The eye-opening article “The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy” authored by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer gave rise to a generation of business executives who have been brought up with the idea that companies can and should employ their distinctive strengths to maximize their philanthropy, in order to enhance their social and economic impact. This resulted in most companies across the world Investing in corporate volunteering programs as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plans.
However, devising a volunteering plan that aligns with the company's mission, setting up goals for the volunteers, and assigning target metrics, in addition to tracking the employee's data and monitoring the programs can be a daunting task for companies to set up, and opting out might seem like the only option.
Thanks to the digital revolutions taking place at lightning speeds, companies can now access information that previously could only be inferred. Organizations can now learn about the issues that matter most to their employees, connect them with relevant nonprofits, track the time they spend volunteering, and compare these points to other crucial metrics like staff attrition and revenue, thanks to excellent data gathering and monitoring tools.
Here’s why your organization should invest in technology that can improve your employee volunteering programs to benefit employees, nonprofits, and your business.
A global financial services company’s employee volunteering jumped from 18,000 to 35,000 hours in just ten months after using a corporate volunteering software in early 2017. Volunteering was becoming increasingly popular in more places throughout the world, and its effect was spreading to other elements of the business as well. With this information, the organization was able to make decisions that were both economically smart and socially beneficial.
Modern CSR platforms are being built to cater to managers who rely heavily on data. This technology allows for administrative features where managers can manage events and gain program support. Interactive platforms that can not only track employees volunteering habits but also display their achievements to instill interest and nudge employees to continue their volunteering efforts are available to corporations.
A lot of the volunteering opportunities have resorted to digital and remote work owing partially to the pandemic and convenience. This has allowed people to volunteer from across the globe at any time and from anywhere. There are a few organizations that offer this myriad of virtual volunteering opportunities to corporations to help set up their employee volunteering efforts.
Businesses may modify their employee volunteering programs even more as technology improves. Employees can now interact with NGOs that require not only their time but also their specialized expertise through digital integration. This means that software developers and copywriters may provide a digital presence for nonprofits from different countries without any barriers.
As more and more companies adopt some form of corporate volunteering as part of their corporate social responsibility program, they tend to approach it as a business challenge. Understand what works in your corporate environment, then set up goals for the program to deliver that metric.
Typically, organizations take a formal, policy-driven strategy that encourages employees to link their efforts to strategic cause areas that the firm would like to promote or those that are aligned with an external call to action, such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This approach isn’t very sustainable in the long run. Your employees should be able to choose the causes they want to volunteer for. This makes them feel more connected to their work and they receive a higher level of satisfaction when the work is completed.
Tech-driven, corporate volunteer platforms are a big step forward towards promoting a business culture that supports active community engagement. Using a corporate volunteer platform can help your Employees choose not only the cause they want to support but also the nonprofit they would like to associate with, the number of hours they are willing to dedicate, and the skills they would like to volunteer. These volunteer activities can be easily quantified in hours, recorded, and reported at the end of the year for both internal and external stakeholders' benefit.
Chezuba is one such corporate volunteer platform that can provide you with technology that can enhance your CSR efforts and help you inculcate a sustainable corporate volunteer program. Our platform equips companies with the ability to monitor an employee’s volunteering data and document it along with offering your employees a myriad of volunteering opportunities from across the globe. Book a free demo with us today.
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