The landscape of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is rapidly evolving, shifting from a philanthropic obligation to a strategic imperative. To achieve meaningful social impact, organizations must move beyond fragmented initiatives and embrace long-term commitments, collaborative partnerships, and strong leadership advocacy—factors that are essential for driving sustained and measurable change. This transformation demands professionals who can translate these principles into practical, high-impact programs.
One such leader is Ms. Vidyut Jauhari, Associate Director – Corporate Social Responsibility at Amagi Foundation. With nearly two decades of experience, she has designed and led CSR and community engagement programs across Accenture, Intel, and IBM. Her work has consistently emphasized equity, inclusion, and stakeholder engagement, resulting in successful cross-sector partnerships and shared-value initiatives that align corporate resources with pressing societal needs.
In this article, she presents a forward-looking perspective on CSR in 2025, exploring how multi-year commitments can drive long-term impact, how cross-sector coalitions can foster innovation, and why leadership buy-in is crucial for embedding CSR into an organization’s core strategy. Drawing from her extensive experience in global CSR leadership, Ms. Jauhari offers a compelling framework for businesses aiming to move beyond transactional giving toward transformative social change.
Read on as she explores the key strategies shaping the future of CSR in 2025
CSR in 2025: Building Impact Through Commitment, Collaboration, and Leadership
My journey in the social impact space began accidentally during a job search after a three-year career break in Bhopal, a city that, while rich in culture, was still finding its footing as a hub for private-sector opportunities. That marked my entry into the social impact sector.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working across diverse organizations—from bilateral funding agencies to multinational corporations, addressing and influencing pro-poor policies in collaboration with governments and shaping and implementing community engagement programs. Over the years my thinking evolved while convening leadership teams, working alongside legal and communications experts, designing programs with corporate citizenship colleagues and not-for-profit partners across the globe, to drive meaningful change.
In my current role as the global CSR lead at Amagi, a cloud-based SaaS technology company, I work with cross-functional teams to design strategies, policies, and frameworks that align business goals with societal impact.
This diverse exposure offered me unique insights into best practices that can transform CSR initiatives. While there are many practices that are underutilized or overlooked, in this post, I’ll explore a few key aspects that hold immense potential as we look toward 2025, including multi-year commitments, cross-sector coalitions, leadership buyin, and more, to help organizations navigate the evolving CSR landscape effectively.
1. Multi-Year Commitments: Corporates hesitate to make multiyear CSR grants due to financial uncertainty, shifting priorities, and leadership changes, which can affect long-term commitments. Challenges like tracking progress, adapting to community needs, and managing limited resources also discourage long-term commitments.
Why Are They Important?
- Foster long term impact, scalability and innovation, for capacity building, phased implementation, learning, and building trust with communities.
- Strengthen partnerships by facilitating deeper collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and alignment of goals.
- Promote trust and credibility, showcasing genuine dedication to social issues aligning with UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Deliver measurable, lasting change and build stronger relationships with communities and beneficiaries.
- Support financial stability for not-for-profits, reducing the burden of constant grant applications and allowing them to focus on core missions.
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Challenges
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Mitigation Strategies
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Managing long-term commitments with shifting priorities and resources.
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Regularly revisit and update the project plan to accommodate changes and ensure alignment.
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Maintaining engagement and motivation over several years.
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Set clear, measurable milestones and celebrate small wins to sustain momentum.
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Adapting to evolving external factors such as market changes.
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Build flexibility into the agreement to allow for course corrections and adjustments.
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Ensuring consistent quality and standards over time.
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Implement regular monitoring and evaluation processes to assess progress and quality.
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Managing inter-organizational dependencies over a prolonged period.
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Establish clear communication channels and governance to address interdependencies.
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Retaining key stakeholders and resources across multiple years.
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Develop strong relationships for continuous engagement to retain key stakeholders.
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Overcoming financial or resource constraints over the long term.
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Secure diversified funding or resources to ensure sustainability of the program.
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Aligning long-term goals with broader global or societal objectives.
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Align initiatives with credible global frameworks (e.g., SDGs) to maintain relevance.
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2. Cross Sector Alliances: They provide an opportunity to corporates, non-profits, governments, and communities to come together to address complex social and environmental challenges. By leveraging resources and expertise, they drive innovation, scalable solutions, and sustainable impact, fostering stronger partnerships and shared accountability for lasting change.
Why Are They Important?
- Brings together diverse resources and perspectives to tackle complex societal issues effectively.
- Combines financial, human, and technical resources, enabling impactful initiatives.
- Encourages creative solutions by combining approaches from different sectors.
- Facilitates broader outreach and implementation, benefiting more communities.
- Builds trust by demonstrating collective commitment and collaboration across industries.
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Challenges
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Mitigation Strategies
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Each stakeholder has varying priorities and timelines.
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Define clear shared goals at the start to align expectations.
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Managing schedules, resources, and expectations can be complex.
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Establish governance ensuring accountability, transparency, and smooth decision-making.
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Ensuring all partners uphold shared goals can be challenging.
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Foster regular stakeholder cadence to address issues early and maintain alignment.
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Varied organizational cultures and ways of working may create friction.
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Clearly outline the responsibilities of each partner to avoid overlaps or gaps.
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Maintaining long-term collaboration requires continuous alignment.
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Build adaptability to accommodate changing circumstances and needs.
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Provide training and resources to bridge gaps across sectors.
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3. Leadership Buy-In: It is crucial for the success of CSR initiatives, as it ensures alignment with organizational priorities, secures necessary resources, and fosters a culture of commitment. When leaders champion CSR, they inspire employee participation, strengthen stakeholder trust, and embed CSR into the organization’s long-term strategy.
Why It Is Important?
- Ensures strategic alignment with business goals and values.
- Secures resource allocation, talent, and time for meaningful projects.
- Drives organization-wide cultural integration.
- Signals enhanced credibility to stakeholders.
- Motivates employees to actively participate in CSR activities.
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Challenges
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Mitigation Strategies
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Business targets overshadow CSR goals
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Demonstrate CSR alignment with business objectives driving long-term benefits.
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Leaders may not fully understand the value of CSR.
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Provide data-driven insights, metrics and case studies, to showcase CSR’s impact.
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Difficulty balancing long-term CSR goals with immediate business needs.
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Highlight the long-term benefits of CSR, emphasizing sustainability and brand loyalty.
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Challenges in demonstrating the ROI of CSR initiatives.
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Use metrics and qualitative data to show CSR's measurable impact and ROI.
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Engaging leadership as sponsors to build their personal connection to the cause and sharing success stories showcasing alignment with company goals.
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