In the first post of this series, I made the business case for investing in a corporate citizenship program, and in the second, I described various financial giving models. This post expands on the topics of corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility by offering some meaningful ways that your company can make a difference with non-cash (or limited cash) contributions. Here are some steps to get you started:
1. Donate products, services and equipment.
Companies can make a huge impact by donating products, services, and equipment to charities. Technology companies should look at TechSoup, which distributes donated technology products to schools and libraries. These types of non-cash donations can sometimes be even more valuable to charities than cash. Cash contributions are often restricted for programmatic expenses, leaving nonprofits in a bind when they need equipment and other necessities to keep their doors open.
2. Start an employee volunteer program.
A company that sponsors an employee volunteer program benefits by showing its human side and by demonstrating it cares about the communities in which its employees live and work. The company also benefits when its employees feel a greater sense of alignment with their employer and increased fulfillment in their work. There are a few different models to consider when implementing such a program.
First, your company can donate employees’ time as a way of making a positive impact on the local community in ways that are meaningful to employees. In this model, your company can allow employees to participate in some activities during a given work day, such as teaching or mentoring at a local high school or after-school program through a release time policy.
Some companies have release time policies enabling eligible employees to volunteer up to a certain number of hours per month as approved by appropriate managers. Other companies set aside a particular day or days during which employees can volunteer in one of a set of preselected activities benefiting the community or targeted nonprofits. This type of arrangement comes in handy for manufacturing companies that have a much bigger challenge implementing release time policies.
3. Amp up your employee volunteer program with a little cash.
Yes, we’re talking mainly about non-cash contributions right now, but this modification provides a way to make a modest contribution that is tied to volunteerism. This approach helps contain the amount of the contribution, providing an option for companies without other donation programs in place. For example, a company can decide to make a contribution to eligible organizations where employees volunteer by pairing volunteer time with a cash donation.
Your company can also support employees who volunteer after hours or on weekends by sponsoring teams of employees taking part in walk-a-thons, races, and other events raising money for charity, for example. In this model, the company would pay entrance fees for marathons or walk-a-thons. The company can also make a small cash donation using a sliding scale to incentivize more employees to take part in the event.
In another example, your company can encourage employees and managers to form teams to work with charities such as Habitat for Humanity, for example, in fixed-length, turn-key community projects. Be sure to equip participating employee volunteers with T-shirts and water bottles featuring the company logo.
If you want to further encourage employee volunteerism, your company can supplement the donated volunteer time by contributing a set dollar amount for every volunteer hour. Obviously, this can add up quickly if you’re at a large company, depending on the policy you set. Microsoft has done an admirable job of matching both employee volunteer time and cash donations. Microsoft matches its U.S. employees’ donations up to $12,000 annually, according to the company. In 2011, Microsoft employees, in partnership with the company’s matching grant program, raised a record $100.5 million for more than 18,000 community organizations.
4. Hold gift and fundraising drives.
There are many ways to involve employees in projects benefiting local charities. Host a party on site for kids from the Boys and Girls club or some other community organization. Set up a giving tree in the company lobby, cafeteria, or break room during the holidays. Typically a giving tree involves having interested employees purchase gifts matching wishes submitted by a local charity serving foster kids, needy families, or children who are in the hospital.
Organize a toy drive and then send over an executive in a Santa suit to hand out the donated gifts. Have a clothing or canned food drive and bring the collected items to shelters or food pantries. The list goes on. These activities are fun, meaningful, and rewarding for all involved.
What types of programs has your company done? Share your ideas and success stories in the comments!
Image credit: GazeL
A version of my post was originally published on the UpMo blog on May 1, 2012.
