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Beyond Numbers and Basic Narratives: A Guide for CSR and Employee Volunteer Program Leaders

Move Beyond Vanity Metrics in Volunteer Impact Measurement

Employee volunteering is no longer just a “nice-to-have” initiative—it’s a strategic business priority that drives employee engagement, leadership development, brand reputation and meaningful community impact. Points of Light’s new learning brief, Beyond Numbers and Basic Narratives: A Guide for CSR & Employee Volunteer Program Leaders, explores how CSR leaders can change the perception of volunteering by leveraging data-driven insights and ethical storytelling to demonstrate both social and business value.

Traditional metrics like volunteer hours fail to capture true impact, so companies must adopt more intentional data collection strategies that move beyond vanity metrics (e.g., hours logged) to measure impact such as engagement, skills development and long-term community outcomes. Additionally, ethical storytelling plays a crucial role in bringing outcomes to life by creating human-centered narratives that align corporate values with real community needs.

By combining impact data with responsible storytelling, CSR leaders can build stronger executive buy-in, deepen employee engagement and belonging and create more sustainable, high-impact programs. This learning brief provides actionable steps to help CSR leaders embed outcomes measurement, storytelling and continuous improvement into their volunteer strategies—ensuring that employee volunteering is recognized not just as a goodwill effort, but as a business and community necessity.

Understanding Community-Centered Volunteerism

Thanks to our guest speaker Breauna Dorelus, Founder and Cause Consultant at Connecting the Cause.

This live event is part of the Volunteering & Social Impact Live Learning Series, which introduces topics that will be discussed further at the 2025 Points of Light Conference.

Virtual Event Resources

Top Takeaways

  • Behind every volunteer opportunity is a root cause of an issue and a system that perpetuates the necessity of the volunteer opportunity itself.
  • We must first understand the truth of why problems exist and ensure the volunteer work is aligned with the community’s needs.
  • “Centering community” does not mean dismissing volunteers. It means that communities are an integral part of the process, not just recipients of aid, which creates harm. Too often communities are on the receiving end of a volunteer’s charitable acts instead of seen as an interdependent ecosystem where everyone has a role.

Reflection Questions

  • What is currently in my power to repair and rebuild?
  • Understand and recognize power dynamics within volunteerism. Where does the volunteer hold the power in engagement spaces, and where does the community hold the power? Do shifts need to be made?

Policies that Enable Employee-Powered Change

Imagine a workplace where every employee feels empowered to drive positive change in their community. Many companies achieve this by establishing policies that create opportunities for impact. These policies align a company’s culture and core values with daily operations, setting clear expectations and creating an environment where employees feel supported.

Discover how codifying practices such as Volunteer Time Off (VTO) can foster a culture of service, enhance employee engagement, and secure buy-in from all levels.

Top Takeaways:

  • Having a volunteer time off policy demonstrates a company’s commitment to creating positive social impact while also providing value to the business and to employees.
  • When designing a policy, clearly define what is in scope including who can take advantage of the policy and what activities are eligible.
  • Think about the end user when making VTO decisions. You want the benefit to be as accessible and frictionless as possible.
  • Understand the audience who will need to weigh in on the policy and any updates; bring them along with you as you design or revise.
  • Position the policy in different ways when driving awareness so employees can fully realize the benefit being offered.

Additional Resources:

Planning Impactful Fall Employee Engagement Activities

  • Discover the latest trends and innovative approaches in employee volunteering.
  • Learn from real-world examples and success stories to inspire and inform your organization’s community engagement efforts.
  • Explore strategies to make volunteer efforts inclusive and accessible to all employees.

Guest Speakers

  • Jennifer Nash, SVP, Corporate Activation, Points of Light
  • Michelle Dee, COO, Jersey Cares

Top Takeaways

  1. Start now. Although the second half of the year seems far away, for your sake and for your community partners’ sake, remember that meaningful impact takes time to plan. Think about the steps you can be taking now so that you offer a mix of varied opportunities that align with both employee and community needs.
  2. Trust your partners. Nonprofit leaders understand community issues and how volunteers can best support them. Your volunteer champions and ambassadors can ensure colleagues are ready and able to serve.
  3. Co-create solutions. Know the interests, skills and capacity of your volunteers, and work together with your nonprofit partners to put them to best use to meet community needs.
  4. Infuse learning and deep thinking. No matter what type of activities you plan, ensure that volunteers comprehend the community issue they’ll be addressing and provide time post-project for reflection.
  5. Be flexible but strategic. Understand the reasons behind the goals you’re setting yet stay adaptable and open to new ideas.

Resources to support your planning

Building the Case for Investment: Why Employee Community Engagement Matters Webinar

As corporate social impact practitioners, we know that employee community engagement programs can foster a sense of community, boost employee morale and productivity, combat polarization and ultimately contribute to the bottom-line. But how do you illustrate the value in a way that garners program and infrastructure investment?

Join us to explore the benefits of employee community engagement and its impact on business success. In this session, we will dig into recent research from Ares Management and additional proof points that not only demonstrate the intrinsic value of employee community engagement and how it aligns with broader business goals but also showcase how forward-thinking companies have successfully secured financial investment from senior leadership.

Top Takeaways:

  • Know your audience. Tailor your messaging, format and timing in order to have the best reception.
  • Preparation is key. Start collecting data now that can be useful when you need to build a case.
  • Look for opportunities. Know what’s happening in the short and long term and use it to your advantage.
  • Stay relevant. Connect social impact work to the challenges your leadership is facing and how it can help them achieve business or their professional goals.
  • Try testing first. Experimenting can give you proof of potential enterprise-wide outcomes and can be an easier sell.

Resources Mentioned:

Virtual Volunteering Opportunities

Make a Difference from Anywhere

Looking for meaningful ways to give back from home? Whether you’re interested in online community service, virtual volunteering, or remote volunteer opportunities, you can support causes you care about—anytime, from anywhere.

Why Online and Virtual Volunteering Matters

Online volunteering is a flexible, inclusive, and impactful way to serve. It:

  • Removes barriers of location, mobility, and time.
  • Empowers people of all ages and abilities to contribute.
  • Supports nonprofits with digital skills and remote help.

From tutoring students to helping nonprofits with social media, volunteering online offers countless ways to make a difference.

Trends in Virtual Volunteer Opportunities

  • Skills-Based Volunteering: Use your professional skills—like writing, design, or IT—to support nonprofit missions.
  • Micro-Volunteering: Complete short, task-based projects like transcription, data entry, or captioning videos.
  • Remote Corporate Volunteering: Many companies now offer virtual service days and team-based online volunteering.
  • Inclusive and Accessible: Opportunities are increasingly designed to be accessible to people with disabilities and those with limited time.
  • Digital Tools: Platforms now offer AI-powered matching, mobile apps, and virtual collaboration tools to enhance the experience.

Explore Online Volunteering Opportunities by Category

Thousands of virtual volunteer opportunities are available—from one-time tasks to ongoing commitments. Browse by interest:

Tip: Visit Points of Light Engage to search real-time listings from nonprofits around the world.

Celebrate Service Year-Round

Whether it’s during Global Volunteer Month
in April or any time of year, you can live a full civic life through the Points of Light Civic Circle®. Every action counts—donate, vote, volunteer and more.

9/11 Day At Home Employer Toolkit

The goal of 9/11 Day At Home is to inspire more than one million “virtual” acts of service, expressions of kindness, or simple Good Deeds in observance of this year’s 9/11 Day, the federally-recognized September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

You can play an important role in making that happen – by engaging your employees in our 9/11 Day At Home program, or in other virtual service programs for 9/11 Day this year. This toolkit provides all the information you’ll need to participate in this program, and to invite your fellow employees to participate with you.

Considerations for In-Person Corporate Volunteering During COVID-19: Guidance for Companies

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) offer recommendations for health behaviors and those should be your controlling engagement guidelines for person to person engagements. Companies and nonprofits should independently establish guidelines for engaging volunteers. This document is not medical, legal advice, or professional advice and is not inclusive of all possible considerations. We strongly recommend that companies and nonprofits consult with their independent legal counsel and insurance advisors for tailored advice on risk mitigation.  

The purpose of this document is to help companies operating in the United States make decisions regarding in-person corporate volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is meant as a supplemental resource to inform decision-making around activation of in-person volunteer opportunities for employees to meet community needs — some of which are more urgent than ever — during a time when there might be a public-health imperative to minimize in-person events. Should a company determine that it is feasible to proceed in offering in-person volunteer opportunities for their employees, this document helps inform project management during this unprecedented time.

The following document suggests steps to determine whether the corporate volunteer program might encourage employee involvement in a specific in-person volunteering opportunity at this time and, if so, how to incorporate safety considerations. The items listed in the downloadable form are in addition to the usual considerations your company uses to properly select and plan volunteer activities (such as conducting background checks, selecting nonprofits that are 501(c)(3)s, obtaining permission from appropriate company leadership, etc.) and should be used in conjunction with your usual relevant practices and policies. The steps below offer a framework to build upon incorporating tailored guidance from your advisors and leadership.

Special thanks to our partners Caesars Entertainment and VeraWorks for assisting in the development of this resource.