Points of Light's Business Member Program, an initiative of the Points of Light Corporate Institute, has compiled the Trends of Excellence, a series of reports analyzing employee volunteer programs (EVP) to identify the practices associated with excellence.

The full report - available as a free download - focuses on a number of practices of excellent EVPs including company support, strategies, policies, activities and outcomes. The research findings indicate key practices and trends companies should consider when developing or enhancing an EVP. Findings include:

• There is a direct relationship between the size of the investment in the EVP and its level of performance. As a result, companies should consider investing at least $104 per employee, excluding salaries and grants, whether they volunteer or not; the figure jumps to $179 when including salaries, travel and other items.
• In order to best manage limited resources to produce greater impact, companies should align their EVP to support specific business functions.
• EVPs should draw on company assets, such as employee skills, marketing channels and commercial products, to strengthen the contributions the EVP makes to society.
• Reward the efforts and accomplishments of employee volunteers to better support the EVP's concrete goals.

The report is based on information from the 2010 Points of Light Corporate Engagement Awards of Excellence finalist companies. Download the series today and learn more about excellence in employee volunteering.