The Halo Awards are the highest recognition for outstanding corporate social impact initiatives. Each year, we honor corporate and nonprofit partnerships that skillfully intertwine their resources to have a measurable impact on the cause and the business.

For 23 years, we’ve honored corporations and nonprofits that skillfully merge business acumen with social causes, fostering tangible and meaningful change. This year, we’re expanding The Halo Awards to include Initiative Awards, as we have in the past, and exciting new categories that will recognize the people, teams, and organizations behind these world-changing efforts (launching in Q1)!

The application for The Halo Awards are now closed.

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More Than Just a Trophy:
The Value of The Halo Awards

For over two decades, Engage for Good has honored the best in corporate social impact. From hundreds of applications, only 16 initiatives will rise to the top in 2025, winning a Gold Halo Award and achieve these benefits:

The Halos GalA

The Halos Gala is the biggest celebration of corporate social impact, a night to commemorate the achievements of purpose-driven organizations. It’s an opportunity to learn from and network with the leaders behind award-winning campaigns, share inspiration, and forge new relationships.  

With entertainment, inspiring speakers, celebration, and a focus on why these 16 initiatives won, it will be a night to remember. The Halos takes place on April 24 in Palm Springs, CA, and is included with your ticket to the Engage for Good conference.

While the dress code is business chic, we encourage you to wear whatever makes you feel fun, comfortable, fabulous, and golden!

Application Process: Get Ready!

Want to set yourself up for success? Check out the Halo Awards Toolkit for tips and insights to make your application stand out!

Deadline: January 31

People and Teams Awards

Engage for Good is excited to announce the first-ever People and Teams Awards. These awards are designed to recognize the people and organizations making a substantial impact through corporate social impact.

Applications and nominations are open for the following categories:

  • CSI Agency of the Year
  • The Phoenix Award
  • The Rising Star of the Year Award
  • CSI Leader of the Year Award
  • Digital Creator Catalyst of the Year Award

Learn more about all of the People and Team Awards and apply below.

TEAM AWARDS

These awards recognize the work of companies and organizations that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in driving CSI programming for years. They harness the collective power of corporations and nonprofits to create and implement impactful initiatives.

CSI Agency of the Year *New*

Recognizes a social impact agency that has demonstrated excellence in developing and executing impactful campaigns and initiatives for their clients. This agency has a proven track record of creating innovative strategies, delivering measurable results for the cause and the business, and driving social change.

The Phoenix Award *New*

Recognizes a brand that reinvented itself by strategically integrating social impact and purpose into its core business strategy. It celebrates a company that has successfully demonstrated measurable improvements in perception, reputation, and growth directly correlated with its commitment to social change.  

The application for the Team Awards are now closed.

PEOPLE AWARDS

These awards celebrate individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the field of corporate social impact. They recognize leadership, innovation, and dedication to driving social change at the intersection of business, philanthropy, and social impact.

The Rising Star of the Year Award*New*

Recognizes an individual who is new to the field of corporate social impact (within the first 5 years of their career) and has demonstrated outstanding impact, leadership, innovation, and commitment to driving positive social change through their work.

Digital Creator Catalyst of the Year Award *New*

Recognizes a digital content creator who has effectively leveraged their platform to ignite positive social change. This individual has demonstrated exceptional leadership in raising awareness about critical issues, inspiring action, and driving measurable impact through compelling and engaging content. Their work exemplifies the power of digital media to connect communities, amplify important voices, and create a better world.

CSI Leader of the Year Award *New*

CSI Leader of the Year Award recognizes an impactful and visionary leader in corporate social impact. The recipient is a seasoned professional with a demonstrated history of building authentic, mutually beneficial, and innovative partnerships between corporations and nonprofits. This individual stands apart through their commitment to social impact, building unique alliances, and generating transformational resources to drive positive change. They are a champion for social impact, both within their organization, where they act as a mentor managing up and down and beyond, fostering collaboration, and serving as a thought leader in the CSI sector.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award is The Halo Awards’ most prestigious honor given to an individual. It recognizes an individual who has dedicated their life’s work to social impact, demonstrating unwavering commitment, extraordinary leadership, and a sustained record of positive change. This award transcends age or career stage; it celebrates the relentless pursuit of a better world.

The application for the People Awards are now closed.

2025 Categories

We’ve expanded our categories to encompass a wider range of causes and innovative approaches, ensuring that outstanding work across diverse cause areas is celebrated. Check out the 16 categories below!

For the first time, select Halo Award categories are open to initiatives that don’t require a partnership between a nonprofit and a corporation.

Initiative Awards

These awards spotlight exceptional initiatives born from the collaboration of for-profit and nonprofit organizations. They celebrate programs that weave together business goals and resources with social purpose, resulting in measurable positive change for people and/or the planet. Across 16 distinct categories and one “Best-of-the-Best” winner, these initiatives exemplify the power of partnership and innovation to address critical social issues.

View our 2025 Halo Award Finalists here.

Eligibility: Can be just one corporation (does not require a nonprofit partner).

Recognizes initiatives where a product or service is intrinsically linked to a social cause. This includes products specifically designed to generate social impact (e.g., a clothing line made from recycled materials that provides fair-wage jobs), or where a portion of proceeds is directly donated to support a cause (e.g., a percentage of sales from a coffee blend goes to support rainforest conservation).

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that leverage the power of marketing and communications to drive positive social change. This includes campaigns that creatively integrate cause-related messaging into marketing strategies, build strong partnerships between brands and nonprofits to amplify their message, and engage consumers in social impact through compelling storytelling, activations, and calls to action.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that empower consumers to contribute to a social cause. This includes campaigns that facilitate donations at the point of sale (e.g., rounding up purchases), through online platforms, text-to-give campaigns, or by encouraging actions that trigger donations (e.g., donating a set amount for every social media share). This award celebrates initiatives that make giving easy and accessible, mobilizing consumer generosity to create meaningful social impact.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives focused on a social issue such as sheltering the houseless, providing food for children, mental health support, or training rescue dogs in a manner consistent with the company’s business goals.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that focus on the lives of people within the disability community. This includes campaigns that increase access to resources, raise visibility for challenges the community faces, change policies and systems to serve people with disabilities better, and more.

Eligibility: Can be just one corporation (without a nonprofit partner).

Recognizes initiatives that incorporate DEIB values into their company, campaign, and partnerships. This includes DEIB programs that offer opportunities and resources to equity-seeking communities, internal process/policy changes for equity and inclusion, or an innovative DEIB approach to an old problem or cause.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that strive to improve educational outcomes for individuals and communities. This includes campaigns that increase access to quality education, support innovative learning approaches, address educational inequities, and empower learners of all ages.

Eligibility: Can be just one corporation (without a nonprofit partner).

Recognizes initiatives that respond to an immediate emergency, crisis, or disaster, develop a long-term initiative to support a disaster-affected community, or efforts to prevent emergencies from happening.

Eligibility: Can be just one corporation (without a nonprofit partner).


Recognizes initiatives that meaningfully and measurably engage a company’s employees in a cause-focused initiative to achieve both social and business impact, whether that be through volunteerism or other employee engagement activities.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that address hunger and food access challenges. This includes campaigns that provide meals or resources to those experiencing food insecurity, raise awareness about the issue, advocate for policy changes, or support sustainable solutions to combat hunger.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that champion equity and inclusion for people of all genders and sexual orientations by promoting equal access to resources and opportunities, breaking down barriers like stereotypes and bias, and fostering safe and inclusive environments where everyone feels respected, valued, and empowered.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that take an intersectional approach to their social impact strategy. This includes campaigns that target multiple causes and communities. For example, a campaign that addresses climate change and immigration or a campaign that targets young people of color and parents.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

This award recognizes initiatives that prioritize the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities by addressing mental or physical health challenges. This includes providing access to care, supporting research and innovation, addressing health disparities, and developing innovative solutions to improve overall health outcomes.

Eligibility: Can be just one corporation (without a nonprofit partner).

Recognizes initiatives that champion environmental stewardship by promoting sustainable practices across operations and supply chains, conserving natural resources through ecosystem protection and responsible consumption, and raising awareness to inspire collective action toward a more sustainable future.

Eligibility: At least one corporation AND one nonprofit partner.

Recognizes initiatives that demonstrate impactful and innovative use of technology to address social challenges, scale NPO programs and impact, driving positive change and sustainable solutions.

Chosen from across the full spectrum of Halo Award winners and voted on by The Halo Award judges, this award is category-agnostic and recognizes an initiative that best demonstrates outstanding execution of an initiative that engages multiple stakeholders, has a clear impact on business and community, and is innovative in its approach.

Stay tuned for EFG’s People and Team awards, which will be announced in Q1 of 2025!

The application for the Initiative Awards are now closed.

PAST WINNERS

2024 Golden Halo Award Judges

Bobby Amirshai

Bobby Amirshahi - SVP, Corporate Communications, Macy's, Inc.

“I care deeply about removing barriers and obstacles from whatever can unlock if not unleash a child’s potential in the world – everything from LGTBQ+ bias to food insecurity and access to education and inspiration to young people from all backgrounds. A great nation needs renewed generations of innovators, builders, teachers, artists and more to thrive.”

Bobby Amirshahi - SVP, Corporate Communications, Macy's, Inc.

“I care deeply about removing barriers and obstacles from whatever can unlock if not unleash a child’s potential in the world – everything from LGTBQ+ bias to food insecurity and access to education and inspiration to young people from all backgrounds. A great nation needs renewed generations of innovators, builders, teachers, artists and more to thrive.”

Bobby Amirshai

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