Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose’s (CECP) Value Volunteering report demonstrates that companies can do more to create value in the volunteering space, specifically by collaborating with non-profit organisations (NPOs) and communities to create a virtuous circle of increased social and business impact.
How did this report come about, and why and how was the research conducted? The Value Volunteering report came out of a series of convenings held by CECP and Philanthropy New York’s working group, Service for Impact. The group serves as a forum for best-practice sharing for leaders in employee volunteerism.
Briefly describe your methodology and what was assessed.
Value Volunteering looked at the tangible ways nonprofits contribute to social good and increased business impact by focusing employee volunteer strategy on nonprofit partner needs, community needs, and social outcomes.
What is Value Volunteering, and what distinguishes it from regular volunteering?
Value volunteering seeks to better understand nonprofit leaders’ perspectives on volunteers. It also aligns the value of volunteering to the value for the business. It outlines best practices for workplace volunteer programs that create value for both the community and the business.
What were the main findings emerging from the report, and what significance do they hold for CSI professionals?
Value Volunteering proves that when workplace volunteer programs with nonprofits contribute to social good in tangible ways, they also have significant business impact. This business impact is not possible without keeping the volunteering strategy focused on the nonprofit partners’ needs, community needs, and social outcomes.
How does value volunteering assist companies, and how can they set up programmes that deliver optimal impact? What steps do they need to take?
A strong volunteer strategy should be centred around meeting community needs and striving for social outcomes and strong measurement is key in knowing the success of your efforts. Depending on which stage your strategy is at, the following should be considered as launching points:
- Idea: collect output data and anecdotes/stories through interviews.
- Sketch: analyze existing data for comparison and conduct focus groups in a series
- Blueprint: survey employees or customers, both flexible and targeted samples
How does the report recommend companies work with non-profit organisations to achieve the desired outcomes?
Companies should work with nonprofit leaders to keep their programs centered on the needs of the communities in which they work and volunteer.
Are there any case studies you would highlight that demonstrate greater impact through value volunteering?
The Measuring the Value section of the report highlights how corporate leaders can review strategy and identify metrics that align to their goals for volunteer programs and the desired business results.
Read CECP’s Value Volunteering Report.
For queries, contact insights@cecp.co
Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2023 (26th edition).
