Pledge to Recycle

Pledge to Recycle
Originally uploaded by aimeedars

When I was grocery shopping at the local P&C, I saw this banner above the front office. Employees had signed their pledge to help make the store's recycling efforts successful.

Skills-Based Volunteerism

In a guest column on Fortune online, Deloitte CEO Barry Salzberg discusses that employee volunteerism, particularly volunteer opportunities that capitalize on the skills possessed by a company's workforce (e.g., IT, Marketing, Personell Management), can bring value to non-profit organizaitons, communities, companies, and the employees involved in the volunteer programs. While an internal Deloitte survey* found that 91% of respondents felt skills-based volunteering would promote training and development, only 16% of companies offer skills-based EVPs. This is an area that companies should investigate to integrate into their CSR initiatives.

* Details of the survey are not available in the column; not sure if it was sent to Deloitte employees or other companies

FORTUNE Column

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

An excerpt from The Gort Cloud: The Invisible Force Powering Today's Most Visible Green Brands by Richard Seireeni with Scott Fields explores Green Mountain's success in marketing its product through championing causes such as fair-trade, shade-grown coffees that benefit both the people producing the coffee as well as the migratory birds finding shelter in the coffee fields.

Interestingly, Seireeni reports that most of the initiatives used in the company's marketing come from within. Employees are encouraged "to make a positive difference."

“Bob Stiller believes that when an individual is allowed to follow his own passion, it will work better,” Whalen continues, hence the extensive continuous learning and development seminars offered by the company. “At Green Mountain Coffee, it’s about what you’re passionate about. And when that’s sincerely carried out, it leads to great business results . . .”

Triple Pundit Post

What Makes an Employee Volunteer Program Successful?

In a post on the "Realizing Your Worth" blog, Alyson Genovese distinguishes between transformational and transactional employee volunteer programs (EVP) (discussed in my dissertation under the construct "motive"). In the latter, employee volunteers perform a transaction to give the business good press, a photo opportunity, or improved reputation. The former types of volunteer programs are the ones that, Genovese argues, can really make a difference for both the volunteers and the non-profits. These are the programs that both utilize, and enhance employees' skills--or, I would suggest, offer employees the opportunity to invest in a nonprofit whose mission speaks to them.

Since EVP are more prevalent as corporations' CSR budgets diminish, the issue of motive is one firms must address.

Rewarding Good Employees in a Bad Economy

The Business Insider suggests that when it is not possible to give excellent employees raises for performance, giving them time off to volunteer may be a perk that helps boost morale.

Article

John Hancock Boston Marathon Employee Volunteers

John Hancock is a sponsor of the Boston Marathon. In addition, 89 employee runners participated in the marathon, raising more than $176,000 for summer positions for area teenagers.

Press Release

ThedaCare's Helping Hearts Program

In Waupaca, Wisconsin, ThedaCare, a community-owned health system, sponsors a "Helping Hearts" employee volunteer program. Initiated in 2003, Helping Hearts allows employees to log volunteer hours at their non-profit of choice (and occassionally helps match volunteers with volunteer opportunities). When the employee meets certain requirements, ThedaCare provides a donation to the NPO. ThedaCare also has a matching grants program for selected organizations.

Based on the comments in the postcrescent.com article, ThedaCare's employees appreciate the ability to be recognized for their work in the community as well as raise funds for their favorite organizations. This is a relatively low-cost, low-investement model for organizations, as the employees are primarily responsible for finding their volunteer opportunities and logging the hours. Because employees can choose their organization, they may be more invested in volunteering. At the same time, the organization gains appreciation from the employees and the community. A drawback is that this model does not provide the team-building opportunities group employee volunteer programs offer.

Postcrescent.com Article

Encouraging Employee Volunteerism

A nonprofit organization in NYC, Agencies in Action, the brain child of Bill Oberlander, working with the New York Coalition Against Hunger, has initiated an advertising campaign to encourage for-profit ad agencies to organize employee volunteer trips to soup kitchens and food pantries. According to AdWeek, agencies who agree to participate commit to sending teams of 6 staff for at least three hours a month. With only 20 agencies participating, the program has the potential of staffing at least one of NYC's soup kitchens every weekday for a month.

To me, this is a very interesting development in employee volunteerism--rather than a nonprofit reaching out to a company, or visa versa, this campaign is targeting a community of firms to join forces for a common cause. As employee volunteerism replaces corporate philanthropy, we may see more campaigns like this.

AdWeek Story
Creativity Online Announcement

Effect of Economic Downturn on Corporate Philanthropy

Last month (February 2009), the Conference Board surveyed over 150 companies about how the economic crisis is affecting their corporate social responsibility. Not surprisingly, 45% of companies surveyed had a reduced CSR budget in 2009, and another 16% of firms were considering cuts. However, many companies surveyed are increasing the resources available for their employee volunteer programs.

Conference Board Press Release

Employee Volunteerism Helps Bilodeau Become Businessperson of the Year

Denis Bilodeau, a senior vice president and partner at Oswald Trippe and Company, was named the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce 2008 Robert T. Cashion Business Person of the Year (North Carolina).

Besides the company's growth and expansion, the Chamber cited the company's strong culture of employee volunteerism as a key factor in the decision to award the honor to Bilodeau. In bestowing the award, John Stritch, president of operations for Carolina Beer and Beverage LLC, and recipient of the 2007 honor, explained: "Volunteerism is a cornerstone of [Bilodeau's] company's corporate culture. Under his leadership, the business supports a variety of community, not-for-profit and service organizations, through both financial contributions and employee volunteerism. Making a difference in their home communities is as important to the team as the service they deliver to customers. As employee-owners, they live the corporate philosophy that everyone has a responsibility to make a difference in the lives of others."

Hopefully, Bilodeau and Oswald Trippe and Co. can set a positive example for other companies in the region and in the nation, not just in spite of, but because of the difficult economic times we face.

Mooresville Tribune Article

Matching Gift Programs Affected by Poor Economy

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that a number of companies are suspending their matching gift programs or reducing the amount matched. These programs either give a particular dollar amount to a charity for a given amount donated by the employee or provide donations for a certain amount of employee volunteer hours.

Some of the companies that have adjusted their matching gift programs include Proctor and Gamble, Weyerhauser, General Motors, Pfizer, and Northrop Grumman.

Article