Whether you work for a small business or a large corporation, giving back to the local community is essential for building a positive reputation and a name for yourself at the local level. If your 2018 business goals include starting an employee volunteer program at the office, these five simple steps will help get you there.
Assess Community Needs and Employee Availability
First, survey your employees to discover their level of interest and experience with volunteering. Next, contact your local volunteer center to learn more about upcoming opportunities and what type of work or donations are most needed in your area. The volunteer center will help streamline the process, allowing you to focus on organizing your employees without needing to spend tons of time searching for nonprofits in need.
Identify Business Needs and Partner with the Appropriate Nonprofits
You should have business priorities that certain volunteer opportunities can help meet. Take care to ensure your program reflects business values and builds upon your mission statement. Taking business objectives and the employee survey into consideration when selecting volunteer events will help ensure you're selecting projects that will fit in well with your company culture.
Get Managers Involved
You'll need to designate company leaders to run your volunteer program, and managers in various departments are typically the best option. Open your business's volunteer leadership council up to one member from each team within the company, limiting the size of the group depending on the size of your business.
Develop a Roadmap for Volunteering Success & Determine Your Budget
Once your business's volunteer leadership council has been determined, it's time to set up some guidelines. Determine your annual volunteering budget and create a timeline that lays out how many events your business will participate in over the course of the year. Develop policies and a structure that will hold employees accountable.
Reward Volunteers & Publicize Your Efforts
Encouraging employee engagement in your volunteer events will be crucial for the success of the program. In addition to selecting events that employees will be interested in participating in, you'll want to offer rewards of some sort as incentive. For example, offering your employees paid time off for the number of hours they spend volunteering will make them more likely to show up for events that take place on the weekend. You can also try other incentives such as offering a pizza party when donation goals are met.
Volunteering can help boost employee morale and improve the credibility of your business. Ready to get started? Share your tips for starting an employee volunteer program and ask questions in the comments below!
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