Lowe’s Hometowns: Changemakers Impact the Nation’s Small Towns
You may know Lowe’s as your neighborhood home improvement store, but did you know about the nationwide impact that’s being made through the company’s annual impact program?
is a five-year, $100 million commitment by Lowe’s as part of its goal to make homes – and hometowns – better for all. Each year from 2022 through 2026, Lowe’s Hometowns will complete nearly 1,800 community impact projects, including 100 signature projects chosen from consumer nominations and nearly 1,700 projects selected through Lowe’s stores, supply chain locations and store support centers.
In 2022, thanks to funding from Lowe’s and the hard work of Lowe’s associate volunteers, 100 nonprofit organizations, schools and municipalities across the country were able to complete renovations and restorations of public spaces that will serve their communities for years to come.
Through this initiative, in 2022 Lowe’s Hometowns saw:
1,883 Lowe’s employee volunteers step up to the plate in service, giving 10,569 total volunteer hours,
1,219 community volunteers lend hands-on support to complete projects, giving 14,777 total volunteer hours,
More than 1.4 million people estimated to benefit from the 100 signature projects completed, within one year of completion,
5,360 nonprofit staff members impacted,
863 hired vendors utilized for improvements.
To date, Lowe’s Hometowns has contributed to social impacts like helping people gain safe and affirming environments, fulfillment and enjoyment, health and wellbeing, safety and support, community resources, food security, academic performance and more.
Lowe’s Hometowns helped The Salvation Army provide critical programs and services for at-risk families, children and senior citizens in Bessemer, Alabama. Its multipurpose room was repaired and renovated to better serve the community. In addition, beautification projects updated landscaping and provided a community garden for the enjoyment of the children and senior citizens.
It facilitated improvements for Harbor House in Wisconsin, a 68-bed shelter facility that houses survivors of domestic abuse. The organization was able to create a separate space for sexual assault advocacy and victim services. Since its opening, Harbor House has already been contacted by two local donors who were inspired by the work completed and are helping them move the next phase, the kitchen, forward.
Outside In, based in Portland, Oregon, works to break the cycles of chronic homelessness, poverty and poor health among the city’s LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, those experiencing homelessness and the underserved. With support from Lowe’s Hometowns Outside In renovated its Transitional Housing Program community housing units. Work included painting, replacing carpet with vinyl flooring, deep cleaning all housing units and hallways, adding new furniture and upgrading appliances.
“Let me just say how grateful I am to have been chosen for this amazing project,” said Doc Shaw, executive director at A Pocket Full of Hope, Inc., in Tulsa, which opened a new, inclusive arts space for youth in the community. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me or to our organization. The Lowe’s Hometowns project has put a smile on all the big and little faces who have witnessed this spectacular act of kindness, especially in a time of so much uncertainty. Thank you for helping us make a difference in our community!”
Points of Light is proud to partner with Lowe’s, an outstanding example of a company with a strong corporate social responsibility program, to bring Lowe’s Hometowns to life.
is no small feat. In fact, without the proper steps in place, you may find yourself struggling with employee engagement and stakeholder buy-in, hitting your benchmarks and putting an impactful and sustainable program into place.
tips for mobilizing employees
Partner With Experts
You could attempt to create, implement and refine your company’s corporate citizenship program, or you could team up with experts who know the landscape, the challenges and the solutions to get you to your goals faster and more effectively. The benefits of working with partners include – laying out a feasible, strategic CSR program and
, while partnering with nonprofits will help you mobilize employees and evaluate the impact on communities.
Start With Strategy
Understanding the communities you seek to serve is a crucial part of this process, and key insights from a nonprofit partner can help ensure that you make the most with your impact. After all, if your CSR efforts are only serving the needs of your company or your program goals, you’re missing the “why” behind the work you’re doing.
Create a
these tangible elements of your CSR plan will help you make further strategic, data-driven decisions about your program in the future.
“More than C-Suite and senior leadership, a company’s middle managers are often best positioned to ensure that a company’s social impact work is felt by employees and is truly being experienced as a part of a company’s values and priorities. Spending time onboarding, updating and incentivizing your middle managers around the company’s social impact work is a critical strategy to take your purpose work to the next level.”
— Christine Schoppe, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer
Get Internal Buy-in From Senior Leaders & Fellow Employees
, whether they be many or few. You’ll want to ensure that you can get the buy-in and participation from your employees by encouraging them to contribute to causes they’re already passionate about, allowing for skill-building and leadership development, and supporting a reasonable work-life balance throughout.
Put Recognition Programs in Place
Without recognition, you may find that your employee engagement program suffers in participation or enthusiasm. A partner, experienced in building corporate citizenship programs, can help you with
that work for your team and your organization.
These don’t necessarily have to be grand gestures – although they can be. If you’re running a small business or managing a small team, there are still plenty of ways to ensure your employees feel seen and valued for their efforts.
“We all know that what is celebrated is replicated, which is exactly why recognizing and celebrating your volunteers is key to inspiring other employees to get involved. A volunteer recognition strategy is a path to communicating impact, boosting participation, shining a spotlight on causes, and reinforcing your company’s commitment to community.”
— Katie Stearns, Chief Global Corporate Solutions Officer
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re looking for a knowledgeable and experienced partner to start or refine your corporate citizenship program, contact Points of Light’s
team. We’re here to provide you with best-in-class tools, frameworks and customized support to reach your goals and provide maximum impact to the communities you serve.
5 Social Impact Trends to Use During Global Volunteer Month
approaches this April, you can start preparing by taking note of current social impact trends and leveraging your knowledge to equip your team with the tools, resources and opportunities they’ll need to make the month a success.
to consider as you plan your Global Volunteer Month initiatives.
Social Impact Trends For Global Volunteer Month
Virtual Volunteering
It’s no secret that the workplace environment has changed drastically over the past few years during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While many teams once congregated in a central location, now there are individuals spread out across a vast virtual landscape. These same adjustments have been made in the world of social good, and there are more virtual volunteer opportunities than ever before.
(NTEN), 44% of nonprofits reported an increase in virtual volunteering due to COVID-19. To find virtual volunteer opportunities that could be a good fit for your team, check out
platform, which features hundreds of thousands of volunteer opportunities throughout the world just waiting for the right volunteer to reach out.
Cause-Driven Campaigns
People today expect more from social impact efforts. They want to see for-profit organizations stepping up to solve real-world issues that affect them, their loved ones and their communities in a tangible way. Companies that align their volunteer efforts with their mission and values will go further than companies that don’t. Plus, employees who participate in social impact programs often become more engaged in their work. A study by
found that 87% of consumers expect companies to take a stand on social and environmental issues. Use this knowledge to your advantage by centering your Global Volunteer Month efforts on current issues that your employees are passionate about. Giving your workforce an opportunity to respond to these issues through meaningful volunteer campaigns will benefit your company, your employees and the individuals you’re serving.
Employee-led Initiatives
Employees are taking the lead in creating volunteer opportunities and organizing community events. One of the biggest benefits of social impact initiatives – besides making the world a better place – is the opportunity for your employee volunteers to increase their leadership, planning and organizational skills.
found that 92% of employees believe it’s important for their company to support social and environmental issues. Start planning your Global Volunteer Month initiatives by asking your workforce what issues they’re most passionate about, seeing where interests lie and allowing individuals to organize and lead events related to those issues.
, volunteers who engaged in activities designed to leverage professional skills generated significantly more value across nearly all social, employee and business categories. Skills-based volunteers were significantly more likely than traditional, hands-on volunteers to increase the organizational capacity of the nonprofits they were serving.
Giving employees a chance to do pro bono professional work with nonprofits helps volunteers increase their managerial skills and grow their expertise in new subject matter. True Impact’s study showed that skills-based volunteers served an average of 25 hours, compared to traditional volunteers’ 12 hours. Consider this as you decide on which types of volunteer opportunities you offer to your workforce.
Collaboration with Local Organizations
While volunteering with any type of mission can help to better the world, individuals tend to be more impacted by volunteer opportunities from which they can observe the fruits of their labor. And it goes without saying that most people interested in social impact are passionate about making changes in their own backyard.
Collaborating with local nonprofits can help increase employee engagement and can also help your company see gains in brand recognition and positive reputation in your communities – the places where your employees and your customers may live.
Utilize Points of Light’s Global Volunteer Month Tools
Whether you’re leading the charge in your CSR department or attempting to organize an event for Global Volunteer Month, you can use Points of Light’s resources to glean knowledge and inspiration. Our
for corporations is specifically tailored to companies – including ideas and resources to help you shine a light on your company’s volunteer program by recognizing the impact your employees make in the communities you serve.
And if you need help expanding or revamping your CSR or employee engagement program, you can reach out to Points of Light’s
ideas should align with your company’s culture and values. Successful employee volunteer recognition programs are thoroughly planned and designed, well-managed, clearly communicated and frequently evaluated.
Incentivizing employees can be as simple as writing thank you notes and as extensive as planning a large-scale award ceremony. Common elements of successful recognition programs include incorporating senior management support and participation, providing monetary funds to the nonprofit organization of the honoree’s choice and aligning with a special day of service or company event.
Employee Recognition Ideas for Your Volunteer Program
Offer Simple Rewards for Incentivizing Employees
1. If employees are going into the office regularly or occasionally, reserve a prime parking space for the Volunteer of the Month. Award this time-saving convenience to a volunteer or volunteer leader who has served the most hours during a specific time period or has gone above and beyond.
2. Produce certificates or a letter of appreciation signed by the CEO. Even better, ask for hand-written notes from senior leaders to thank volunteers or volunteer leaders for their contributions.
3. During volunteer projects, observe who is working hard and going the extra mile, and offer them an on-the-spot reward such as a gift card for a cup of coffee or a pin they can display proudly. Consider what might resonate most with the volunteers you’re working with.
4. Schedule a recurring virtual brown bag lunch with senior executives for your top volunteer leaders.
5. Create a point system based on number of hours volunteered or other inputs and have volunteers turn their points into rewards like company-branded merchandise.
internally and externally. Develop a regular cadence of these stories and use communication vehicles that will reach as many employees as possible (e.g., intranet, posters in break rooms, e-newsletters, or company magazine).
7. Create a digital badge to add to a recently recognized volunteer leader’s email signature.
8. Highlight top volunteers during leadership or all-staff meetings, or at special company events. Post a photo and volunteer profile in high-traffic areas for both employees and guests, such as your main lobby or in elevator banks
9. Recognize
an individual or team with the most volunteer hours during a certain time period. Use different communication vehicles to display an honor roll of volunteers by number of hours served, number of projects participated in, or number of projects led. The
is a prestigious way to offer this type of recognition. Since 2003, it has been honoring individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to take action, too.
10. Integrate public-facing recognition mechanisms into your strategy, such as the
and team volunteer grant programs (contribution programs that donate grants to qualified nonprofits based on the level of employee/team involvement as volunteers or board members) offer individual or group financial incentives in the form of grants to the organization of his/her choice. Grants can vary from $100 to $25,000 per award. Create a formal application and judging process or crowdsource who should win the team volunteer grants from across your employee base.
12. Another idea is to host an annual lunch, dinner or special event to highlight the work of top volunteers and volunteer leaders. Invite nonprofit partners to share their stories of volunteer impact to add moments of reflection to the event program.
13. If your company engages employees in an annual event such as a day, week or month of service, award your top volunteers or leaders with an all-expenses-paid trip to a different market for next year’s event. They’ll get a chance to volunteer alongside new colleagues and bring back fresh ideas to their market.
Need more employee recognition ideas? Don’t forget to check out our
team is the go-to resource for community-minded companies looking to build and expand effective employee volunteer programs. We believe that companies, their employees, partners, vendors and customers can be drivers of transformative social change in communities around the world.
is an important part of growing your company’s programs and ensuring that your efforts directly align with the needs of the communities you serve along with achieving business goals. Evaluation doesn’t have to be scary. Think of it as a significant way to prove the return on company investments and find out whether your collaborations are moving the needle and creating impact.
You’ll want to measure both the social impact and the business impact of your CSR strategy – and keep in mind that one is somewhat easier than the other. Nowadays, you may also need to consider tracking progress against ESG factors and aligning with frameworks like the
to attract impact investors. Don’t forget to share your results internally and externally, with your company’s board and with the public as well as employees and other stakeholders.
Here are four steps you can take when measuring CSR impact:
Understand What You’re Looking For
CSR leaders must understand the difference between inputs, outputs and outcomes. Points of Light partner True Impact has put together a
Basic satisfaction measures ensure your projects and partnerships are meeting expectations on both sides. The next step is to gather and report on inputs. A few examples of input data are to have employees track their volunteer hours or to understand how much of your grant dollars went to project planning and supplies. Having these numbers handy will help you make more strategic decisions in the future, based on the success of each investment.
Focus on Outputs
Next, move on to evaluating your outputs. Note the number of projects completed and the number of partners or beneficiaries served. This is also where you can report on those satisfaction measures to your stakeholders, which can help drive engagement. You could also partner with your HR department to survey employee volunteers around any change in perceptions after participation, like increased pride in the company or the development of new skills. Depending on the strategy behind the project, you might also note whether it leads to increased sales, new sales relationships or boosted reputation/PR value.
Consider Outcomes
Finally — and here is where it can get more challenging — think about outcomes. Examples might include the impact your project had on a partner (its reach, effectiveness, or efficiency), on its beneficiaries or on the social issue itself. An easy way to measure the value of hours volunteered, if you’re in the U.S., is to multiply by the
if the volunteer work is skills-based. But remember that this number alone doesn’t quite tell the full story of your impact. You can check out True Impact’s resources on detailed social impact measurement, like their
.
If you evaluate your company’s CSR efforts and find that you need support in boosting impact by rethinking your program’s structure or strategy, reach out to the
5 Steps to CSR Employee Activation, Even with a Small Team
You might have a small team, but your company has a global footprint, or hundreds within a region. While your teammates can’t be everywhere at once, you want your
to grow and touch as many employees as are interested.
How can you ensure they all know about your programs and how to get involved — especially in this hybrid and remote working world?
Here are five ways to make your employee activation program successful
Create a Communications Plan
A solid communications plan will help you regularly reach as many employees as possible. Partner with your internal communications department, if your company has one, and find the right communication vehicles with the best reach.
Create a steady drumbeat of information. Don’t rely on emails alone. Host informational webinars to
, especially if you have a large remote workforce. Talk to your HR department about mailing information home (alone or with other HR-related info) and weave messaging into company-wide or departmental meetings.
Utilize Employee Leadership Opportunities
Look for opportunities to let your employees lead in order to scale your programs throughout your company’s footprint. This includes individual volunteer leaders or volunteer committees. The benefits of this approach are helping you scale, managing your program from afar, utilizing knowledge from specific departments or markets where employees are closer and have a better understanding of the local customs and community needs.
Of course, these roles are also great leadership opportunities and allow those selected to hone skills and competencies. And this doesn’t just apply to
. You can use this model for workplace giving campaigns, encouraging voter registration/education/participation and more. Provide these selected employees and councils with education and training, as well as resources and
Merge the company’s social impact work throughout other functions of the business, for optimal employee activation. Doing so drives awareness and potentially garners more advocates.
from 2022 tells us that 100% of honorees are integrating with Diversity & Inclusion, 96% with Employee Engagement, and tied at 80% are Health & Wellness, Marketing/PR and Purchasing. How can you integrate with these groups, as well as your employee resource groups (ERGs)? These existing structures may be valuable resources that you as a CSR leader can tap into.
Use Technology
Find an online platform that best suits your needs and ensure employees are familiar with what’s on the platform, how to use it and whether they are able to post partner information or projects that are close to their hearts. There are great surveys of these technology platforms, like “
.
This review is designed to provide critical insights to program managers and decision makers investing in volunteering, giving and grants technology. The review is unique for the industry and offers CSR professionals with a comprehensive overview of 60+ platforms from around the world.
Partner with Experts
“The best social impact partnerships go beyond a single event or initiative. They evolve over time as progress is made and new collaborative vision forms. Whenever possible, form partnerships that are intended to go the distance – a year or more – to allow space and time for thoughtful design and deep impact.”
— Katie Stearns, chief global corporate solutions officer, Points of Light
Whether it be for certain events, during certain times of the year or year-round, working with a knowledgeable and experienced partner can help you to more effectively strategize, lead your team, execute events with success and realize the outcomes you desire for your employee engagement program.
Outsourcing to an external partner like Points of Light’s
’s recession probability models forecasted a 100% chance of a U.S. recession over the next 12 months. A 100% chance. Like checking our weather app and seeing, “100% chance of rain,” we seem to have reached a point of inevitability in knowing that a storm is coming. The only questions left up for debate are:
when, how bad
and
have we properly prepared to weather the storm?
In times of economic uncertainty and recession, many companies will feel tempted to pull back on their social impact strategy to concentrate on shoring up profits. Of course, profit — in good times and bad — is where any discussion of companies’ responsibilities
should
start, but corporate social responsibility (CSR) can actually support the bottom line. As Points of Light expressed in a recent open letter to CEOs in
, prioritizing investments in social impact strategy during a recession is a critical responsibility that benefits employees, customers, community and stakeholders.
In today’s competitive job market, job seekers are increasingly considering a company’s social impact strategy when deciding where to work. According to our
, companies with a strong CSR reputation experience higher levels of employee satisfaction and loyalty. Employees want to work for companies that align with their values and make a positive impact in the world. By prioritizing CSR, companies can differentiate themselves and attract top talent.
The companies most vulnerable to cuts in their social impact strategies are typically the ones that have not embraced and embedded good corporate citizenship into their corporate DNA, so how can you assess the stability and viability of your social responsibility programs?
as a framework to understand your current state and a road map to make improvements around your company’s CSR initiatives and community-based engagement. This framework is broken down into four dimensions: investment of resources, integration across business functions, institutionalization through policies and systems and impact measurement. Companies that have developed strategies across these dimensions have CSR and purpose initiatives that are better positioned to survive — if not thrive — during challenging times like a recession.
Here are the four principles of The Civic 50 and guiding questions that help align your company’s social impact strategy:
1. Investment
Are the investments you are making in your CSR initiatives in alignment with your company’s core business? Is your company utilizing all the different resource types it has at its disposal beyond just traditional financial giving such as in-kind contributions, traditional and skills-based volunteering, and pro bono offerings?
2. Integration
Does your company integrate its community engagement and social impact programs throughout its business functions and interests? How does community engagement and social impact show up in each of your business departments? Is community engagement a standing agenda item on all staff and board meetings?
3. Institutionalization
How has your company institutionalized its community engagement and social impact programs through organizational policies, systems and incentives? Does your company have volunteer time off and matching grants? Has support of CSR and community engagement initiatives become a part of department or individual goal setting, reviews and recognition?
4. Impact
Have you defined social and business impact outcomes for your community engagement and social impact programs? Do you have a measurement, reporting and communication strategy for those outcomes that includes decision-makers and decision-influencers at your company?
While a “100% chance” of recession brings a foreboding sense of certainty about what lies ahead, it also brings clarity. Recessions can often take everyone by surprise, but we’ve been talking about this one for months. We have time to prepare for this storm. Taking the time to understand how weather-proof your social impact strategy is an important first step through tools like The Civic 50. Now more than ever, businesses need to be saying “yes” to their social responsibilities. It not only matters to those people and communities most vulnerable during a recession but to the long-term success of your business once the storm has passed and the sun shines again.
5 Reasons to Apply for The Civic 50, Our Corporate Citizenship Award
, a recognition program that celebrates the 50 most community-minded companies in the nation, as determined by an annual survey administered by True Impact. For more than 10 years, this corporate citizenship award program has served as benchmarking tool and platform for sharing best practices in the corporate citizenship sector.
The True Impact survey is based on Points of Light’s Corporate Civic Engagement Framework that creates a roadmap for companies committed to using their time, talent and resources to drive social impact in their business and communities. The Civic 50 honorees are selected based on the four dimensions of their community engagement and social impact programs: investment of resources, integration across business functions, institutionalization through policies and systems and impact measurement.
Here are five reasons to apply for our corporate citizenship award.
by Points of Light, up to 40% of job applicants are attracted to employers that have a strong commitment to social responsibility. This is particularly true for Gen Z employees, who place a high value on working for companies that make a positive social impact. In a
by Deloitte, 71% of employees said that they would be more likely to stay with their current employer if it were more involved in social and environmental issues.
By actively participating in corporate volunteerism and showing your workforce that the company cares about more than just profits, you can both cultivate these values within your current employees and attract new hires who share these values.
and keep people interested in volunteering can sometimes feel tiring. What better way to get employees more involved with the civic work your organization is doing than to show them what’s been accomplished so far?
Individuals are often eager to join a cause when they feel it has momentum and impact. And keep in mind that some of your employees may not even know what your company is doing to better the world. The Civic 50 is a great opportunity to promote your work and get more team members engaged.
3. Showcase Your Organization’s Work
The Civic 50 report highlights the awarded companies’ investments in social impact, integration with the community, institutionalization of civic work through organizational policies, systems and incentives, and impact outcomes. Highlighting these specific benchmarks can show your employees, your clients and other stakeholders the breadth of what you’re doing – rather than keeping your program’s achievements vague or narrowly focused on one or two areas.
4. Get Stakeholder Buy In
According to Points of Light’s global civic engagement research released in April 2022, 82% of respondents believe companies play a critical role in addressing societal challenges. If your clients or customers don’t know what you’re doing to create change in their communities, you may be missing out on valuable brand loyalty. While this corporate citizenship award doesn’t exist for profitability and business success, The Civic 50 is undoubtedly an excellent tool for marketing the values that your company is working so diligently to uphold.
5. Stay on Track with Your Goals
The Civic 50 is, above all, inspirational for company leaders. Pushing to meet certain goals that can set you up to receive this corporate citizenship award, seeing what other organizations are doing and noting trends in corporate social impact work can help you stay relevant and tuned-in to what’s working… and what’s not.
If you’re just shy of meeting a particular goal, The Civic 50 award can help motivate the team to keep going. If your employee engagement program needs a refresh, you might find ways you can rework your structure or your goals, based on what other organizations of your size or in your industry are doing.
Don’t wait to apply to become one of
this year. Head over to our website to stay up to date on all the latest news, understand the application process, and get application deadlines. And when you need support with your employee volunteer program’s structure, benchmarks or opportunities, consider partnering with Points of Light’s
How to Encourage Employees to Volunteer: 6 Expert Strategies
However your company decides to measure success, it certainly starts with employee involvement. This ideal applies both in your corporate structure and day-to-day business, as well as in your employee volunteer program. After all, an important part of success is not just your profitability, but how you use your power as a corporation to contribute to the communities in which you do business. One of the tried-and-true questions that Points of Light’s
team often gets is how to encourage employees to volunteer. Average participation rates have declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CECP’s annual
report. The report, which covers 2021 data, tells us that the current participation rate is 17%, which is far lower than it was in 2019, at 29%. Pre-pandemic, some companies were even hitting 40% and above.
Here’s a few tips for how to encourage employees to volunteer.
’s goals vague or hidden. In fact, internal communication about the goals you hope your program will reach is vital to employee participation. Even better, include your employees in setting goals – they’ll be more likely to hold themselves and their teammates accountable and push toward achieving those benchmarks.
2. Balance Company Priorities and Employee Passions
Your company’s strategic priorities don’t have to be at odds with your employees’ personal passions. Find how you can merge the two. Maybe this happens in the goal-setting or planning stages, when employees can speak up about
. Or, in the additional outlets you provide to employees like Volunteer Time Off (VTO), Matching Gifts and Dollars for Doers.
Share which causes are also important to the business and find common ground.
3. Make Participation Easier
One of the reasons employees often don’t participate in their employee volunteer program is that it’s not convenient for them to do so. If employees have to put in too much effort outside of their regular work, or they miss out on pay, participation will be harder to maintain and grow.
So,
for employees to participate in. Bring projects to the office or plant, allowing employees to participate during breaks. Send materials home to employees (if your budget allows). Keep in mind that some hourly employees may need
like those that occur onsite, or even on-the-clock if you don’t offer VTO.
4. Create Leadership Opportunities
Some of your employees might be looking to get even more engaged but feel a lack of upward mobility within your employee volunteer program. Carve out leadership roles for those who want “stretch” assignments or are very passionate about the cause or community partner. Let these employees amplify your message. The easiest invite is a personal ask.
often feel honored to be selected for such roles and responsibilities.
5. Ensure Leadership Understands Benefits
Your employee volunteer program’s leadership team should have comprehensive knowledge of your entire CSR program’s benefits. This is especially important for middle managers, who are often the ones driving employees’ schedules and participation. Communicate frequently about the benefits (the “What’s in it for Me” or WIFM) to the company, the employees and your managers. Provide them with the tools they might need to encourage participation, like policies, speaking points, answers to frequently asked questions, etc.
6. Give Space for Feedback
Finally, and most importantly, talk to employees! Ask for feedback on your employee volunteer program by hosting focus groups, putting out a survey and doing sample interviews. Find out what your teams are interested in, what their obstacles are and what motivates them to participate.
Then report out on these findings and act on them. Make the necessary changes to your program to encourage more participation.
How to Use Your Volunteer Toolkit this Global Volunteer Month
April is right around the corner which means Global Volunteer Month is rapidly approaching. Points of Light wants to equip you with the tools you need to make it a success. Global Volunteer Month is an opportunity to recognize volunteers for the amazing work they do to support your organization as well as make the community aware of your needs and recruit more volunteers or connect individuals to causes they care about. Head over to our
is full of ideas to support your company’s employee volunteerism campaign tactics and plan your Global Volunteer Month activities. We show you how you can best
, share their stories and promote the month internally and externally. It also includes logos and graphics you can use in your communication materials.
also includes logos and graphics to share on social media, as well as a host of ideas as you map out your organization’s plan to participate in Global Volunteer Month. In addition to help with messaging and promoting engagement, we offer recognition ideas that you can carry with you throughout the month and all year long.
Toolkit for Individuals
You don’t have to be part of an organization to participate in Global Volunteer Month. Passionate individuals can shine their light by
includes many of the same elements as the toolkits for companies and nonprofits – a sample communications plan, graphics and logos, and ideas for promotion. It also features ideas for giving a floor speech to honor and recognize the constituents and organizations making a difference in your community.
No matter who you are and how you’re getting involved this year, start now to map out a plan for your Global Volunteer Month and make an impact in your own community and beyond.
