Volunteerism is a key component of many companies'
philanthropic and community affairs programs. Corporate volunteerism can be
a triple win: helping people in the community while giving employees a chance to
shine and benefiting the company in numerous ways.
CORPORATE VOLUNTEERISM
PROGRAMS
Minnesota companies are utilizing a
growing number of methods to support, encourage, coordinate and facilitate
the volunteer efforts of their employees, including:
- Staffing volunteerism offices or departments to manage the company's
volunteer efforts
- Organizing company volunteer events, such as a paint-a-thon
- Helping employees find volunteer opportunities by posting openings on
company bulletin boards and intranets or via broadcast e-mails
- Providing grants to nonprofits where employees volunteer
To learn more about the volunteerism efforts of some leading Minnesota
companies and some key success factors for an employee volunteer program, read the
following article from the Minnesota
Council on Foundations' Giving Forum newspaper:
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CORPORATE VOLUNTEERISM BENEFITS
Companies reap numerous benefits from employee volunteerism efforts,
including:
-
Leveraging grant dollars — Directing both a company's grant
dollars and its employees' time and talent to the same causes can sometimes
produce results far greater than either could do on their own.
-
A recruiting edge — Many companies find that a solid
volunteerism program can be an important employee recruitment and
retention tool.
- A stable commitment — Volunteerism can help a company increase its commitment
to the community, even in lean economic times, when it might not be able to
increase its charitable grant dollars.
- Teamwork — Company-sponsored volunteer
activities can foster team spirit and allow people to get to
know their colleagues outside the workplace.
- Leadership — Volunteer
opportunities encourage employees to take the lead.
- New skills — Volunteering challenges employees to learn new skills that may help them
in their careers.
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WORKPLACE MENTORING
GUIDE
An increasingly popular employee volunteerism activity is
a mentoring program, which helps employees and youth develop a committed
relationship focused on building the character and capabilities of the young
person.
Some companies have developed workplace mentoring
programs — bringing youth to the company on a regular basis to meet with staff
and engage in various youth-building activities. To
help companies develop a workplace mentoring program, the Minnesota
Council on Foundations offers a Workplace Mentoring Guide (based on a
guide developed by the Baltimore
Giving Project). The easy-to-use guide offers a ten-step process for
developing an effective workplace mentoring program, and includes real-life
examples and sample forms. Download the 28-page guide:
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NEXT STEPS
ONLINE RESOURCES
The following resources can provide you with more information on
corporate volunteerism and mentoring:
Corporate Volunteerism Council - Twin Cities
CVC is a professional organization that supports its corporate members
in their volunteerism efforts and promotes volunteerism throughout the
community.
Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota
MPM promotes mentoring by recruiting adult mentors and providing technical
assistance and training to mentoring programs.
Points of Light Foundation
The Washington, D.C.-based organization provides a variety of resources,
research, trainings and technical assistance to help employers develop and
maintain volunteerism programs.
For help in finding volunteer opportunities, consult the Toolkit's list of volunteer-matching
sites.
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