So, you want to improve your corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and boost employee engagement. The solution? Starting a corporate volunteering program. 

Simply put, an employee volunteering program is an initiative meant to motivate staff members to volunteer with nonprofits. Not only does volunteering for a good cause change people's lives, but it also offers benefits to your company, such as:

• Boosting company morale: When your employees see that your company is passionate about doing good for the community, just like they are, it boosts morale, improving workplace culture and overall brand perception.
• Helps with mental health: Studies show that volunteering actually improves employees’ well-being, helping them live happier, more productive day-to-day lives. 
• Increasing employee satisfaction and retention: Astron Solution’s guide to employee recruitment and retention reports that employees who feel that their company has a strong sense of purpose are 27% more likely to stay. 

In this quick guide, we’ll cover four strategies for engaging employees in corporate volunteering initiatives so you can improve CSR participation long-term.

Let Employees Lead

Firstly, you should let your employees take charge of the volunteering program. Doing so shows that you trust them enough to spearhead this important initiative and empowers them to engage however they want. 

Here are a few ways you can let your employees lead:

• Allow them to choose which nonprofits they’d like to volunteer with and when.
• Provide Volunteer Time Off (VTO) for easier scheduling.
• Let them plan individual and team volunteer outings with company support. 
• Let them browse and sign up for the opportunities that resonate most with their values. 

When you give employees the freedom and tools to take the lead, they’re more likely to participate and enjoy volunteering, since they can align opportunities with their values, schedules, and interests. For example, one employee might consistently volunteer to help at their favorite nonprofit’s fundraising events, while another organizes a virtual volunteering project for a small organization.

Offer Volunteer Grants

Another great way to motivate your employees to volunteer is by offering volunteer grants, also known as a Dollars for Doers program. According to Uncommon Giving, a volunteer grant is a donation your company gives to nonprofits that your employees regularly volunteer with.

There are several different ways you can incorporate volunteer grants into your company’s CSR program, including:

• Matching grants per service hour: This is the standard process in which your company matches the volunteer hours an employee contributes to a nonprofit with a donation to that same organization. Usually, the amount is determined by an hourly rate; for example, if your employee volunteers for 45 hours and your hourly rate is $10, your donation to the nonprofit is $450.
• Milestone grants for volunteer goals: When your employee reaches a milestone or a certain number of volunteer hours for the same organization, you’ll donate a set amount of money to that nonprofit. For example, you might donate $600 when your employee volunteers for 50 hours and $1,000 when they reach 80 hours. 
• Team-based volunteer grants: This is similar to milestone grants, but instead of just one employee, it motivates several to work together toward earning grants for a nonprofit. For example, if five of your employees volunteer for over 50 combined hours, you can award $2,500 to that nonprofit. 

The great thing about volunteer grants is that they don’t ask employees to donate anything but time. Employees get an improved volunteer experience because they can generate more impact for their favorite causes without dipping into their own wallets.

Encourage Team Volunteering

While individual volunteering is great, several people volunteering together comes with even more benefits. Team volunteer events can help your company:

• Strengthen the team’s bonds: Team volunteering serves as a bonding experience for your employees. By working with the same goals for the same cause, they foster trust and improve their communication skills. 
• Build community: Not only is your team communicating with each other, but they’re also interacting with the community they’re serving. This makes them feel closer to the mission, encouraging them to keep doing good in the future. 

Team volunteering can take several forms, such as maintaining a community garden, working at the local animal shelter, or sorting donations or packing backpack meals at a local food bank. You can get more creative with these ideas, and remember that anyone can plan these events—even team members themselves! 

Share Volunteer Impact Across the Company

When your employees have racked up an impressive amount of hours volunteering, don’t forget to share that impact across the company. Communicating volunteer impact motivates employees by reminding them that they’re doing good work that actually impacts their communities.

You can share the impact of employee volunteering by creating annual reports, writing a blog post, posting on social media, or hosting an appreciation event for participants. No matter what methods you use, make sure to share concrete data points like:

• Total hours volunteered across the team
• Total money donated through volunteer grants 
• The financial value of volunteer hours
• The causes employees volunteered for 
• Specific impact metrics from the nonprofits you partner with (e.g., number of people served, number of meals distributed, etc.)

Having a dedicated CSR platform simplifies data tracking and analysis, making it easy for you to report the impact of your employee volunteers across the company. 

Wrapping Up

Implementing volunteer programs in your company is exciting and fulfilling, and it’s just the beginning of all the ways you can engage employees with CSR. With this foundation, you can dip your toes into other types of CSR strategies in the future, like donation matching or corporate sponsorships.

Andy Howell is the CEO of Uncommon Giving, a Charleston-based social impact platform that helps companies engage employees in workplace giving and volunteering—think of it as "generosity-powered” employee engagement. Uncommon Giving provides modern, cost-effective tools for employers to live their corporate values, improve employee morale, and enhance brand reputation.

Andy has spent the majority of his career working with SaaS companies serving the nonprofit, HR, and social impact spaces, including Blackbaud, Benevity, Benefitfocus, and Bloomerang. In his role today, he brings a distinct point of view to the meaningful connection between corporate social responsibility, employee engagement, and the desire to make the world a better place.