Increasingly, businesses of all sizes see an active, visible role in their communities as an important part of their brand. Simply put, in addition to the benefits to charities in your community, supporting good causes provides the best kind of PR, and builds awareness and goodwill.
At the same time, more and more employees are evaluating potential employers on the basis of those very same things - does the employer help their communities? Do they make it easy for employees to get engaged in the causes they care about? In other words, does the culture of this business match my own expectations?
These questions are now critical elements of how a prospective employee evaluates who they want to work for. Just as important, they have become part of the overall work experience that can make the difference between keeping or losing a key employee.
Is it important to your business and your brand, and if so, what goals do I need to set?
In other words, is this something that I believe matters to my business, my employees, and my customers? If it does, then set some basic goals for the program. Those can be financial (giving a specific $ target) or number of volunteer hours given. Alternatively, those goals can be to support specific types of non-profit (homelessness in your community, for example) or for levels of participation in your workforce (for example having 50% engage with the program in the first year.)
Whatever goals you set, be ready to measure them so that you can tune the program as you grow it.
How do I make sure it gets adopted in my business?
There’s no point kicking off such a valuable program without also making sure it’s successful. The most important step is to make sure your employees know about it. That means launching very visibly, of course, but it also means regular reminders. Showing employees the impact that the program is having (hours given, dollars raised, people served, etc.) is the most powerful way to reinforce the program and drive engagement. Also, make sure it’s part of your *visible* brand when recruiting. That means, both when recruiting and during on-boarding, make sure new employees are aware of the program and how to join.
What charities and cases are important to this business, my employees, and the communities we serve?
According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S. This offers a potentially bewildering choice to support, so it’s important to make it easy for employees to identify who they want to support, and equally make it easy to connect with those non-profits to set up your support for their causes.
Of course there may already be non-profits that are important to your employees, and to you and your business. So start small and build on what really matters to your employees and your community.
How can I make it easy for my employees to give?
One of the most critical factors in the success of any program for giving and volunteering is ease of access and use. If your charitable program is simple to use, operates seamlessly in the background, and provides positive reinforcement to your employees, it will be far more successful than if it’s difficult, complex, and unappealing. So, in addition to promoting the program itself, it’s important to make it as simple to use as possible. Make pay deduction easy to administer so that employees only need to set up once. Integrate volunteering time into your regular time-tracking process. Provide easy to access reports on the impact to fuel further engagement. And don’t forget about yourself too! Keeping it simple and easy to administer will help keep your costs down while improving everyone’s work experience.
How do I measure the impact and track the activity?
The final step in setting up a successful Giving and Volunteering program is to make sure you can measure the results. This is the most effective way to promote engagement from your employees, and to help provide tangible proof of the impact your business is having on causes people care about. Report both internally and on your business website. Make the power of your employee’s giving and volunteering part of the brand of your business. Whether your reporting on hours given, dollars donated, or simply the number of charities, helped, be proud of the positive power of your business.
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Formal giving and volunteering programs provide incredible benefits to the business, the employees, and the community at large. While they have traditionally been only available to large businesses because of the complexity of administration needed, new technology now means that businesses of any size can take an active part in helping important causes, and that means that everyone benefits in the long run. So, if you haven’t considered the power of such a program to engage the best employees, drive visibility for your business, and make a positive impact on your community there has never been a better time to start. DOWNLOAD OUR FREE EBOOK - GIVE A LITTLE, GAIN A LOT
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isolved Giving & Volunteering is a new way to make it efficient and easy to have your tax-deductible giving come through payroll deductions. With Giving & Volunteering, you, alongside your company, can benefit charities of your choice and participate in volunteer efforts in your community. Employers will often match employee contributions, making your donation go further while influencing your company’s corporate responsibility efforts.
Make an impact together
Find social causes to support, see who your coworkers are supporting, and discover ways to volunteer with your organization and around your community.
* Search over 2 million connected non-profits
* Give to your favorite charity (or find a new one to get involved with!)
* Keep track of your charitable donations and volunteer hours
* Safe, easy, and reliable place to give to your favorite charities
* Company-wide opportunities to be involved in social causes and support featured nonprofits
Give your way
Deduct donations directly from your payroll once or set up reoccurring donations—so easy! Choose a preferred charity or multiple charities to make contributions to, the choice is up to you.
* Create more visibility for your favorite charity
* Have a positive impact on your community
* Get involved with your company’s charitable giving initiatives Check Make tax time easier
REACH OUT TO US TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS AND FEATURES OF GIVING & VOLUNTEERING!
