With the growing number of Millennials and Generation Zs in the workplace, employees are increasingly concerned about the alignment of their employer’s values and purpose with their own, making the potential value of employee volunteering programmes (EVPs) more significant. Romy Heldsinger, CEO of forgood, Africa’s largest volunteering platform, offers some insights into how to increase volunteering participation to deliver greater value to all stakeholders.
Trialogue’s primary research shows that 78% of large South African companies have EVPs. And 83% of corporate volunteers surveyed said they were proud to work for companies that showed commitment to communities, while 67% reported a positive impact on skills development acquired through volunteering programmes. While most volunteers derive positive experiences from volunteering, a lot can be done to drive greater participation and engagement.
Make every day Mandela Day
For many companies, and South Africans in general, Mandela Day is their single moment of giving back during the year. While a meaningful gesture, Mandela Day activities are insufficient to address the deep-rooted social, economic and political challenges that South Africa faces. Unless it is followed up with concrete policies and actions to address issues such as poverty, inequality, corruption and other social ills, Mandela Day is nothing more than a superficial box-ticking exercise.
A single day of service is not enough to bring about substantial and sustained change in our country. We need to make every day a Mandela Day.
An analysis of the forgood platform, where we connect people who want to make a difference to causes that need their help, showed that 42% of all corporate connections made in 2023 happened in July. The good news is that this is down from previous years, and we certainly hope this trend continues. Nevertheless, this statistic is symptomatic of the fact that many EVPs do not have an annual strategy in place.
Companies should create an annual strategy incorporating their key CSI focus areas, including volunteering. Then, instead of allocating 80% of the budget to one month, spread it out over the year with a series of smaller volunteering initiatives. For example, one bank has a volunteering event every month. These events take place at the company’s offices and comprise a quick one-hour intervention, which offers staff a break from their desks and an opportunity to mingle with colleagues. Between 100 and 3 000 staff participate each month.
Not only does this solve the “67 minutes of giving conundrum”, but the interventions can be more sustainable and will demonstrate to employees that you are intentional about volunteering.
CASE STUDY
African Bank is using the forgood platform to achieve its goal of contributing 25 000 volunteer hours by the end of the 2025 financial year. They are doing this through impactful volunteering campaigns and events. Their volunteering programme creates avenues for their employees to give back to their communities, and they claim socioeconomic development (SED) points through the hours invested. Their interventions have empowered thousands of beneficiaries in various ways, including through financial education workshops.
African Bank thinks long term with every project undertaken. Non-profits rely heavily on the support of African Bank volunteers to carry out their missions and achieve their goals. Through skills-based volunteering, their partner non-profit organisations receive skilled support and upskilling of their staff to enable them to become more sustainable.
Ways to increase employee participation
To be sustainable, EVPs not only need to move beyond events like Mandela Day, but they also need to build and maintain momentum and awareness throughout the year. Forgood tracks unique participation across its 20 corporate clients and the average participation rate across clients in 2022 was 23% of employees registered on the system, an all-time high, with one client achieving 57% participation. This compares to an industry average of 15%.
Here are some interventions that have been shown to help achieve higher participation rates:
1. Permission to play! It’s all very well to offer your employees an opportunity to volunteer, but you must also give them ‘permission’ to volunteer. Organisations that get in the way of people’s participation in EVPs because it takes them away from their work are going to see their programmes struggle. Companies should offer volunteer leave and assign volunteering hours.
2. Raise awareness. Educate staff about the benefits and importance of volunteering. Use internal channels as well as social media, community events and local media to share success stories, showcase the impact of volunteering and highlight the opportunities available.
3. Create a supportive environment. Ensure that volunteers have access to the necessary resources, training and support to carry out their volunteering tasks effectively. Regularly communicate with them and address any concerns they may have.
4. Lead from the top. If the CEO is volunteering their time, employees will follow.
Champions. In every organisation, there are inevitably a small group of passionate employees who can be your EVP cheerleaders. Harness their skills and energy.
6. Match giving. For every rand an employee donates, their employer donates an equal amount.
7. Empower volunteers. Give volunteers a sense of ownership and autonomy over their projects. Allow them to contribute their ideas and skills, fostering a more fulfilling experience.
8. Streamline the sign-up process. Make it easy for potential volunteers to sign up by offering digital solutions that simplify the process and reduce barriers to entry.
9. Cascade participation. Encourage employees to ‘invite a friend’ to take part.
10. Offer flexible opportunities. Provide a variety of volunteering opportunities that cater to different schedules, interests and skill sets. Some people may prefer short-term or once-off projects, while others may want to commit to long-term initiatives.
11. Collaborate with local businesses and organisations. Partner with local businesses, schools and other organisations to promote volunteering initiatives. Engage them in sponsoring events or offering incentives to their employees to participate in joint volunteer activities.
12. New employees. Include volunteering in the induction programme for new joiners and encourage new employees to do a volunteering action on the day.
13. Measure impact. Demonstrate the concrete impact of volunteering efforts. Share data and success stories to show how volunteers’ contributions make a difference.
14. Communication. The importance of consistent, clear and concise communication cannot be overstated. Every campaign and event must be supported by effective internal communications. Collaborate internally with other departments, especially marketing and HR, if you are looking to make business impact. At the same time, be aware of information overload, and look beyond email for other channels that can get your message across.
15. Recognition. Awards work! Acknowledge and celebrate your employees for doing good and celebrate their achievements. This can be done through events, awards or public acknowledgement, such as recognising the ‘Volunteer of the Month’ or hosting annual awards ceremonies.
Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2023 (26th edition).
