What Is CSR Gifting - A Guide for HR and Procurement

If you run gifting for a company, someone eventually asks whether a thoughtful, cause-based gift also helps the CSR or ESG story. It is a fair question. The honest answer has two parts, and this guide is for the HR, admin and procurement reader who must justify that choice internally.

CSR gifting is corporate gifting that also advances social good, such as supporting artisan and NGO livelihoods. For HR and procurement teams, it aligns gifting spend with a company's ESG and social-impact narrative, but it is not Section 135 CSR expenditure.

TL - DR : CSR gifting means corporate gifts that also do social good, like supporting artisan and NGO livelihoods. It strengthens your ESG and social-impact story. It is values-aligned procurement, not Section 135 CSR spend.

What is CSR gifting

CSR gifting is corporate gifting that also advances a social or environmental cause, usually by supporting the people who made the gift. Cause-based gifting and sustainable corporate gifting mean much the same. Each is a gift chosen partly for the good it carries.

The label sits on top of ordinary corporate gifting. What changes is the sourcing and the intent. A CSR gift still marks a festival, a milestone or a client relationship, but the money behind it also reaches a cause, most often the livelihoods of the artisans who made it.

One distinction matters. A donation gives money away and buys nothing back. CSR gifting is a purchase, and the social good rides along with it. You show the company's values in a routine spend, not a grant.

Does buying corporate gifts count as CSR under Section 135

No, not in itself. Corporate gift procurement is a business expense, not CSR spend. Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 defines CSR as a monetised outlay on approved Schedule VII activities, run in project mode. Buying gifts, however meaningful, does not meet that test.

The law is specific. It applies to companies past any one threshold in the preceding year: net worth of Rs 500 crore, turnover of Rs 1000 crore, or net profit of Rs 5 crore. Those companies must spend at least 2 percent of their three-year average net profit on approved Schedule VII activities, covering areas such as poverty relief, education, women empowerment, environmental work and heritage protection. The spend runs in project mode, so one-off events and sponsorships are out, per MCA's CSR FAQ. It cannot be an in-kind gift of goods, and it excludes anything done only for a company's own employees.

The short version of the difference:

Set those rules against a gift order. The value moves in kind. Recipients are usually your own staff or clients. No Schedule VII project sits behind it. So it stays a business expense, and the honest frame is alignment, not compliance.

How does cause-based gifting align with CSR and ESG goals

Cause-based gifting aligns with CSR and ESG goals by making values visible in an everyday purchase. It answers the social pillar of ESG through real livelihood support, signals responsible sourcing, and gives your CSR narrative a consistent, honest thread that a generic gift cannot.

ESG has three parts: environmental, social and governance. Cause-based gifting speaks loudest to the social pillar, and that is where most gifting guides go thin. They mention local jobs and stop.

That is where eHaat fits. eHaat is a curated marketplace of handmade Indian craft, made by NGO and artisan partners and backed by HCL Foundation, where every purchase channels funds to artisan livelihoods. The cause is the business model, not a bolt-on donation at checkout, and partners such as Safe Society, Prayatna and Aiaca give the social story real names. Sourced this way, the gift decision also signals responsible sourcing and supplier diversity. Our sustainable corporate gifting guide walks through the options. None of this turns the spend into a compliance line.

Can gifting spend support social-impact reporting

Yes, in a documentary sense. You can record what you sourced, from whom, and the livelihood impact behind it, which feeds an honest ESG or social-impact narrative. What it cannot do is become Section 135 CSR expenditure or a statutory disclosure line by itself.

What you can record is fuller than most teams expect. Vendor and sourcing details, the partners involved, the livelihood impact behind the order, a GST invoice and honest material claims all document the choice, and together they support the social pillar of an ESG story and a values-based procurement policy.

For listed companies, SEBI's Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting is widening the expectation to describe such practices, though treat that as directional context, not a legal opinion. To see how the money reaches makers, how eHaat funds reach artisans sets it out. There is no benchmark for how much to spend on gifting, so record the impact you can prove and scope the numbers to your own requirement.

How can HR and procurement source cause-based gifts responsibly

Start by fixing the purpose and audience, then set clear values criteria. Confirm vendor documentation and a GST invoice, keep claims honest to avoid greenwashing, and route quantities, timelines and pricing to a direct enquiry.

A workable checklist:

• Define the purpose and recipient first, so the gift fits the occasion.

• Set values criteria up front: handmade, fair-trade sourcing, a documented cause.

• Ask for vendor documentation and a GST invoice, and keep material claims accurate.

• Match the choice to your procurement policy, then confirm operational details.

You can browse eHaat's handmade corporate gift collection for cause-led options made by artisan and NGO partners. Volumes, lead times and pricing depend on the order. It is cleaner to talk to us about CSR gifting and scope them directly.

Frequently asked questions

Does corporate gifting count as CSR spend under the Companies Act?

No, not in itself. Section 135 CSR is a monetised spend on Schedule VII activities in project mode. It cannot be an in-kind contribution or benefit only your own employees. Gift procurement is a business expense.

What is the difference between CSR gifting and CSR under Section 135?

CSR gifting is a values-aligned procurement choice that supports your ESG story. Section 135 CSR is a statutory 2 percent spend by eligible companies on Schedule VII activities. One is a gifting decision. The other is a compliance obligation.

What is corporate gifting called?

It goes by several names. Corporate gifting is the broad term. When a gift also carries a cause, people call it CSR gifting, cause-based gifting or sustainable corporate gifting. The labels overlap.

How does cause-based gifting support ESG goals?

It addresses the social pillar of ESG concretely. Sourcing from artisan and NGO partners channels funds to livelihoods and supports responsible, diverse suppliers, which gives HR and procurement a documentable thread for the company's ESG narrative.

What can we document about cause-based gifting for reporting?

You can document vendor and sourcing details, the artisan-livelihood impact, GST invoices and honest material claims. That supports an ESG or social-impact narrative, but does not become Section 135 CSR expenditure by itself.

How much do companies spend on corporate gifting?

It varies widely by company, occasion, headcount and budget tier, so there is no single figure. For eHaat, budget tiers, quantities and timelines are scoped per enquiry. Share your requirement at the corporate enquiry page.

Talk to us about CSR gifting

Want cause-based gifts your team can stand behind, made by named artisan and NGO partners? Talk to us about CSR gifting, and we will scope quantities, timelines and options around your requirement.