How to Encourage Your Employees to Volunteer Their Time

When tied to corporate social responsibility (CSR), a thoughtful employee volunteer program can improve a company’s reputation and boost company culture and morale, all while benefiting communities at large.

But getting employees to buy into corporate volunteerism can present unique challenges. While some members of the workforce face barriers that prevent them from volunteering, others simply don’t feel connected to the causes their companies are backing.

So, how do companies encourage their employees to volunteer their time?

In this article, we’ll explore how to get employees involved in your corporate volunteer program so you can create a fulfilling workplace that’s also a force for good.

Why is a Corporate Volunteering Program Important?

A corporate volunteer program ‚ which is one pillar of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, can help organizations:

• Meet market expectations: 71% of U.S. consumers choose socially responsible companies, and today's employees expect their employers to demonstrate community commitment.
  
  
• Support employees: Volunteer programs can help employees build new skills like communication and collaboration.
  
  
• Improve health and wellbeing: Volunteering improves participants' physical and mental health, creating a more engaged workforce.
  
  
• Gain a competitive advantage: Corporate volunteerism strengthens your employer brand, builds team cohesion, and creates valuable community partnerships.
  
  
• Create community impact: Well-structured programs allow your company to make meaningful positive change while fostering a culture of purpose and shared values.

How Companies Can Encourage Their Employees to Volunteer Their Time: 10 Best Strategies 

Whether you’re starting a corporate volunteer program from scratch or simply looking to enhance employee participation, here are 10 strategies for increasing employee volunteerism.

1. Get Upper Management Involved

Signal to employees that your corporate volunteer program is about more than just optics. Have upper management, board members, and other leadership promote your program via email and other company-wide communication channels.

What’s more, upper management should lead by example by volunteering themselves.

2. Partner with Volunteer Centers

Using a corporate volunteerism software like Volunteer Link to ensure your program is addressing real community needs by partnering with local volunteer centers.

Volunteer centers connect volunteers to smaller community-based organizations, making these resource centers valuable hubs for local volunteerism.

By working with these centers, your employees can access a wealth of exciting opportunities while you ensure your program has a positive impact.

3. Prioritize Local Community Goals

The most successful programs prioritize community goals over the interests of upper management.

In fact, a majority of employees who choose not to participate are discouraged by opportunities that only reflect the interests or values of the management. Engaged employees want to volunteer for causes that reflect their values and make a real difference in the community.

Enhance employee engagement by collaborating with community partners to create a program that benefits the community in a genuine and mutually beneficial manner.

4. Give Volunteer Paid Time Off

One of the best ways to encourage employees to volunteer is by giving them dedicated paid volunteer time off (VTO) during work hours. Management should encourage employees to use this time, so employees feel comfortable doing so.

You may also decide to dedicate certain times of year to community-based employee volunteerism. A volunteer month or specific service days during work hours will allow you to scale your efforts and promote participation more broadly.

5. Provide Flexibility

To appeal to more employees, you’ll need to give them options. These might include:

• Offering varied opportunities: Let participants choose from social impact opportunities that appeal to different interests, abilities, and availability.
  
  
• Considering families: Engage busy parents by offering weekend opportunities appropriate for children and teens. 
  
  
• Explore microvolunteering: Some of your volunteers may not be able to commit to an entire day of volunteering. Microvolunteering is a great way to encourage those who want to test the waters before committing to regular volunteer opportunities.
  
  
• Going virtual: Virtual volunteering is an excellent option for remote employees who still want to engage in company-wide initiatives.

6. Employ User-Friendly Technology

Make it easy for employees to get involved with simple ways to find and sign-up for volunteer opportunities.

Smart volunteer management technology like Volunteer Link enhances the employee experience while streamlining the behind-the-scenes management processes through automation.

A robust corporate volunteer management tool allows organizations in your community to post opportunities through one streamlined platform while matching employees with activities they’ll love, simplifying communications, and tracking and reporting on your program's impact.  

7. Gather Employee Input

Employees are more likely to buy into your program when they feel emotionally invested. 

Survey employees to identify the causes they’re passionate about. Ask where they are already volunteering and consider taking cues from employees already engaged in community issues. You can also create focus groups and invite employees to share their ideas for shaping the direction of your program.

8. Leverage Employee Skills and Expertise

Volunteering is a terrific way to both empower employees and help them develop new personal and professional skills.

Tap into their unique expertise by identifying skill-based volunteer opportunities with the help of your community partners. You may even consider implementing mentorship and coaching initiatives that benefit individuals entering the workforce. Volunteers will be more engaged when they know they’re making a real difference.

9. Incentivize

In addition to volunteer paid time off, consider other ways for incentivizing workplace volunteerism, like:

• Dollars for Doers: Matching programs like Dollars for Doers reward volunteers’ time with company-sponsored monetary gifts toward a designated organization. Volunteer matching is an effective tactic for boosting the immediate impact of volunteers’ efforts.  
  
  
• Healthy competition: Bolster your program by gamifying volunteerism and encouraging group volunteering. Create team challenges and track each team’s volunteer hours. Reward the team that logs the most hours over a given period of time.
  
  
• Free swag: Your volunteers aren’t in it for the stuff. However, exclusive swag—like custom t-shirts—is a great way to commemorate a volunteer event while fostering a sense of community. Plus, branded merchandise also serves as advertising for the nonprofit organizations you support!

10. Set Employee Volunteerism Goals, Track Impact, Celebrate Success

Give your employee volunteers direction and purpose by tying volunteerism to professional development and personal goals:

• Set goals: Set collective goals, like quarterly impact targets. Then, invite employees to set their own goals. What do they hope to get from the program professionally and personally? How does your company plan to help employees meet these goals? Check-in with your employee volunteers throughout the year to get a sense of their progress.
  
  
• Celebrate success: Showing volunteer appreciation and recognizing your employees’ efforts goes a long way toward supporting a culture of service where volunteers regularly enjoy taking part. Take time to celebrate your employee volunteers and thank them for their commitment to your company’s corporate social responsibility.
  
  
• Track impact: Employees and stakeholders want to know that their volunteer work is impactful. Communicate and report on volunteer program impact each quarter to acknowledge employees’ contributions and maintain motivation.
  
  
  Pro tip: Volunteer Link offers a dedicated solution for corporate volunteer programs to streamline the entire volunteer lifecycle!

Need more inspiration? Check out these standout corporate volunteer programs →