Corporate Employee Volunteering
Skills Based Volunteering: A Strategic Opportunity in Corporate Engagement
Much that’s been said about the motivations and outcomes of skills based volunteering (SBV) has been written from the corporation’s perspective. We know less about what motivates or what it takes to engage a SBV program from a nonprofit point of view.
In this e-Volunteerism feature, authors from NC State University and the Southeastern Council of Foundations examine the experience of one nonprofit as they expand their already robust volunteer program to incorporate skills based volunteerism. Their findings examine how SBV is perceived from different organizational levels, and the benefits and pitfalls of engaging such initiatives. Using a case study with 20 interviews from multiple stakeholder groups, the authors also discuss the coordination and resources it takes to implement a successful SBV program. This important feature provides insight into capacity considerations for any organization interested in implementing a SBV program.
A World of Volunteering by Global Corporations
It’s not very likely that the barrista serving your morning latte, the receptionist checking you into your vacation hotel, or the bank manager deciding whether to approve your home renovation loan are thinking about volunteering as they go about their daily work. But their corporate employers back at headquarters might be doing just that – especially if they are one of the major global conglomerates whose products or services are prominent in shopping malls and main streets all around the world. Many of these global mega-companies coordinate volunteering by their staff as one practical way to help the communities where they do business.
Corporate employee volunteering is, of course, nothing new to organisations involving volunteers. But in this Along the Web, we penetrate the glossy Web sites of various global corporations to see what they reveal about their volunteer or service programmes. Even if the information is often hidden away and sometimes not very easy to access through page links, such Web pages can be a useful first source of information to organisations considering recruiting new volunteers from major employers worldwide. As we explore, we see how some corporations measure their programme’s social and environmental impacts; how others link volunteering to their Corporate Social Responsibility or Global Impact policies and to business goals; and how some connect their financial donations, ‘in kind’ giving, and volunteering activities. We also consider whether improving clarity and transparency would make some corporations’ Web sites more useful to recruiters seeking workplace volunteers.
Employee Volunteering – What Companies Want and How Nonprofits Can Give It to Them
More and more, companies want to engage their communities through employee volunteering programs. For most businesses, this means calling a nonprofit and scheduling an activity. The nonprofits that can readily design and host successful employee volunteering events will find themselves critical and necessary assets in what has quickly become a key business strategy. Understanding why employee volunteering is important to companies is key to creating a good partnership. In this article, author Chris Jarvis provides some insights into what companies want from employee volunteering programs, and how nonprofits can position themselves as an indispensable corporate partner.
The Role of Business in Social Causes in the 1970s
In April 1973, the Saturday Review published a special business supplement, “Can the Businessman Meet Our Social Needs?” In this series of essays, noted business authority Peter F. Drucker and then New York City deputy mayor Edward K. Hamilton debated the pros and cons of this question. Though “corporate social responsibility” was a relatively new concept at the time, the issue of balancing responsibility among businesses, the nonprofit sector and government remains fresh 40 years later. This Voices article looks at the history of business philanthropy in the late 20th century, rediscovering examples of workplace volunteering that have faded from sight.
If They Know So Much About HR, Why Do Their Employees Prefer Volunteering Over Work?
e-Volunteerism’s Steve McCurley and Susan J. Ellis recently attended the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, where they were deluged with what is becoming an increasingly common message: “Don’t despair. For-profit corporations and their business wisdom are coming to save you.” The obvious premise of the push towards such "new" concepts as pro bono volunteering is the age-old assumption that agencies are best when “operating like a business.” This comes along with the assumption that the so-called do-gooder types in nonprofits (and the incompetents in public service) obviously lack business skills, which implies that anyone from a corporation can put an agency on the right track.
In this Points of View, both Ellis and McCurley unleash a round of post-July 4th fireworks to question why corporations have to be so “smugly sanctimonious” about sharing their expertise. These volunteering experts readily acknowledge that corporations do have some useful knowledge, and that many non-profit and government organizations could certainly improve their management practices. But, they explain, a corporation’s notion of wisdom might not match a non-profit’s notion of wisdom, especially when it comes to volunteering.
Get on Board the Pro Bono Express
There’s a huge train leaving the station, and it’s loaded with resources that many say have the potential to fire a capacity building revolution in the nonprofit/government organization service “industry.” Let’s call it “The Pro Bono Express.” Pro bono is the latest buzzword whenever folks gather to talk about volunteerism and service in the United States. Highly skilled volunteers are not a new phenomenon, but the current twist means that for-profit corporations, especially, are seeking to offer the expertise of their employees in strategic ways that make a difference to the community.
But what’s powering this train? What is it carrying? Can the promise be delivered? And why are some nonprofits and government organizations already on board and others concerned they’ll be left waving at the station? In this e-Volunteerism feature, author David Warshaw explores these questions and argues that finding a way to engage pro bono volunteers should be on every organization’s agenda.
Volunteering Through the Workplace
One of the fastest growing and most significant new ways of volunteering in the past 20 years has been volunteering through one’s workplace. Major corporations have created extensive programs to encourage and enable their employees to volunteer and this form of business social responsibility is now expanding to small businesses and government agencies. Oddly enough, the nonprofit community seems to be the only sector lagging behind in assisting its employees to volunteer in their communities.
In this Along the Web, we’ll organize workplace volunteering topics into three categories:
- Volunteering by employees of large corporations
- Volunteering by employees other than in large corporations
- Sample materials regarding employee volunteering