As part of our annual primary research, Trialogue asks company and nonprofit respondents to name the three companies and nonprofits that they perceive to be having the greatest developmental impact. These rankings are based on the perceptions of respondents and are not necessarily reflective of actual performance or impact.
Company impact
| Top companies as ranked by companies | |||
| Ranking | Company | Number of mentions* | Percent mentions |
| 1 | Vodacom | 24 | 14 |
| 2 | FirstRand# | 20 | 11 |
| 3 | Nedbank | 15 | 8 |
| 4 | Anglo American# | 13 | 7 |
| 5= | MTN | 8 | 5 |
| Sasol | 8 | 5 | |
| 7 | Absa | 6 | 3 |
| 8 | Shoprite | 5 | 3 |
| 9= | Momentum Group | 4 | 2 |
| Sanlam | 4 | 2 | |
| Standard Bank | 4 | 2 | |
| Tiger Brands | 4 | 2 | |
| Woolworths | 4 | 2 | |
* Multiple response question; 65 company respondents mentioned 52 companies; total number of mentions = 177 (up to three mentions per respondent allowed; not all respondents mentioned three companies)
# Anglo American mentions include mentions of Anglo American Platinum and Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and FirstRand mentions include mentions of FNB and RMB
| Top companies as ranked by nonprofits | |||
| Ranking | Company | Number of mentions* | Percent mentions |
| 1 | Nedbank | 20 | 8 |
| 2 | FirstRand# | 16 | 7 |
| 3 | Anglo American# | 10 | 4 |
| 4= | Investec | 9 | 4 |
| Vodacom | 9 | 4 | |
| 6= | Discovery | 8 | 3 |
| Momentum Group | 8 | 3 | |
| MTN | 8 | 3 | |
| Standard Bank | 8 | 3 | |
| 10= | Old Mutual | 7 | 3 |
| Sanlam | 7 | 3 | |
| Shoprite | 7 | 3 | |
* Multiple response question; 88 nonprofit respondents mentioned 96 companies; total number of mentions = 243 (up to three mentions per respondent allowed; not all respondents mentioned three companies)
# Anglo American mentions include mentions of Anglo American Platinum and Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and FirstRand mentions include mentions of FNB and RMB
- Vodacom was ranked first by companies for the ninth consecutive year and moved up to fourth place from fifth place in 2024 as ranked by nonprofits.
- Nonprofits ranked Nedbank first for the second year in a row. Nedbank remained third in the company rankings.
- FirstRand was ranked second by both companies and nonprofits.
- Anglo American was ranked fourth by companies and third by nonprofits.
- MTN, Shoprite and Standard Bank were again ranked in the top 10 by both companies and nonprofits.
- For the first time in 2025, Sanlam and the Momentum Group were also among the top companies mentioned by both companies and nonprofits.
- Absa and Tiger Brands re-entered the list of top companies as ranked by other companies in 2025, at seventh and joint ninth position respectively.
- Discovery re-entered the top companies as ranked by nonprofits in joint sixth position.
Nonprofit impact
| Top nonprofits as ranked by companies | |||
| Ranking | NPO | Number of mentions* | Percent mentions |
| 1 | Gift of the Givers | 28 | 16 |
| 2 | Afrika Tikkun | 9 | 5 |
| 3 | Smile Foundation | 5 | 3 |
| 4= | Hope Foundation | 4 | 2 |
| Reach For A Dream | 4 | 2 | |
| 6= | FoodForward SA | 3 | 2 |
| Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator | 3 | 2 | |
| TEARS Foundation | 3 | 2 | |
* Multiple response question; 66 company respondents mentioned 115 nonprofits; total number of mentions = 179 (up to three mentions per respondent allowed; not all respondents mentioned three nonprofits)
| Top nonprofits as ranked by nonprofits | |||
| Ranking | NPO | Number of mentions* | Percent mentions |
| 1 | Gift of the Givers | 19 | 8 |
| 2 | Afrika Tikkun | 15 | 6 |
| 3 | FoodForward SA | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | DG Murray Trust | 6 | 2 |
| 5= | The South African Red Cross Society | 5 | 2 |
| IkamvaYouth | 5 | 2 | |
| 7= | Reach For A Dream | 4 | 2 |
| Smile Foundation | 4 | 2 | |
| 9= | SECTION27 | 3 | 1 |
| Trevor Noah Foundation | 3 | 1 | |
| Zoë-Life | 3 | 1 | |
| The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) | 3 | 1 | |
| Nelson Mandela Foundation | 3 | 1 | |
| Sci-Bono Discovery Centre | 3 | 1 | |
* Multiple response question; 92 nonprofit respondents mentioned 166 nonprofits; total number of mentions = 249 (up to three mentions per respondent allowed; not all respondents mentioned three nonprofits)
- Gift of the Givers was ranked first by companies and nonprofits for the fifth consecutive year.
- Afrika Tikkun was ranked second by companies and nonprofits for the third consecutive year.
- Smile Foundation remained in third place as ranked by companies and moved up from joint 10th in 2024 to joint seventh in 2025 as ranked by nonprofits.
- FoodForward SA was ranked joint sixth by companies and moved up from joint 10th to third position as ranked by nonprofits.
- Reach For A Dream appeared in both lists, ranked joint fourth by companies and joint seventh by nonprofits.
- No other organisations appear in the top 10 of both company and nonprofit rankings.
