Making the Business Case for Employee Volunteering
For companies, building a culture that connects volunteering to a broader organizational mission can require an intentional and sustained effort to engage stakeholders, creating a strong business case and adopting policies and programs supportive of service. Increasingly, leaders in corporate citizenship are building the skill set and experience to translate the importance of engaging employees in service to the vernacular of an executive boardroom. To provide some best practices for companies trying to build volunteer programs, Jenny Lawson, president of networks at Points of Light, and Hannah Christie, environmental, social and governance project manager EMEA at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, lay out some of the foundational facts that employee volunteer leaders can use to strengthen their case.
Engagement
Jenny:
Whether it’s cleaning up community parks or mentoring a student online; giving pro bono time to a nonprofit in need or hands-on hours to a food bank; volunteering for an hour in your hometown or for a multi-week assignment cross-border, volunteering is a great way to engage individuals of all ages, interests and backgrounds to unite around a common goal. At the same time, we’ve also seen that companies with volunteer programs realize more than $2,400 of value per volunteer resulting from decreased turnover and improved performance, and that different motivations drive employees to volunteer. How is that happening at Bank of America Merrill Lynch?
Hannah:
At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, we generate value for the community by matching capital investment from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation with the investment of our time and expertise. We’ve learned that creating value for the community, in turn, helps create value for the business. For example, our International Coastal Cleanup, Habitat for Humanity Global Build Week and World Food Day initiatives give employees the opportunity to build their networks, have fun with colleagues and make a positive impact on their local community. Our professional skill share programs bring a different aspect of engagement as they give our employees the opportunity to view their professional skills through a new social lens, making a long-term and often wide-ranging positive impact. Throughout all parts of our volunteer program, we seek to generate engagement by helping employees expand their networks, build skills and feel good about giving back to the community.
Leadership Skills
Jenny:
A culture that supports volunteering can also help a company develop leaders from within, as research has shown. From organizing peers, working across internal silos, building external relationships, managing projects and more – participating in corporate volunteering can build important skills and relationships. How do you build that value in your programs?
Hannah:
This is a great example of how an employee volunteering program brings benefits to everyone involved. In a highly competitive hiring environment, connecting to purpose and volunteering can increase employee retention and productivity which reduces costs associated with turnover. We work closely with HR to develop and integrate our charity skill share program with the bank’s learning and development offerings to employees. From our summer interns through to senior management, sharing time and skills plays a key role in career progression. For example, in December 2016 we launched Inspiring Governance in the U.K. with our partner charity, Education and Employers, giving employees the opportunity to build their leadership experience, influencing and negotiation skills.
Connecting and Recognizing Colleagues
Jenny:
Every workplace is looking at the latest science on health and employee well-being. In fact, research on
. This emotional win-win further connects people to community and co-workers. As a global enterprise, how do you build that camaraderie and sense of shared experience?
Hannah:
Working at a global company, the employee volunteer program is a great way to connect our approximately 200,000 employees who work with clients and stakeholders in 90 countries around the world. In April each year, we hold Global Service Month as a way to connect employees around the world and celebrate the impact of volunteering in the community. This year, you will see a lot of them sharing their stories on social media through
. Additionally, we run our internal Global Volunteer Awards to celebrate teammates who go above and beyond in their support of the community. We also run a Volunteer Grants program in support of our colleague’s volunteer efforts. By recognizing our people’s achievements with community partners, we are able to double the ‘feel good’ effect of volunteering and the engagement it brings.
For more information on the business case for employee volunteering, register for the Conference on Employee Volunteer Engagement in Paris, France, on April 25, 2017, and explore the Points of Light Corporate Institute’s online resources. You can also join Points of Light, Bank of America, and other nonprofit, corporate, and government changemakers at the Conference on Volunteering and Service in Seattle from June 19-21. For more information on Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s environmental, social and governance efforts – visit their ESG webpage.
Recognition Program Helps Nonprofits Thank, Inspire and Recruit Volunteers
Volunteers are vital to nonprofits, helping them keep up with the critical services they provide to their communities. According to the latest Volunteering and Civic Life in America report from the Corporation for National and Community Service, 62.6 million people in the United States volunteered in 2015, collectively donating 7.8 billion hours of their time to their communities – an estimated $184 billion worth of service.
Volunteer recognition events are a wonderful way for nonprofits to not only thank their volunteers but also to share the incredible impact of the work they do. Lifting up these stories is also a powerful tool for inspiring others to give back, promoting service as a solution to the toughest challenges facing our communities. Additionally, recognition programs help raise overall awareness of the central role volunteers play in supporting a nonprofit’s mission – a helpful narrative for recruiting new volunteers. OneOC, a Points of Light affiliate, accomplishes all of the above with the Spirit of Volunteerism Awards.
“Here’s one thing we know – volunteers are at the heart of nonprofits” is the slogan for the annual recognition program, hosted by OneOC each year in April. The event celebrates the work of the individuals, organizations, families and businesses making a difference in Orange County, California.
“Recognizing volunteers for a job well done is really important to [volunteer] retention,” said Barbara Powers, chief development officer for OneOC. “The nonprofits really value this event as a way to honor and recognize their volunteers and help retain them.”
Nonprofits across Orange County are invited to nominate volunteers to be recognized; though there’s no official limit, organizations usually nominate 1 to 5 volunteers. All nominees attend the event, are recognized with a photo and bio in the program, and receive a special honoree packet.
But recognition does not end at the event. OneOC also publishes blog features on each volunteer, which are distributed and published in local newspapers. Additionally, the nonprofits that nominate volunteers receive a social media marketing toolkit to help them share news of the awards. Barbara added, “We really want the nonprofits to feel equipped in multiple ways to honor those volunteers.”
All individuals nominated are recognized at the luncheon, but there is one honor that is determined by a panel of judges – the Giving is Living Award, which celebrates an outstanding collaboration between a nonprofit and company they partner with.
The winning partnership in 2016, a collaboration between High School Inc. and Tom’s Truck Center, developed an Automotive, Transportation and Logistics Academy at Valley High School. The mission of High School Inc. is improving the educational environment for students at Valley High School, and increasing retention rates. Students participating in this partnership program take lessons from the Tom’s Truck Center employees, shadow them at their worksite, receive mentorship, and attend industry events. The program has been very successful – with graduation rates rising from 62 percent to 95 percent.
Now in its 41st year, OneOC is expecting a crowd of more than 1,100 people for the 2017 Spirit of Volunteerism Awards Luncheon, taking place on April 24. Nine months of preparation will pay off as more than 350 volunteers are recognized and thanked for their work – and a new set of changemakers’ stories are told, inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.
For Barbara, the volunteers’ reactions are one of the most inspiring parts of the event.
“In a room full of 1,100 people you think ‘how special are [the volunteers] actually feeling?’” she said. “And when you hear from them that, even in that sea of people, each one feels special – for me, that’s what this event is about.”
3 Ways You Can Support Military Caregivers in 2017
There are nearly 5.5 million military caregivers in the United States, with 20 percent caring for and supporting post-9/11 veterans. Military caregivers are hidden heroes, dedicating their time, efforts, and love to a role that receives little recognition and acknowledgment.
Good work is being done to help our injured heroes and their families, and you can help! Here are three easy ways you can support military caregivers in 2017.
, is calling together its community of changemakers to pledge a gesture of gratitude to the people caring for our service members, veterans, and their families.
, the only national institute of its kind dedicated to bridging the civilian-military divide through free online education and a support center staffed with mental health experts.
3. Volunteer
Whether it is a one-time volunteer project or an ongoing commitment, your actions will make a difference to military caregivers in your community. You can find an existing project by searching
for DIY projects.
Interested in learning more? Points of Light’s Military Initiatives support service members, veterans, their families, and families of the fallen through volunteer opportunities. Together, civilian volunteers and military members can address our communities’ greatest challenges.
How a Small Island Nation Built a Community of Volunteers from a Culture of Generosity
As a small island nation with a population of a little more than 150,000 people, it is hard to imagine that NGOs in Curaçao have ever had trouble finding volunteers to support their causes. With a strong cultural standard of generosity, the citizens of Curaçao are rarely without help in their time of need – but until recently, there was no formal infrastructure to connect volunteers looking for ways to give back and opportunities to serve.
“Seeing it’s such a small community, a lot of people depend on each other … you live very closely with your neighbor,” said Lysayé de Windt, who co-founded Curaçao Cares with Deva-Dee Siliee de Windt in 2012 to help connect engaged community members with opportunities to serve local organizations in need of volunteers.
Through a collection of signature programs, Curaçao Cares, a Points of Light global affiliate, aims to inspire, mobilize, equip and recognize volunteers:
Music and Memory Curaçao is an initiative that uses music from dementia patients’ pasts to help combat their memory loss. Curaçao Cares recruits and trains volunteers to support the program as “musical detectives” – visiting nursing homes and interacting with people suffering from dementia to figure out what type of music they like.
Through Desaroyo NGO, a capacity-building program, Curaçao Cares engages pro bono volunteers to help developing NGOs with expertise and resources in a series of trainings and workshops. Through these trainings, members of these organizations enhance their nonprofit management and leadership skills so they can better manage existing resources and retain volunteers, and also improve projects through corporate collaborations.
The STAR Volunteer program, celebrated annually on International Volunteer Day, honors and recognizes volunteers who have dedicatedly served local NGOs – and inspires others to do the same.
But the annual highlight for Curaçao Cares is organizing Cura Doet, the biggest volunteer effort on the island. Celebrated annually in March in the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ four constituent countries – the Netherlands, St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao – the Doet weekend unites people in service to their communities across cultural and geographical differences. The event consists of two national days of service, organized to encourage the communities to get out and do something to help local causes and organizations.
Since its inception in 2013, Cura Doet has engaged more than 16,000 volunteers who have collectively participated in more than 96,000 hours of service. In the past four years, the project has experienced significant growth; from 132 projects and 2,600 volunteers in year one to 217 projects and almost 5,000 volunteers.
To help with the organization of the Cura Doet, and to also support participating NGOs with organizing their projects and managing their volunteers, Curaçao Cares enlists volunteer coordinators for different regions on the island. Each volunteer coordinator works with about 10 to 15 organizations. During Cura Doet, NGOs get an opportunity to spruce up their location and grounds, parks and schools get a makeover, and elderly and people with special needs are treated to an extraordinary day.
“What makes this event unique is the fact that the whole island is wrapped into positive action for two days, with people coming together and experiencing a sense of community and unity. You see excitement and smiles everywhere, and hear people expressing the satisfaction they feel to be able to lend a helping hand,” said Deva-Dee Siliee de Windt.
“And, of course, the fact that this happens in all the countries of the Kingdom, that everyone is participating together on the same date is very special,” added Janis Vinck, project leader for Cura Doet.
Cura Doet would not be possible without the support of local fund Reda Sosial and Dutch fund Het Oranje Fonds, which initiated NLdoet in the Netherlands 10 years ago and expanded it to the Caribbean islands. Het Oranje Fonds awards a $600 grant to all NGOs participating in Cura Doet.
Since Het Oranje Fonds was established as a present to the king and queen on the occasion of their marriage, the Dutch royal family has remained quite involved with many of their activities, including the Doet activities throughout the Kingdom. During this year’s Cura Doet, Princess Laurentien rolled up her sleeves to kick-off a painting project at a local school. While she was in Curaçao, the princess also met with several Kids Councils on the island to see the amazing work they are doing. These Kids Councils were developed with the support of the Missing Chapter Foundation, started by Princess Laurentien to encourage organizations and companies to involve children in decision-making processes.
Through its various programs, Curaçao Cares engages more volunteers each year to put their do-good spirit towards helping the causes they care about. With a continued dedication to helping NGOs more skillfully leverage their volunteers, Curaçao Cares has established itself as the volunteer conduit in their country – every day striving to provide their community with an answer to one question: “What good can I do today?”
5 Ways to Engage Kids and Teens in Volunteering
Kids and teens have an exceptional view on the world, and often offer up some of the most creative solutions to problems. Because of that, engaging them in volunteer work is a great way to solve community problems in a unique way. Additionally, it also helps foster important social and emotional competencies, like empathy and compassion, and develop key 21
st
century skills like critical thinking and collaboration.
With
takes very few resources – mainly just trash bags and gloves – and is an activity anyone can participate in. Decide on an area to clean up, connect with the manager of the area (parks department, etc.) to pick a day, and recruit friends and family to help!
! The game night can be dedicated to a certain age group (teens helping younger kids) or to members of the community who are learning English as a second language. Games like Scrabble and Taboo can be fun, or create your own!
Youth can sometimes feel like they don’t have a voice, but that simply isn’t the case! As our nation continues to navigate through divisive times, working with youth to take action and stand together is a great way to engage and empower them. Youth can
. These clubs are led by a caring adult or teen, and engage kids in regular service around issue areas they choose! They’re free to join, and you’re provided with all the materials you need to get started.
is a time to recognize and thank volunteers who lend their time, talent, voice and support to causes they care about in their community and around the world. If you work with volunteers or know of a group of deserving volunteers, consider hosting a National Volunteer Week event in their honor. Here are a few tips:
National Volunteer Week takes place April 23-29, 2017, in both the United States and Canada, so consider hosting your event during that week. When picking a date and time, consider your volunteers’ schedules. Can they attend an event in the middle of the day, or is the evening better? If you are unsure, contact a few and take a quick poll.
This is a must-have for any celebration because it helps tie everything together. Remember to incorporate all ages and genders to make it an inclusive event for anybody who might attend. For this year’s National Volunteer Week, Points of Light is advancing the theme of “Service Unites” – centering on the ideas that volunteerism brings people together to tackle tough challenges, create change, and build stronger, more vibrant communities.
Saying thank you doesn’t have to cost a lot, but it’s important to determine how much you want to spend on your event. Brainstorm your biggest expense (ex: location, food). Consider whether you will need technology, like a microphone or sound system, or if you’ll want to hire a photographer or videographer. If you have a limited budget, prioritize based on what you think will make the biggest impact. You may also be able to find a venue that will let you use the space for free, or local restaurants willing to donate food.
Once you’ve set your budget, set your guest list. Get your team together to brainstorm which volunteers you’d like to recognize. Consider also inviting any supporters, external partners or community members who have benefited from your volunteers’ efforts.
People need to know about the event! There are several ways to do this: social media is a great tool, along with email and word of mouth. Check out the National Volunteer Week marketing toolkit for logos, banner templates, sample messages and social media graphics.
Every celebration is centered on a main event, but may include smaller ones throughout the day or evening. For example, you could create an #ivolunteer photo booth to encourage attendees to share what service means to them. Points of Light will be providing a downloadable #ivolunteer signboard for National Volunteer Week (available 4/13 in the
); your attendees can fill out the signboards and take photos to share on social media using #ivolunteer and #NVW. This is an easy (and free) way to engage people during your event.
If you want to show your appreciation with more than just words, consider giving your volunteers small gifts – something simple and meaningful to remind them that they matter to your organization. Here are a few quick ideas from
During or after the celebration, consider sharing pictures or video featuring your volunteers. This is a great way to publically thank them and raise the profile of their work. You can tap into the national conversation around National Volunteer Week using #nvw, #ivolunteer and #serviceunites.
What’s Working for Employee Volunteering in Asia?
This post was written by Yvonne Siu Turner, senior manager for corporate resources and programs at the Points of Light Corporate Institute and editor of “What’s Working: Effective Employee Volunteering in Asia, a Framework for Corporate Volunteer Leaders.”
With growing dialogue around purpose in the workplace and the increasing number of community-minded brands in the market, consumer and employee engagement trends in the United States are fueling the rise of corporate citizenship. Similar trends are also emerging in Asia.
To address these global trends, Points of Light has published a new report that harnesses the insights of our corporate partners and global network of innovative volunteer organizations. The report, titled “What’s Working: Effective Employee Volunteering in Asia, A Framework for Corporate Volunteer Leaders,” features a framework to equip corporate volunteer leaders to build effective employee volunteer programs in Asia, highlighting examples of what’s working for more than 25 global and regional brands.
Unique in the market, it showcases a wealth of practitioner insights on critical elements needed to start and scale employee volunteering in Asia. These elements include getting employees in local offices excited about service, celebrating success, equipping and empowering volunteer leaders, offering a wide variety of volunteer opportunities to meet employees where they are, and more. Here are a few best practices featured in the report, which reveal what’s working for effective employee volunteer programs in Asia:
Offer a wide variety of volunteer opportunities that meet employees where they are, especially considering regional differences in employee interests, societal expectations and NGO capacity. While industry research shows that in Asia, 71 percent of companies offer pro bono programs, other research suggests that hands-on volunteering is more popular in China due to nonprofit capacity constraints and employee interests. In Singapore, the receptivity of the nonprofit sector to training opportunities has allowed State Street, in partnership with CLSA, Credit Suisse, Macquarie and Nomura, to create a Not-for-Profit Director Program to equip staff for board service.
Empower volunteer leaders at all levels within the company. Ichiro Takeuchi, an account manager in PIMCO’s Tokyo office, was so passionate about service that he recruited a planning committee that became Japan Volunteers, which was able to respond when the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Today, Ichiro is an executive vice president at PIMCO and champions corporate volunteering at every turn.
Celebrate small wins to help gain the respect of employees and volunteers in the Asia Pacific region. “While Groupon’s Asian offices have often been the last to roll out different HR or pilot programs, I’ve found that including their volunteer successes in global EVP messaging and announcements has generated a great amount of excitement and pride from our Asian colleagues,” said Alicia Koch, who manages Groupon’s employee volunteer program. Employee participation in Groupon’s APAC volunteer program increased from 6 percent in 2015 to 74 percent in 2016, with offices in Bangalore and Tokyo achieving 100 percent employee participation.
Provide resources, training and supportive policies to mobilize and equip employees to serve. Mitsubishi Corporation provides volunteer training courses at work and five days of volunteer leave each year to enable employees to serve the community – especially through its Dream as One initiative, which supports the company’s deep societal commitment to people with disabilities. Mitsubishi employees have volunteered to help with everything from building a field for the Japan Para Wheelchair Rugby Championships and coaching a soccer class for children with cerebral palsy, to serving as members of the governing board of the Japanese Paralympic committee.
The more than 25 featured case studies represent a wide variety of industries and organizations dedicated to global corporate citizenship in various stages of building out their employee volunteer programs around the world.
We encourage corporate volunteer leaders to use the framework, examples and stories as inspiration to develop practices that work for their organizations, along with Points of Light webinars, training and consulting services for a greater understanding of best practices for employee volunteerism.
As you start and scale volunteering in Asia and around the world, please share your thoughts and reflections on these resources. Tell us what’s working for you, so we can continue to answer this question: What’s working for employee volunteering in Asia?
If you’re interested in putting your passion and skills to work, but aren’t sure where to start, look towards the next generation! There are so many opportunities to support kids and teens by inspiring them, supporting them and investing in them. Here are three ways you can get involved by helping kids and teens:
Students who struggle to read at an early age fall further behind and are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma. Getting youth excited about reading is an easy way to combat this statistic and get involved! Organizations like Ohana100, First Book, and Reach Out and Read provide gently used books to kids, as well as opportunities to become a volunteer reader. You can also contact your local libraries and schools, which are often looking for volunteer readers for story times.
Many kids and teens – including 13 million in the United States – are facing hunger and food insecurity. You can run a food drive and provide donations to your local food pantry, or serve meals at a soup kitchen. There are also lots of innovative ways to help the hungry! Make Your Mark on Hunger grantee Kate Atschinew started a coupon club called Cutting Out Hunger, which uses the concept of extreme couponing to help the hungry. Using couponing allows Kate to buy bulk food at a deep discount for her local food pantry; she also teaches community members how to use coupons to buy food at a lower cost and in a dignified way. To find ways you can help fight hunger in your community, visit www.generationOn.org/hunger.
Sometimes it’s not what you do, it’s just being there that’s enough to make a difference! Organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Mentor are always looking for adult volunteers to participate and mentor youth. Exposing kids and teens to other options outside of their usual environment can go a long way to showing them there’s no limit to what the future can hold for them.
Fighting Hunger by Connecting Do-Gooders with People in Need
Across America, 48.8 million live in households that face hunger on a regular basis – 13 million of those people are children. Food insecurity can have a significant impact on the health and general well-being of the families affected by it – especially children, as limited access to nutritional food can stunt growth and critical brain development. Community organizations everywhere are taking action to find solutions to this public health crisis – Volunteer Alexandria, a Points of Light affiliate, is one of these organizations.
A 2014 report conducted by the Alexandria Childhood Obesity Action Network revealed that of the more than 139,000 residents of Alexandria, Virginia, 8.6 percent live below the poverty line. Of those residents, more than 13 percent are below the age of 18. To combat this, the Hunger Free Alexandria Coalition was formed and Volunteer Alexandria, an active member, is putting volunteers at the center of the solution.
“We believe, first of all, that we are better together,” said Marion Brunken, executive director of Volunteer Alexandria. ”We like to make connections that make sense to the community and to the group or individual seeking to get involved. In regards to the hunger issue, we support the fight against hunger by connecting people.”
The organization, positioning itself as the conduit for impassioned volunteers to connect with opportunities to address pressing causes in the Alexandria community, is doing this in a variety of ways.
Any organization, congregation, or community group can submit hunger-based projects to be posted on the Volunteer Alexandria website, where volunteers can click on the Hunger in Alexandria tab to find current opportunities. Opportunities include delivering meals and groceries to homebound people, gleaning left over products from local farmers markets, and handing out groceries at several locations throughout Alexandria. The organization has also launched a new effort that helps connect local companies that have extra food with the community in need.
When Marion heard from a community member that many students playing sports at T.C. Williams High School go home to barren cupboards, she saw an opportunity. Companies in the area could donate food and money to help make sandwiches, which the coaches would distribute to their players after practice.
Several companies have joined the cause, including a local Whole Foods that is donating food and gift cards, and Port City Brewery, which is helping to coordinate food drives at local grocery stories. And for one company, this project has been an inspiration to do even more.
For Megan Hurst, owner of The Great Harvest Bread Company, this project was an ideal opportunity to help her community. The company’s nationwide motto is “give generously to others,” and Megan’s Alexandria franchise lives up to these words by contributing 10 loafs of good quality bread per week to the Volunteer Alexandria program – enough to make about 70 to 80 sandwiches.
“It’s not an enormous expense for me to make some extra loaves of bread,” said Megan. “And if that’s a way that we can serve our community, serve kids, then that’s great.”
Megan hopes to use this program to engage more community members in volunteer service. She has reached out to church youth groups to recruit volunteers, using Volunteer Alexandria’s model of “make a sandwich for yourself, make a sandwich for a friend” approach. This fills two needs: helping feed hungry children who are not involved in the sports teams, and supporting Megan’s desire to serve more with her current resources.
There are “plenty of schools and kids in need locally, so we would like to be able to at least give them good bread,” said Megan. “I can’t do always do the rest of it, but [I can] give them good bread.”
Currently, more than 60 students are fed each day by this program and, through additional community support, Volunteer Alexandria will hopefully be able to serve more students soon.
Marion hopes to engage more volunteers by using a cause-first model, spreading news of social impact opportunities in addition to one-time volunteer projects. Through this model, she hopes to mobilize more youth volunteers, including other students at the high school, in making sandwiches to support their classmates.
By putting people at the center of the solution, Volunteer Alexandria is empowering citizens to take charge of the issues plaguing their communities. The result is a more resilient community, more willing and able to address the needs of their neighbors.
