What Are the Best Platforms for Managing a Corporate Volunteering Program?

If your company has gotten to the point where it needs some type of corporate volunteering software to manage corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, we applaud you. The team here at Groundswell believes that any action, no matter how small, can change the world, and it can start with you and your coworkers.

Now, however, comes the somewhat tedious part: choosing the best platform for your company. You may have heard about some of the so-called heavy hitters like Benevity, YourCause, Submittable, and Bonterra Cybergrants. But how well would they work for a company of your size? And, could you get by with free CSR tools? 

We’ll answer those questions, talk a bit about some of the more well-known platforms, and give our recommendations. 

Table of Contents:

• What is a Corporate Volunteering Program?
• How Do I Create a Corporate Volunteer Program?
• The Groundswell Difference
• Groundswell: the All-in-One Corporate Volunteering Platform for Modern Philanthropists

What is a Corporate Volunteering Program?

A corporate volunteering program is an initiative (or set of initiatives) within a company or department that provides employees with charitable opportunities. Volunteering typically involves individuals donating their time and labor rather than money. Volunteering that involves using your professional experience is often called skilled volunteering or skills-based volunteering.

One example of a corporate volunteering event is a park cleanup day, wherein one company’s employees help provide beautification at a nearby green space. Another example could involve a tax accounting firm providing free advice to underprivileged individuals. Companies (or employees at the company) may start their own initiatives or partner with existing nonprofits.

What is a Corporate Volunteering Platform?

A corporate volunteering platform is specialized software that helps companies and employees create, organize, manage, and execute volunteer programs. Depending on the platform, it might allow you to segment groups of employees, track participation rates, visualize important data to inform the next volunteer program, and make the administrative process simpler for CSR executives.

How Do I Create a Corporate Volunteer Program?

If you identify the need, capability, and desire for your company to start engaging in corporate social responsibility volunteering, you may need some type of software to keep everything organized. 

To determine the specific technology you need, it may help to answer the following questions:

• What kind of volunteering initiatives do our employees want to participate in?
• How many volunteers do we expect to recruit?
• Will the company match employees’ volunteering hours with monetary donations or reward volunteers with job-related perks?
• Will one or multiple people help organize the corporate volunteering programs?
• Will employees be able to create and manage their own events?
• Do we anticipate the volunteer program lasting indefinitely?
• How much can our company justify spending on a corporate volunteer platform?
• What kind of learning curve can our employees tolerate?

Free Corporate Volunteer Software Providers

So, are there free corporate volunteering platforms out there? Yes, but the capabilities are limited.

One of the more popular volunteer platforms is POINT. The no-cost tier of this software includes an array of features to help users plan and manage volunteer outings. However, the first paid tier, which starts at $99 per month, includes check-in stations, document storage, ongoing events, and general program management—features we believe your company shouldn’t go without.

Vome Volunteer is another CSR volunteer platform that offers a free, basic tier of services. It provides basic functions to help managers recruit and onboard volunteers, as well as access onboarding documents. Like POINT, though, its free tier leaves out some important capabilities that we think are vital for effective, impactful campaigns.

But that’s really no surprise, right? Generally speaking, you get what you pay for…

Paid Corporate Social Responsibility Technologies

If your company is willing to lay down some serious cash, you could get access to the legacy software platforms. Some of the more notable ones include: 

• Benevity
• YourCause
• Deed
• Cybergrants
• Submittable

Pricing differs based on the vendor and software tier, but you should expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars on most of those guys’ products, and that doesn't even include the implemenation fees. That typically isn’t a problem for Fortune 500 companies, but Groundswell believes CSR programs should be an option for any company—no matter the size.

The Groundswell Difference

Because Groundswell believes in honesty and transparency, we’ll be upfront: our software isn’t free, and we haven’t been around as long as the legacy platforms. But we think we’re a great fit for both enterprise companies and smaller and mid-sized companies that want a cost-effective, robust app. Here’s why.

We Use Realistic, Transparent Pricing

Many of the other platforms don’t list monthly or yearly prices on their websites. Or, they may list pricing for their least-expensive tiers. On top of that, they often add fees for supposed “add-on” services that, frankly, should be included in the original pricing. 

Groundswell's pricing is always transparent and includes all the fees and costs you should expect. Plus, you'll get unlimited admins and events. No surprise charges here. Also, we only take a 1% distribution fee to cover donation processing, while other platforms can charge 3% or more.

Groundswell’s Highly Rated App Helps Volunteers Manage Programs No Matter Their Location

From the beginning, Groundswell wanted our CSR clients to enjoy an accessible platform. With more employees shifting to teleworking arrangements, it’s more important than ever to have functioning mobile apps so coworkers can stay connected. (Most legacy platforms don't even offer a mobile app.) The Groundswell mobile app, which consistently garners high ratings, allows volunteers to easily check in to events and keep their operations organized when they’re out in the field. When you can do more at the volunteering site, you don’t have to do as much back in the office.

We’re Here When You Need Us

One of the most common pain points we hear about with legacy platforms is the lack of responsive client support. Our team works meticulously to ensure that every question or concern gets answered promptly and to each client’s satisfaction. If you can’t use our software, then you’re not getting your money’s worth, and we work hard to keep that from happening. 

We also don’t charge extra fees for customer support like some of the other guys.

Groundswell: the All-in-One Corporate Volunteering Platform for Modern Philanthropists

If your company needs an effective corporate volunteering platform that doesn’t hide pricing or fees, we think Groundswell is the best option. We might be a little biased, but our company exists to democratize CSR programs and make them accessible to lean businesses. 

Volunteering management is far from our only capability. Our software helps CSR professionals oversee employee-led donor-advised funds (DAFs), employee assistance funds (EAFs), corporate grants, employee giving initiatives, and company-matched donations. If you’re worried about ROI, we must mention that company-led charitable endeavors often pay for themselves!

Whatever your CSR software needs are, we’re confident our product can help meet them. Reach out to our team at your convenience to schedule your personalized, no-strings-attached demo.