1. Build Activities Around Culture (Not the Other Way Around)
Your company’s existing brand and culture should guide its corporate volunteering day—not the other way around. Employees and customers will notice if your CSR programs feel misaligned with your company’s image.
Building employee volunteer days around existing culture creates synergy and reinforces your brand in the eyes of the public. Paddle with the current!
2. Discover What Your Community Really Needs
All politics is local, and the same goes for the impacts of your CSR programs. Your immediate community will feel the effects of the company’s volunteering day more intensely than other populations. Forging good relationships with local nonprofits is crucial for successful volunteerism programs.
Groundswell’s CSR software connects clients to more than 1.8 million U.S.-based and international nonprofits. Each listing has been either vetted by the IRS or cleared Groundswell’s own rigorous criteria.
3. Prioritize Participation
“If you build it, they will come” might play well in baseball movies involving supernatural figures, but it’s generally not true for corporate ventures. Maximizing participation in your corporate volunteering day requires removing friction for your coworkers. Most employees simply won’t bother with figuring out complicated or confusing CSR software.
Groundswell provides clients with intuitive dashboards that make it easy for employees to organize and sign up for events. Automated reminders give participants plenty of advance notice to block off their calendars and make arrangements.
4. Establish Impact Expectations, Then Measure — and Adjust Accordingly
Having realistic expectations around the first edition of your company’s employee volunteering day is key to a smooth, stress-free outing. Before the day of the event, lay out:
- How many employees you want to attend, either as a raw number or percentage
- The number of satisfaction surveys you want returned
- The percentage of signups who actually show up
- Event-specific impact figures, such as individuals helped, meals prepped, or care packages constructed.
Without a platform like Groundswell’s that prioritizes data reporting and presentation, you’re going to have a lot of after-event, tedium-inducing work. Our software lets clients track attendance, log employee volunteer hours, and manage events while they’re happening, so administrative work doesn’t get pushed to the back burner.
No matter what happens on the first corporate volunteering day, you can always use the data you DO collect to refine the next edition.
5. Make the Big Day Personal
Data doesn’t have half the impact it could have unless you humanize the corporate volunteering day. Get quotes, pictures, videos, and other content from employee organizers and star volunteers. Those who directly benefit from your company’s volunteerism can also share their stories, but be careful to obtain the necessary permissions.
Corporate Volunteer Day Ideas for Your Company
There’s no shortage of volunteering opportunities for companies looking to start CSR programs. Here are some ideas to help you get started.
- Community or riverbank cleanup. These volunteering opportunities are popular because they require little planning and show immediate impact. Pictures and videos play well with cleanup outings.
- Skills-based volunteering. If your company provides products or services that are financially out of reach for some people, you’ve got a ready-made volunteer idea that you could easily launch in the near future.
- Visits to senior centers. Older individuals with no means of getting out in the community depend on entertainment coming directly to them. Your employees’ time is the most valuable resource they can provide.
- Animal shelter visits. Few things play better on social media than play time with furry pals. Most shelters’ employees are stretched thin and would gladly accept the help.
- Hygiene packages for the local unhoused community. Tailoring these care packages for the season adds an extra layer of compassion.
- After-school programs. Mentorship for local youth is one of the best investments companies can make. Starting a little brand awareness among future clients is also never a bad idea!
- Blood drives. The Red Cross regularly issues urgent calls for blood and platelet donors.
- Virtual volunteer days. More companies have adopted telecommuting in recent years. Your deskless workers might find it more convenient to volunteer as an online tutor, for instance, or to provide pro bono website support for area nonprofits.
The Bottom Line: The Most Impactful Corporate Volunteer Days Rely on Good Design
Your employer’s corporate volunteering day doesn’t have to be as elaborate as those of Fortune 500 companies. It’s definitely okay to start small and build momentum as you refine your broader CSR strategy.
No matter what volunteer idea you start with, it’s crucial to have the right CSR software. Groundswell’s purpose-made platform supports CSR programs from the early planning stages to the execution and data reporting phases.
Ready to see how Groundswell can help bring your volunteer day ideas to life? Reach out today to book your personalized demo.
