Structured corporate volunteer programs benefit everyone involved. Nonprofits get new connections, your employees get to cultivate their sense of purpose, and your business builds a motivated, engaged workforce. In fact, 96% of companies say employee volunteering improves performance, according to Double the Donation.
If your business wants to boost employee morale and productivity, now is the time to create or grow your employee volunteer program. In this guide, we’ll explore five steps for implementing a successful strategy.
1. Assess your current capacity
Before launching any new program, assess your business’ current CSR initiatives and internal capacity. This will help you determine if you have the right resources and identify any blockers that might delay or complicate implementation.
Ask:
- How many employees will participate? Your team’s size will dictate the scope of any employee-related programs. Consider how many employees you have and how their roles at your business may impact their participation. For example, if you have seasonal or part-time employees, will they be eligible for your new program?
- Are there ongoing recruitment efforts? If your business is in the middle of hiring, your team needs to be realistic about their bandwidth and focus on where their efforts can align, such as educating new hires about the volunteer program as part of the onboarding curriculum.
- Will any current initiatives impact your volunteer program? When adding a new program, consider how it complements your other culture and benefit offerings. For example, if you plan to implement a volunteer time off program, you would have to consider how it impacts your regular paid time off allowance.
This is also a good time to assess how CSR technology can streamline your operations and increase capacity. Can your current tools support the program you envision? If not, start exploring new options.
By understanding potential challenges and the scope of your new program, you can start setting bold yet achievable goals for it.
2. Define goals and desired impacts
Employee volunteer programs can accomplish several goals, from uniting your team to strengthening your employer brand. But to accurately measure your success, you need to get specific.
Consider different types of initiatives and how they ladder up to business objectives. For example:
- Volunteer days: improved teamwork, increased motivation, reputation boost in your community
- Volunteer time off: increased productivity, boosted engagement, better talent acquisition potential
- Volunteer grants: increased employee loyalty, reputation boost, tax benefits
Remember, you don’t need to limit your business to just one type of employee volunteer program. However, it’s best to implement only one program at a time to keep your efforts focused and avoid confusion.
3. Choose volunteer opportunities
When you know what you hope to accomplish through your initiative, you can choose the program type and start hammering out the details. To help select your volunteer opportunities, gather information by:
- Asking employees. Your employees will be the ones participating in your program, so ask them what types of activities they would like to do. For example, they might be interested in volunteer events arranged by your business or prefer to organize their own independent outings.
- Looking to other businesses. Check what comparable companies in your area are doing when it comes to volunteer work. For example, if several businesses regularly host volunteer days to assist your local public school, your business may want to follow suit.
- Researching nonprofits in your area. Learn which organizations in your area need support. Compile a list of nonprofits and share it with your employees to learn what types of causes they’re interested in.
Through these efforts, you might find out that your workforce is passionate about specific causes or nonprofits. Use insights to tailor your program, and build something they’re truly excited to rally behind.
4. Track your metrics
After launching your employee volunteer program, keep a close eye on its results to assess if it’s having the desired impact. Depending on your program type, a few metrics to track include:
- Productivity. After implementing your initiative, increased motivation should be reflected in your employees’ efforts. Assess the speed and quality of their work post-launch.
- Retention. Compare your turnover rate before and after implementing your new program. Keep in mind how external factors play into this metric as well.
- Candidate quality. JazzHR defines candidate quality as “the ratings of new hires by managers several months into the job.” If you implemented a volunteer program to attract new talent, assess whether they lived up to your expectations.
Employee volunteer programs can provide several other benefits that are difficult to track, such as your team’s sense of community or engagement. To assess these qualitative metrics, survey your employees to learn about their experiences with your program. This can also help you learn specific details about how employees engage with your offerings that you might not be able to see just from looking at raw data.
5. Experiment with new offerings
Once your program is up and running, don’t set it and forget it—continually adapt to meet employee needs and interests. While it’s smart to avoid major changes early on (to prevent confusion), over time, you can experiment with new strategies to boost participation and impact.
For example, try promoting specific volunteer roles using your hiring and recruiting tools to create internal “volunteer job postings,” or use your CSR software to spotlight high-impact opportunities from local nonprofits.
As with launching the initial program, ongoing communication is essential. Survey employees to find out what they enjoy, what could be improved, and—if they’re not currently involved—what might motivate them to join in.
To recap, when it comes to launching a new employee volunteer program, don’t be afraid to start small. Start with a focused initiative, listen to your employees, and build from there. When done right, employee volunteer programs do more than help your community—they help your people thrive and your business grow.
