Did you know that 71% of employees stress the importance of working in an environment that supports corporate giving and volunteering? Besides the apparent benefits of helping nonprofits in need and demonstrating your company’s commitment to social good, corporate volunteerism allows you to cater to employee interests and keep your team engaged.

However, to make the most of corporate volunteerism, employees must actively participate in the opportunities you offer. In this guide, we’ll share tips for how you can incorporate volunteerism into your operations and get your staff on board.

1. Develop a formalized corporate volunteer program.

To encourage volunteerism, you need a formalized program that organizes your volunteer initiatives and makes it clear how employees can get involved. This program may be an offshoot of your existing corporate social responsibility (CSR) program or an entirely new endeavor.

To incentivize volunteer participation, your program may include elements like:

• Volunteer grants. Volunteer grants are donations your business makes to nonprofits based on how many hours your employees volunteer with them. You may offer a certain amount per hour volunteered or a set donation once your employees reach a certain volunteer hour threshold. When employees know they can earn money for their favorite causes by volunteering, they’ll be more likely to participate.
• Volunteer time off (VTO). Like regular paid time off (PTO), volunteer time off (VTO) allows employees to get paid while off the clock—but specifically for volunteering. This option provides flexibility so employees can volunteer during working hours without worrying about whether they’ll still get paid.

If you need help creating a volunteer program that aligns with your company values, consider working with a corporate philanthropy consultant. Aly Sterling Philanthropy’s corporate philanthropy guide explains that this type of consultant can help you nail down your broader CSR program’s purpose, identify gaps in your philanthropy approach, and create impactful partnerships with nonprofits.

2. Use corporate volunteer software.

Just as nonprofits use software to manage volunteers, you’ll need a dedicated solution to properly manage your corporate volunteer program. Luckily, there are many software options out there specifically designed for this purpose.

360MatchPro’s corporate volunteering platforms guide recommends looking for a platform with the following features:

• Volunteer personalization options so you can keep track of employees’ skills and provide them with tailored volunteer opportunities
• Employee sign-up tools that allow them to easily sign up to volunteer
• Scheduling and hours tracking to manage volunteer shifts and track volunteer hours
• Event management tools to plan and facilitate company-wide volunteer events
• Reporting options to measure employee participation, VTO usage, and per-cause or per-organization impact
• Employee giving capabilities so your employees can make an even larger impact

Additionally, look for a platform that’s easy to use, aligns with your budget, and integrates with your existing technology for the best results.

3. Offer a variety of volunteering options.

The more options there are for how employees can volunteer, the more likely they are to participate. Add variety to your volunteer program by arranging options like:

• Micro-volunteering. As the name suggests, micro-volunteering refers to smaller volunteer opportunities that aren’t as time-consuming as a typical volunteer outing. These opportunities allow employees with a lot on their plate to still get involved and make a difference. For example, volunteers could help a nonprofit with data entry tasks or break down cardboard boxes before a recycling day.

• Skills-based volunteering. Employees can use their unique skill sets to assist nonprofits through skills-based volunteering. They may leverage skills related to their careers, such as marketing, financial management, or graphic design support. Alternatively, they may use soft skills like translating documents or mentoring youth.
• Virtual volunteering. Remote employees or those who live far from the organizations they’d like to support may benefit from virtual volunteering options. These may include virtual event support, online advocacy, or video editing.

To ensure your volunteer program caters to the needs of your community, reach out to nonprofits and ask them if there are any specific volunteer roles they need to fill. For example, a nonprofit may need volunteers to interview for their feasibility study. If you have employees who are involved in that organization, you can work with the nonprofit to assemble a group of volunteers for that specific project.

4. Recognize your corporate volunteers.

Show your employees how much you value their participation in your corporate volunteer program by recognizing their contributions. Demonstrating your appreciation will help you retain volunteers and continue to run a successful volunteer program.

You may choose to recognize employees who participate in your volunteer program by:

• Sending thank-you messages. Start by sending your corporate volunteers a simple thank-you email after they participate in a volunteer opportunity. For avid volunteers, you may put in more effort to thank them by calling or sending them a handwritten thank-you letter.
• Posting social media shoutouts. Publicly highlight the employees in your corporate volunteer program by posting about them on social media. Make sure to get their permission first. Then, share photos of your corporate volunteers in action. Accompany these photos with captions that show how grateful you are for their participation.
• Hosting a volunteer appreciation event. Gather your corporate volunteers for a volunteer appreciation event. You may host a luncheon, dinner, happy hour, or party to thank your employees for their hard work.

It’s likely that the nonprofits your corporate volunteers support will also reach out with their own appreciation. If some organizations send a general message of thanks to your company, make sure to share it with employees in your volunteer program so they receive those appreciation messages as well.

5. Solicit feedback.

The best way to improve your corporate volunteer program is to solicit feedback directly from your employee participants. Send them surveys asking about their experience, such as:

• How would you rate your overall experience participating in our corporate volunteer program and why?
• What did you enjoy and/or dislike about using our corporate volunteer platform?
• Did participating in our corporate volunteer program contribute to your personal or professional development? Why or why not?
• Would you participate in future volunteer outings or opportunities in the future? Why or why not?
• Would you recommend participating in our corporate volunteer program to your colleagues? Why or why not?
• What could we do to improve your experience in the program?

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Through surveys like this, you can gain valuable insights into the volunteer experience and use them to inform future improvements or adjustments. For example, an employee may explain that they liked packaging food kits for a local homeless shelter but didn’t enjoy assisting with donor stewardship activities as much. Note preferences like this in your corporate volunteer software so you can match volunteers with relevant opportunities in the future.

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Through corporate volunteering, your business can form powerful partnerships with nonprofits, build a positive reputation, and engage employees. Prioritize the employee experience to create a robust, successful corporate volunteer program that fuels social good for years to come.

Long before Aly Sterling founded her eponymous consulting firm, she was solving the unique yet similar problems encountered by nonprofit organizations.

Her decision to start her own business in 2007 was driven by her belief in leadership as the single most important factor in organizational success, and her determination to work with multiple causes at one time to scale societal change.

Aly’s expertise includes fundraising, strategic planning, search consultation and board leadership development for the well-positioned nonprofit. She is regularly sought for comment by trade and mainstream media, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy and U.S. News & World Report. She has contributed to publications of BoardSource and The Governance Institute, as well as the Toledo Chamber of Commerce and The Giving Institute.