal.