Refreshing your corporate social impact plan in 2026 helps your company align with updated regulatory requirements and reporting standards as well as shifting employee expectations. A modern strategy allows your organization to move from “stated intent” to “verifiable impact,” leading to more purposeful employee engagement and deeper impact in your communities.
Use this six-step framework to build or reset a CSR strategy that works across business goals, employee engagement and community impact at scale.
Step 1: Define Your Company’s Purpose and Values
Clearly define your company’s purpose and organizational values to ensure CSR efforts align authentically with your culture and priorities.
Step 2: Conduct a CSR Audit
Audit your company’s current activities to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
Enterprise Consideration:
Use this audit phase for benchmarking. Compare your current performance against industry peers to identify gaps in your social impact portfolio. If you’re looking for a great resource to benchmark against, check out the
Success lies at the intersection of community needs, employee interests and business objectives. Listen to stakeholders to learn how your colleagues are motivated and how potential partners need support.
Step 4: Set CSR Goals and Objectives
Set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals for each major stakeholder group: your community, your employees and your company.
Enterprise Consideration:
Determine your measurement cadence. Decide early whether to report data quarterly or annually to maintain stakeholder trust.
Step 5: Develop a CSR Strategy
Translate your goals into a comprehensive strategic plan with specific actions and initiatives.
Enterprise Consideration:
Plan for multi-site or hybrid activation. If your workforce is distributed, your strategy should include digital or localized opportunities that
Focus areas should be selected based on the intersection of your company’s unique assets (skills and resources), your employees’ passions and the actual documented needs of the communities you serve.
How do you measure CSR program success?
Success is measured through a mix of quantitative data (volunteer hours, dollars stayed, lives impacted) and qualitative data (employee engagement scores and nonprofit partner feedback).
How often should a CSR strategy be updated?
While your core purpose may stay the same, your strategy should be reviewed annually and fully reset every 3-5 years to ensure it stays relevant to shifting social and business landscapes.
Points of Light helps companies create corporate volunteer programs that align with their corporate values, deliver on community-identified needs and maximize employee engagement and connection.
Voting is a vital part of actively participating in a democracy. Organizations – whether they’re nonprofit or for-profit – have a civic responsibility to encourage employees to vote, from making their own voices heard to volunteering to ensuring others have the same opportunity.
A responsible, engaged company will use its power and influence, from a nonpartisan standpoint, to encourage voter engagement, equipping their workforce with the tools and resources they need to get involved.
As the world braces for a year packed with national elections in over 60 countries, it’s crucial for businesses to take a stand in supporting voter participation and civic engagement. Here’s how your organization can make a real impact:
1. Foster a culture of civic responsibility
Encourage your employees to confirm they’re registered to vote. Whether through a company-wide email, a dedicated section in your internal newsletter, or a quick reminder in team meetings, ensuring your team is registered is the first step. Utilize resources like
in international markets to simplify the process. You can also draft a sample email to encourage employees to vote and keep it in your files to use in future election seasons.
“Encouraging your employees to be civically engaged is not just about volunteering. Making the space and creating workplace policies that equip all employees to vote is critical – they expect it, and communities depend on it. Voting is a major way we all take action for change.”
— Katie Stearns, chief program and impact officer, Points of Light
2. Provide paid time off to vote or volunteer
Voting is a fundamental right, but the demands of work can sometimes make it difficult. Offering paid time off to vote is a powerful way to remove this barrier. Review your benefits package to confirm that you offer paid time off for voting – or take it a step further by encouraging your employees to serve as poll workers, an essential role that can be supported through organizations like
offer comprehensive guides and toolkits that can be shared across your organization. Make sure these materials are readily available and accessible, whether through your company’s intranet or as part of a digital resource hub. And if you haven’t yet read our
, we encourage you to check it out. It’s packed with information about the voting process, tips to activate around voting and interviews with political leaders.
4. Host voter education sessions
Educating your staff on electoral issues and candidates is key to informed voting. Partner with nonpartisan coalitions like
to access valuable resources and educate leadership teams to organize and lead lunch-and-learn sessions or webinars where employees can ask questions and discuss the issues at stake.
By incorporating these strategies, your business can not only support voter engagement but also lead by example in fostering a culture of civic responsibility. The impact of your efforts will resonate far beyond Election Day, contributing to a stronger, more engaged community.
Working with Points of Light can take your employee community engagement to the next level. The Points of Light
is an annual membership program that empowers and equips CSR and corporate social impact leaders and their teams with actionable resources, insights, training and connections needed to advance their social impact goals and be recognized for their success.
Our mission is to support partners with comprehensive, end-to-end management of volunteer experiences and events that are not only well-executed but also deeply rooted in the community and focused on creating a lasting impact. To learn more about how we can support your work, please
How to Organize a Successful Donation Drive for Employees
Before the end-of-year holidays ramp up, corporate social impact leaders can be found hard at work finalizing their plans to host a donation drive that benefits their employer’s nonprofit partners. While useful during many times of the year, donation drives tap into the generosity of the holiday season and become creative ways to support the communities where employees live and work.
If your donation drive includes the collection of gently used items such as business attire for organizations like Dress for Success, you and your colleagues are helping to keep items out of landfills and redirect them to those who can benefit from their use.
We’ve put together a checklist to help you get started planning a donation drive for your colleagues. Add these tips to your employee champion resources should they be responsible for planning a donation drive in their market.
Before your donation drive begins
Determine which community needs will be addressed by your donation drive; Then identify the nonprofit organizations you’d like to support
Contact those agencies to determine what they need and identify whether any needs are more critical than others.
Decide in consultation with these partners which items will be collected and m
ake sure you understand any limitations (i.e., what they don’t need), any specific guidelines about clothing and how much they can store once donations are delivered.
Engage a planning committee in setting goals and how to measure progress
You could decide to set a goal for gathering a certain number of items, collecting specific tons of food or reaching out to a specific number of people. Think realistically about these goals and what might influence them; you don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver. Then keep track of how you are doing and designate someone to be responsible for updating the group on how you are progressing toward your goals.
Organize logistics and set your plans into motion
Determine the duration of the drive; often a donation drive will last two to three weeks to give employees ample time to gather the items requested and make a plan for drop-off. Develop your internal communications plan to last the duration of the drive and include a variety of messaging and formats. Make sure the communications include the reasons why these items are needed, who they will benefit, your goals and any guidelines specific to the items requested. You’ll also need to arrange for supplies that you might need including collection bins or boxes if not provided, storage space for donated items and any incentives you might employ. Don’t forget to coordinate with your buildings’ facilities team to find the right space for the collection and storage of items to occur. Plan to collect items in highly visible but fire-code-safe locations.
Consider these options:
Single-site drop off: You ask employees in each market to bring donations to one location during set hours on a specific day. You may need to recruit additional volunteers to ensure the collection site and process runs smoothly.
Extended donation drive: It might be more convenient to set up multiple collection points with drop boxes where people can leave their donations over the course of multiple days or weeks. Volunteers can collect the donations once per day and transfer them to storage or deliver them to partners if requested.
Plan accordingly if many of your colleagues are now hybrid or fully remote
Make sure they know where and when to drop off donations so they feel included in the opportunity to support their community. You might also consider promoting your partners’ “online wish lists” if you feel that some employees would prefer to donate those requested items, whether they are in the office or work fully remote.
During your donation drive
Remind and motivate employees to support the donation drive
Consider creating a friendly competition among departments, floors or locations. Keep track of which location gathers the most items. Record which individual or team contributes the most items. Recognize the donors with bragging rights or small rewards. Always keep in mind that no one should feel pressured to give so keep any competitions or incentives light-hearted.
Monitor and showcase the progress employees are making toward achieving the drive’s goals
As items are collected and you need to transfer them to storage or to the partners’ selected locations, take photos before moving items off-site or as they are delivered to your partner to use in your communications. Purchase more supplies or collection boxes as they are needed.
After the donation drive ends
If requested, sort and count the collected items
Go through the donated items collected and sort the items according to the organization’s guidelines. Try to get an accurate count of what has been received so that you can share with employees and with your partner organization and keep track for future drives that your employer might host.
Deliver the donations
If you haven’t needed to deliver the donations during the drive, find a mutually good time to deliver them to your partner agency. Recruit employee volunteers to help complete this task. Take photos during the delivery to use in your final communications so that those who donated can feel pride in contributing. Touch base with the recipient organization a few weeks later to see how the donations were distributed and plan for your next collaboration.
Celebrate success
Share the total number of items you collected with all of your participants. Thank employees for participating and show gratitude to those who took on a leadership role. If possible, include any stories of how the donations will support your partners’ beneficiaries. Consider how you and your planning team could improve for next time.
5 Questions You Should Ask to Strengthen and Scale Your Pro Bono Program
Whether tapping the enthusiasm and talent of employees in St. Louis or Singapore, research continues to show that creating impactful volunteer opportunities doesn’t only benefit communities in meaningful ways—it can enhance your business, too. At Points of Light, we are committed to providing resources for community-minded companies that want to strengthen and scale effective employee volunteer programs.
Below is a quick list of research and resources that will help you address the most asked questions about skills-based and pro bono support of nonprofits and help strengthen your company’s social impact programs. Use these resources to become more effective champions of this work.
Q. How do I make the business case to senior leadership to invest resources into implementing a skills-based volunteer or pro bono program?
The case for skills-based volunteering is clear and compelling. While nonprofit organizations will always need traditional volunteers to help them advance their mission, they are also in need of strategic support that builds capacity. Pro bono volunteers can help design human resources policies, implement technology upgrades, develop marketing campaigns and review legal documents.
All of this work is necessary for any organization to thrive, but often nonprofits don’t have the budget for these tasks set aside each year, as they use their much-needed funds to continue supporting their beneficiaries. That’s where skills-based and pro bono volunteers can play an outsized role in their operations.
Providing ways for employees to use their skills in support of nonprofit partners reaps dividends for businesses, too. It can help you achieve business goals related to recruitment and retention. It can help provide a lower-cost way to train and upskill employees. It can also support leadership development at all levels. And those are only the employee-related benefits!
Inviting your employees to donate their time and talents to NGOs can also support your company’s bottom line by increasing positive public perception of your company’s brand, building customer loyalty and bringing innovation to your company’s products and services.
For additional proof points that will appeal to senior leadership, check out ACCP’s
Q. I work for a small business and am not sure if we can get involved in pro bono like larger companies might?
The most common concerns for small businesses when considering an employee volunteer program are related to cost and capacity. But there are creative ways to manage skills-based volunteerism so that it works for smaller businesses, including:
Determine the maximum amount of time an employee can volunteer per fiscal year.
If production runs are tight, recommend the employee volunteer after work hours, and determine appropriate compensation.
Ensure proper cross-training of employees (and their ability to cover others’ assignments). This allows operations to continue when the employee is volunteering.
Allow employees to utilize their sick, personal or vacation days for pre-approved volunteering opportunities.
Allow employees to “donate” their sick, personal or vacation time to other employees who would like to volunteer.
Check out our article on mobilizing employees even if you have a small team for additional pointers.
Q. Where can I find best practices for designing a great pro bono program?
There are many great resources to help you design and implement the pro bono volunteer program that will make the right sense for your business, your colleagues and the communities in which your business operates. And the most important first step is understanding the needs of those communities and the nonprofits that support them.
(where your skills-based program runs efficiently and effectively, and delivers needed impact) lies at the intersection of those community needs, the skills and interests of employees, business priorities and constraints. Check out additional expert resources from Taproot Foundation
First, consider your existing grantees, who might also be in need of pro bono support. Then, consider contacting the following networks, organizations or online resources that can connect you with local nonprofits and skills-based volunteer opportunities.
Points of Light’s Global Network is comprised of volunteer-mobilizing organizations in 39 countries around the world. They can help you identify NGOs that need skills-based support and may also be able to help you design and implement your strategy.
Taproot Plus offers an online tool to match nonprofit and small business needs with volunteers with the right skills and expertise.
Catchafire is another online tool that connects skilled, virtual volunteers with nonprofits that need their expertise.
Common Impact is a one-stop-shop that can help your business design and implement a skills-based strategy while also helping you find nonprofits that need your employees’ talents.
Points of Light Engage is an online database of volunteer projects, many of which require the expertise of skilled volunteers.
Q. What can I do to help nonprofits be ready for skills-based volunteers?
Help your nonprofit partners increase their readiness to make the most of a skills-based project by sharing with them the organizational readiness assessment available through
. It’s a free, online tool with extensive resources to help build nonprofit capacity to navigate skills-based volunteering, including pro bono efforts.
Storytelling, Systemic Inequities and Soul: The 3 S’s of CSR
“This is what I can do. I can tell a story and make a difference.”
— Diane Quon, Producer, Quonco Productions
Being in a room full of corporate social impact pros is always inspiring, and that was definitely true when the members of Points of Light’s
(CSC) gathered in Chicago last month before the official kickoff of the Points of Light Conference. The conversations were lively with folx reconnecting with peers and making new connections.
Although we stay connected via virtual meetings year-round, some of the best learning and inspiration comes from our in-person events. When we gather,
always flow from our guest speakers and peer conversations. I was scribbling fast notes to keep up with the great thoughts shared by our dynamic speakers, many of whom – like me – are Chicagoans and all of whom are doing good in the world, whether that is through academia, social entrepreneurship, filmmaking, storytelling or business.
More than 100 of us packed the room to hear from Dr. Nicholas Pearce, clinical professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and founder and CEO of
; and a panel moderated by Marianna Ruiz, executive vice president and executive creative director at Edelman, featuring Brenda Robinson, head of film finance and inclusion strategies at HiddenLight Productions, Diane Quon, producer at Quonco Productions, Mark Mitten, founding and managing partner of Mitten Media, and Nate Clark, global director of corporate social responsibility at John Deere and president of the John Deere Foundation.
Here are just a few of the top takeaways from our time together:
Pursue Purpose as a Pathway
Staying connected to your purpose, particularly as a CSR professional, is a daily pursuit. We must “connect soul to role,” said Dr. Pearce, and really do the work we are built for as individuals. And even when you have connected soul to role, rest is essential. It’s not a reward we earn after working until exhaustion; we have to work from and out of rest, not for it. On the days when your work feels like an uphill climb, when a program isn’t having the impact you hoped or the business integration you know matters isn’t materializing, that’s when you most need to reconnect to purpose.
Learn and Lead Locally
Real and sustainable change happens at the hyperlocal level, but only if we start by listening and learning from the community. As CSR and employee volunteer programs go to scale or become global, the voices of the local nonprofits and neighborhood leaders can get lost, leading to systemic inequities going unaddressed. Jahmal Cole shared some powerful reminders about why the grassroots connection is key and encouraged all of us to conduct community asset maps before seeking to partner or program in a geography.
Stories on the Screen = Social Impact
Films can make us think or act differently, and that’s especially true for documentary projects that introduce us to new places, people, and realities. As panelist Brenda Robinson said, “The first thing we [filmmakers] look at is how to you change minds and hearts with art.” CSC member John Deere is one company that has leveraged filmmaking for social impact (learn about America’s volunteer fire service in
), but even if your company never makes a documentary, there are some transferable storytelling lessons all of us can learn from. One that’s stuck with me: storytelling is about listening and learning, and that’s the foundation for high-impact social action, and it can come in many forms, like your internal corporate newsletter, a panel conversation, a first-person share from a colleague or nonprofit partner, or even a social media post.
New Corporate Service Council Chair, Anita Whitehead, president and chair of the KPMG US Foundation in conversation with Dr. Nicholas Pearce, clinical professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and founder and CEO of The Vocati Group.
In our time together, we also announced our next Corporate Service Council chair: Anita Whitehead, president and chair of the KPMG US Foundation. Since the CSC started in 2005, our chair companies have played a critical role in leading the council and ensuring that we continue bringing together top brands, purpose-driven leaders and subject matter experts.
I’m looking forward to gathering with all the forward-thinking and purpose-driven CSC members at our next events to keep the conversation going. And if you want to be in the room where all this inspiration and learning happens,
Bridging Divides: The Role of Business and Civic Engagement in Addressing Polarization
In a world characterized by increasing polarization, businesses and business leaders find themselves at the center of a brewing storm. Action might come with backlash and silence could signal complicity. What can corporate citizenship practitioners do to mitigate the negative effects of polarization inside and outside their company and help others find common ground? The Business Summit at the 2023 Points of Light Conference explored this theme and the crosswinds that corporate citizenship leaders are navigating daily.
68% of Business Summit attendees believe that polarization has impacted their workplace.
Points of Light’s Chief Global Corporate Solutions Officer Katie Stearns kicked off the session with a focus on the business case for engagement. Although the question of whether companies should voice opinions on societal issues remains contentious, research indicates that, around the world, stakeholders expect them to take a stand. Depending on the issue, roughly 70 to 90% of respondents in the
said they “expect CEOs to take a public stand on issues” such as climate change, discrimination, and the wealth gap. The same goes for smaller businesses. Points of Light’s recent
reports that the general public has high expectations of how small businesses get involved in social issues. For instance, half the public and two-thirds of small business owners ranked speaking out as “pretty important or essential.”
A
report highlights that 88% of CSR leaders believe companies should be courageous and take a stand, even if it means alienating some people. With this much buy-in, it becomes a business imperative to determine a course of action and who better than social impact professionals to champion this work? Stearns doubled down on this point by highlighting the power corporate citizenship leaders have to positively shape the discourse and dealings inside their company, which ultimately trickle out into society.
“You have influence. Not just at the table with senior leaders when they’re deciding how to engage on an issue publicly, but also internally as interpreters and agents of your company’s core values, civic engagement strategies, and culture of service,” said Points of Light’s Chief Global Corporate Solutions Officer katie stearns.
CSR leaders can navigate economic and social pressures successfully by being prepared and joining the bridging movement as a safe space to invest in democracy and civility. Bruce Bond, co-founder and CEO of a bridging organization called
, shared that, although media might emphasize our polarity, many studies reveal that Americans are closely aligned on major social issues. He also introduced their
as one of the models that companies can use to empower employees to have respectful conversations in the workplace and emphasized one of its most appreciated tenets to take winning off the table.
Then, Bruce welcomed three business leaders to the stage to share how their companies are navigating polarization in the workplace. The panel included Pamela Everhart, senior vice president, regional public affairs and community relations at Fidelity Investments; Nick Nottoli, director, reputation management and insights at Allstate; and Clarita Santos, executive director of corporate and civic partnerships at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC).
The panelists agreed that the pervasive challenge of polarization requires companies to implement strategies that create civility and build empathy within organizations. Consistency in both corporate action and application of values is vital for gaining and maintaining stakeholders’ trust.
Here are some approaches that the panelists shared:
Authenticity is Essential: Senior leaders must recognize the importance of engagement and move beyond the sidelines. Demonstrating authentic reasons for taking a stand can help companies gather allies and build collective courage. Case in point, Nottoli described the societal engagement framework that provides Allstate leaders with a decision-making tree on whether the company takes on an issue. Criteria for taking a stand include: an issue that aligns with company values, impacts stakeholders, is relevant to Allstate’s business, and on which the company can meaningfully affect change.
Proximity Matters: Contact theory suggests that simply being around others can promote tolerance, acceptance and allyship. Activities such as volunteering together, offering listening and learning sessions, providing nonpartisan voter education, and creating space for open dialogue can help employees connect beyond political differences while also developing a deeper understanding of their community and the issues affecting it. To build civility, each panelist emphasized the importance of putting relationships ahead of any task. In fact, Santos mentioned that the CEO of HCSC is often quoted as saying, “it’s okay to disagree but not be disagreeable.” Social connection built through supportive and inclusive relationships strengthens an individual’s wellbeing and also the resiliency of communities.
“If my corporate social responsibility team is thinking alike on an issue, then we’re not thinking,” said Pam Everhart, senior vice president, regional public affairs and community relations at Fidelity Investments
Culture is Key: Since most of us spend half our waking lives at work, mutual respect built inside workplaces can have positive consequences for society. Employees are more likely to stay and thrive in an environment where they feel respected, heard, valued, and connected to a larger purpose. That culture should also be inquisitive and ready to explore an issue from all sides as no one person shares the same lived experience. Everhart encouraged the audience to question their own echo chambers and build “challenge networks.“ She said, “If my corporate social responsibility team is thinking alike on an issue, then we’re not thinking.” Truly, workplaces need to embrace having better arguments to enable the discovery of better solutions. As ambassadors of organizational values, every CSR practitioner has the power to influence and champion an inclusive culture.
To conclude the Business Summit, Founder and Managing Partner of
and Co-Founder of NYCNext Maryam Banikarim took the stage to share a story of a recent project she dubbed, The Longest Table. Put simply, during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, she and her New York City neighbors hosted an outdoor meal where more than 500 community members came together – even those who might not normally break bread together. This simple act of community building is now being replicated around the world. She ended her keynote with two significant learnings from the project that resonated with attendees: it takes just a few to build a movement and that there is no better time for “we, not me.”
In today’s polarized world, businesses have a significant role to play in helping society find common ground. Although challenges persist, there are strategies that can promote empathy and mitigate the negative impacts of polarization. By embracing these strategies, companies can foster a sense of purpose, enhance employee wellbeing, and contribute to a more cohesive and inclusive society. As CSR leaders can demonstrate, community engagement breeds belonging and service truly unites.
CSR Awards to Benefit Your Company’s Reputation and Attract Top Talent
If your company has successful corporate citizenship and social impact programs, it needs to be recognized! External recognition can enhance your reputation, attract the best talent, and foster a robust company culture. Not sure where to start? Check out the list of CSR awards below!
gather the world’s best creative work from across the commercial design, advertising, production and craft disciplines to be judged by more than 400 global creative leaders, practitioners and innovators. Their categories span the full spectrum of disciplines, including social good with “Impact” and “Future Impact” awards.
, an initiative of Points of Light, recognizes the 50 most community-minded companies in the nation each year as determined by an annual survey administered by True Impact. 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.
honor and celebrate the achievements of forward-thinking companies and individuals that have applied the assets of their business to create positive social and/or environmental impacts. Categories include: Social Impact Change Maker, Transformative Partnership, Eco Innovator and Innovation Amplifier.
, ACCP acknowledges and celebrates corporate citizenship professionals who serve as beacons of excellence in their field. ACCP recognizes individuals each year with the following designations: Champion for Change, Trailblazer, Rising Star and, new for 2023, Corporate Social Impact Team of the Year.
to recognize and honor leading public-private partnerships (P3s) that improve communities and the world. Inaugurated in 2014, the award seeks to highlight leading practices and actionable insights in the P3 arena.
, D CEO and Communities Foundation of Texas, are proud to honor professionals and organizations in the Dallas Fort Worth area from the nonprofit world that make a positive and efficient impact on the community, while celebrating the efforts of corporations and business leaders that support and collaborate with local nonprofits.
showcases brands that communicate and demonstrate brand purpose. Brands That Matter honorees don’t just recite corporate vision statements or management talking points; they have achieved relevance through cultural impact and social engagement, and their branding authentically communicates a brand’s current mission and ideals. Brands from around the world—including the largest multinational conglomerates and small-but-mighty companies—are encouraged to apply.
reward businesses, NGOs, charities and social enterprises of all shapes and sizes around the world, that are blazing the trail for purpose-driven sustainability and ethical leadership. They recognize leaders who are achieving practical, real-world impact that is both scalable and replicable – and who have inspiring stories to tell.
are the world’s leading awards celebrating leadership in sustainable business. It’s more than acknowledging excellent sustainability strategies. The Responsible Business Awards recognize those that are truly having an impact on business, society and the environment – delivering a new blueprint for business in the 21st Century.
FAST COMPANY MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
DEADLINE: Not yet announced; likely in September 2023.
has been the definitive source for recognizing the organizations that are transforming industries and shaping society. Last year, Fast Company recognized more than 400 organizations with this prestigious honor, from the largest companies in the world to small startups with just a few employees. With innovation more important than ever this year, Fast Company is looking forward to recognizing the organizations that are moving the world forward. Categories include: corporate social responsibility and social good, among many others.
THE DRUM AWARDS FOR SOCIAL PURPOSE
DEADLINE: Not yet announced; likely in October 2023.
The
celebrate the people and brands, making a positive contribution through responsible marketing. These awards are truly global, and open to teams and companies from anywhere in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa or the Americas.
are one of North America’s highest honor for corporate social initiatives and cause marketing and showcase successful consumer engagement and employee engagement efforts. These CSR, cause marketing and corporate social impact awards focus on initiatives in which brand purpose and social impact intersect to help build a better world and the bottom line.
recognize the most innovative and impactful corporate citizenship programs from businesses, chambers, and associations of all sizes. Any business entity may nominate itself, or a third party may also nominate a business, Chamber of Commerce, or trade association.
Business Resource Groups (BRGs): Benefits and Examples
Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups that serve as a resource for members and their employers by fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices and objectives. They play an integral role in creating a culture that promotes an environment of understanding, acceptance and inclusion among all employees.
Research from
to look forward to going to work, and over five times more likely to want to stay a long time at their company. Other benefits of BRGs include the development of future leaders, increased employee engagement and expanded marketplace reach.
About Business Resource Groups
Business Resource Groups may also be known as:
Employee Resource Groups
Diversity & Inclusion Councils
Affinity Groups
Employee Networks
Business Resource Groups are made up of employees who share common interests and lived experiences; membership in any group is typically open to any interested employee. These groups come together to foster professional growth and provide a collective voice to management and decision makers around social issues, community needs and company policies.
Initiatives and events led by Business Resource Groups help support the company’s business goals, innovation, philanthropic efforts and commitment to workplace diversity and belonging. Business Resource Groups may sponsor a speaker series, career development seminars, volunteer activities, panel discussions and social networking events to which all employees are invited. Additionally, each BRG might make community outreach an integral part of its mission.
Involvement in a Business Resource Group is a valuable opportunity to develop internal relationships and make connections across the company. BRGs will often set up chapters for each group throughout a company’s footprint to ensure there is participation across different geographies. Being a member of a BRG also provides employees with cross-cultural competence: the ability to discern and take into account one’s own and others’ world views to be able to seize opportunities, make decisions and resolve conflicts in ways that optimize cultural differences for better, longer lasting and more creative solutions.
BRGs may lead awareness or community engagement activities that correspond to their common interest such as organizing a professional clothing drive for women transitioning into civilian careers during Women’s History Month. More often than not, BRGs are involved in supporting a company’s philanthropic activities and it is important to ensure they are integrated into goals, policies and procedures related to a company’s employee volunteer program and collaborate with the team leading corporate social impact efforts as needed.
Corporate Examples of BRGs
AT&T
and
Dow
annually bring together members of their employee resource groups and business leaders for an opportunity to learn together, build connections and create social impact. Each conference includes acts of service that provide lasting benefits to the host community and in-person and virtual participants.
At
, one in four employees is a member of at least one Employee Network worldwide, which helps employees develop personally and professionally, build strong ties with communities and address issues that matter. One of these networks, IGEN, supports diversity by bridging gaps across generations within the workplace. During the pandemic, members of IGEN in the UK volunteered regularly to address community isolation in partnership with The Cares Family, a charity whose mission is to bring people together across generations, backgrounds and experiences to build community and connection.
Employee Resource Groups support
Dell’s
global cultivating inclusion pillar. Through their ERGs and Culture, Diversity & Inclusion Champions, they create meaningful professional connections and employee engagement. ERGs partner with leadership on corporate observances including Black History Month and International Women’s Day. To celebrate the International Day of the Girl in 2021, members of Dell’s Women in Action ERG participated in a Girls Empowerment Pro Bono Consulting Workshop. This virtual workshop connected ERG members across the U.S. with seven nonprofit organizations facing capacity-building challenges.
As part of
Intel’s
RISE (responsible, inclusive, sustainable and enabling) strategy, their nearly 40 ERGs are part of the engine that drives community and inclusion. Part of each group’s charter is to volunteer in local communities. In fact, in 2020, members of the Pacific Islanders of Intel ERG were made aware of a critical need for COVID-19 clinics to address a desperate situation for Oregon’s community of Pacific Islanders: their infection rates were 12 times higher than those of white Oregonians. The ERG reached out to county officials and local nonprofits to organize and lead clinics specific to this demographic which provided testing and vaccinations for thousands of Islanders, along with food and other services.
How Service Year Programs Can Help With Corporate Recruitment
Service comes in many forms. It’s not just the type that corporate citizenship leaders are actively developing in order to mobilize employees to solve community issues. Citizens of the world also commit their time, energy and talent to
, how can other types of service play a role in corporate recruitment?
Here’s where your knowledge and connections as a leader in corporate citizenship can play a larger role in support of an increasing battle for talent. If they’re not already plugged in, make sure your partners in HR are scouting from the perfect pipeline – alumni of service year programs.
Benefits of Service Year Programs for Corporate Recruitment
Offered by organizations like AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, City Year, Atlas Corps, Teach for America, YouthBuild and so many more, service year programs offer a participant a paid opportunity to develop real-world skills through hands-on service in communities around the globe. These real-world skills, especially soft skills that are not easily taught or learned, are incredibly important for businesses to remain competitive in today’s economy. Alumni from these programs are equipped to lead and manage and are ready to help any organization achieve results.
What are some of the skills learned and honed while participating in a service year? More than likely it’s the same competencies your company is looking for in new recruits.
Leadership: Alumni demonstrate strong ethics, empower others to self-organize, foster a sense of connection and belonging, show openness to new ideas and nurture growth.
Critical thinking: Alumni are able to sort through useful and arbitrary details in order to evaluate a problem or situation, form an objective judgement that leads to a critical solution or decision.
Getting things done with limited resources: Alumni focus on proactively achieving results through effective planning and optimizing the resources they have access to.
Accountability: Alumni understand the responsibility that comes with being accountable for their own actions and decisions, the actions of team members and their individual and collective results[i]. They hold themselves and others to common expectations that align with an organization’s values and mission.
Adaptability: Alumni have a proven ability to learn new concepts and skills quickly[i] even without explicit instruction. They are creative and can respond effectively to changing working conditions. They also have experience dealing with ambiguity and demonstrate that they are able to act or shift gears without having all the details, making confident decisions even without the whole picture.
Initiative: Alumni are immediate contributors who lead by example as well as through direction, delegation, motivation and inspiration.
Interpersonal and intercultural communication: Alumni excel in partnering and communicating with diverse racial, religious, ethnic, cultural and geographic groups[i]. Their broad experience has given them a deeper understanding of the world around them.
Collaboration: Participation in a national service program has fostered an alumni’s ability to work individually and as part of a team, instilling a strong work ethic and responsibility to and appreciation of one’s colleagues.
Your company’s hiring managers would also be well advised to think through the hard skills that service year alumni also possess that align with the roles they’re trying to fill on Learning and Development or Communications teams, such as the ability to speak several languages or the aptitude to teach others.
Don’t forget how this can positively impact you as well – these newly hired service year alums will make passionate and dedicated champions of your company’s social good efforts. That’s a win-win-win for the business, its employees and the communities in which your company operates.
Resources for Service Year Programs
The Voices for National Service Business Council works to highlight the vital role the private sector plays in supporting and investing in national service programs, unleashing citizens to tackle the pressing problems facing their communities. Through the Business Council, companies and private sector leaders work to promote and strengthen bipartisan support for AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors and are recognized for their leadership and commitment to expanding service opportunities for all Americans.
Employers of National Service is an initiative that connects service year alums with over 600 employers from the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Through this initiative, employers have increased access to a dedicated, highly qualified and mission-oriented pool of potential employees, and service year alums have additional opportunities to connect with employers that value their skills. To become an Employer of National Service, employers pledge to recognize service year experience in their hiring practices.
Service Year Alliance is working to make a year of paid, full-time service — a service year — a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans. Their vision: Every year, one million young Americans engaged in a service year, solving important problems while transforming their own lives.
3 Global CSR Tips for Working with Different Cultures
While corporate social responsibility is an exciting and challenging field to begin with, global CSR is even more complex. Working with different cultures presents plenty of nuance to be carefully considered in order for your corporate engagement programs to be as effective as possible – for both your employees and the communities you’re working with.
How can companies with a multinational presence effectively scale and deepen their
across their global footprint? Here are some strategies you can leverage, starting today.
Global CSR Tips
Form a Team of Passionate Players with Cultural Awareness
Consider the cultures you’re working with. Be sensitive to cultural nuances, both internal and external, including careful consideration of the culture and customs within a region, as well as your company’s organizational culture. Tailor communications and program design appropriately to account for these nuances. Challenge assumptions and your own cultural biases by identifying locals partnering with employees in each region who can teach you about their culture and how volunteering is perceived. Put a priority on sharing experiences and building learning throughout the system.
Cultural differences in communities in which global companies operate can influence employee volunteer program success. For example, the use of appropriate colors, images and language when branding and promoting a program can help engage employees and nonprofit partners. Understanding the value societies place on individualism and collectivism, the roles of the government and the private sector, and personal space versus workspace are also important factors.
Don’t try to go it alone. One of the best ways to ensure success and maintain momentum is to build a
of champions to serve as front-line leaders for the employee engagement program. Use volunteer committees and councils to help operationalize and localize
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Be flexible about how you operationalize global priorities, based on input from these leaders. Adapt your volunteer programs to the needs of the local communities you’re working with and trust the feedback you’re getting from those most closely involved with the day-to-day work. Ask plenty of questions to garner this type of valuable feedback – it could make or break the efficacy of the program.
“You might have an idea about the types of support that would most benefit the NGO or community and how your company can deliver on that. Don’t get stuck there, though – as you have those curious and candid conversations with a prospective partner, you might be surprised to learn that the biggest impact you can achieve together is a few layers down from the surface. Perhaps you think a food pantry most needs volunteers to stock shelves and distribute groceries to guests in order to keep up with demand. If you’re open to really listening and meeting the moment, you might find instead that the biggest impact would come from a redesigned inventory tracking system and floor plan to facilitate more efficient guest visits.”
— Katie Stearns, Chief Global Corporate Solutions Officer at Points of Light
Know Your International Laws and Corporate Culture Inside and Out
A variety of factors affect the way global volunteer programs are designed and implemented, including availability of resources, the nature of the business, the makeup of the workforce and community needs. Employee volunteer program leaders identified regional and organizational culture as other important factors. International laws around volunteerism also play a role in the differences from country to country.
Consider this: A company’s corporate culture may influence the policy and design of a formal employee volunteer program created at headquarters. However, there can be constant tension between corporate HQ culture and the informal rules and behaviors of regional offices, which can impact employee engagement and participation.
Below are some examples of cultural norms and best practices in global CSR by region, informed by leaders from
Employee volunteerism emerged in the Latin and Central America region approximately 20 years ago, as multinational companies established employee volunteer programs. Corporate volunteering has evolved and has become far more organized in the last decade with mostly larger companies partnering with NGOs to create opportunities for social impact.
Volunteer programs in this region often support the environment, education, children’s rights, and health disparities. Employee volunteer program challenges include feelings of skepticism toward corporate volunteering, perceived safety issues that deter employee participation, difficulty getting internal buy-in, challenges with internal communication and finding time to participate.
Europe
Corporate volunteerism is steadily growing in Europe. However, there is a wide variety of regional differences. Volunteerism is shaped by each country’s unique history, traditions and religion. As interest in corporate volunteering grows and begins to replace traditional team building events, NGOs often find it difficult to plan a large-scale group project that allows a multitude of volunteers to complete meaningful tasks. In the UK, companies that have a year-round approach will find it easier to partner with NGOs rather than limiting group projects to times of the year when it is popular to serve. Companies should also consider providing capacity building grants to ensure smaller NGOs have the funding needed to create group volunteer projects
Volunteering continues to be viewed more as a private activity than something one does with one’s company. Remember this cultural attitude when considering what type of volunteer hours you will track and report for your employee volunteer program — will you count only “company sponsored volunteering,” or individual volunteering that employees do on their own time?
Asia Pacific
Like Europe, the Asia Pacific region is culturally diverse with multiple sub regions. Corporate volunteerism is well developed in this region, with world-class programs established in countries such as India, China, Singapore, Japan and Korea, and skills-based volunteerism gaining much popularity. Generally speaking, volunteerism is group-focused and volunteer activities that provide interaction with the beneficiaries of NGO partners are sought after.
Companies are driven by numbers and targets and for those just starting their employee volunteer programs, social impact is the driving force. Employee volunteerism is seen as a way to enhance a company’s reputation and drive customer loyalty, but also a way to support skill-building and professional development among young professionals. Leadership participation and buy-in is important to achieving high volunteer recruitment in China along with decisions around which projects to pursue.
“In India, corporate volunteering is maturing which is leading to interest in exploring different models including skills-based volunteering and executive level engagement.”
– Shalabh Sahai, Co-Founder & Director, iVolunteer
Partner with Experts to Design, Implement and Improve Your Global CSR Program
Whether you’re just getting started with global CSR efforts or you want to take your existing program to the next level, you’ll likely benefit from a knowledgeable nonprofit partner to help guide you.
