Gap Inc.'s "Be What's Possible" Program

Gap, Inc. has a number of programs that allow employees to become involved in social action at work. The "Service Leadership" section of their corporate social responsibility report. In 2010, employees donated over 428,000 volunteer hours, primarily through skills-based volunteerism that leverages an employee's knowledge, skills and abilities to help local charitable organizations. The report explains: 

employees provide skills-based volunteerism that ranges from writing a competitive analysis for a women’s organization to creating a database for a workers’ rights group to providing organizational development for a family services agency. As an ongoing example, a team from our Legal department has been working with two youth nonprofits to provide the legal expertise they need to expand their services, acting similarly to an in-house counsel for these organizations.

To help associates identify the volunteer opportunities that best align with their skills, Gap, Inc. provides a website called "Be What's Possible." 

This site outlines the different social action programs available to employees, including grants for team-based volunteering, "money-for-time" (donations to non-profits when an employee volunteers a minimum number of hours), Camp Old Navy, board member match, and more. Gap, Inc. provides two different toolkits that help employees identify the intersection between their skills and their passions and provide advice for maximizing the impact employees can have on their chosen cause. Finally, the site outlines the target causes (those that "fit" with Gap Inc.'s social mission) and offers instructions for associates who want to take advantage of matching donations.

Gap, Inc. believes the opportunities for social action at work pay off with more committed employees:

We see a direct connection between our employees’ volunteerism and their commitment to Gap Inc.: engaged employees deliver strong business results. In a recent employee survey, nearly all respondents said it is important for them to work for a company that invests in the community.