By: Simatree Volunteering & Giving Committee (Justine Hu, Max White, Daniel Crystal, Beleyou Kebede, Mellissa Perez, Catherine Quinn)
Volunteerism, when done well (Medium, 2020), is a critical part of community progress; corporate volunteering also has positive benefits for employees and employers alike. Individuals who volunteer consistently—either themselves or through workplace programs—may realize positive health and wellbeing benefits (NIH, 2023). Benefits to employers include increased engagement, productivity, and retention—valuable and worth investing in, despite being non-revenue generating (HBR, 2021). When companies value volunteer work and programs, employees and potential applicants respond positively with enhanced pride in being affiliated with that company.
Given the well-known benefits of volunteering, it is surprising that about half of companies do not have established volunteering programs (SHRM, 2022). Larger firms are more likely to offer volunteering programs than smaller ones (HBR, 2021), potentially due to more robust Human Resources infrastructure and increased financial security to back such efforts. With continued volunteering shortages and increased demand for non-profit services after the COVID-19 pandemic (National Council of Non-Profits, 2023), increasing corporate volunteering rates may be one part of a multifaceted solution.
Thankfully, standing up a volunteering program does not need to be a daunting task—by starting small, any organization can start giving back. At Simatree, we’re proud to have an established volunteering practice, which we will continue to evolve over time as we learn from our community partners and volunteers. While each organization is unique, we found that the following four elements have been key to our success. We hope these tips will help other firms, large or small, successfully launch their own volunteering programs.
Begin With What You Know.
Someone at your organization is likely already volunteering on their own. Start there. Simatree’s first volunteering efforts focused on organizations team members already knew well or participated in personally. This kept the level of effort low—no need to do extensive research on the charity to ensure funds were going to a good cause or spend hours on the phone to sort out participation logistics. Instead, we were able to focus exclusively on encouraging participation, which started to nurture a culture of volunteerism. Plus, this ensures at least one person is passionate about the cause—that can be infectious. Even after a more robust program is established, leaning on pre-existing relationships can expand your organization’s volunteering reach. At Simatree, we not only develop our own volunteering program, but we also participate in events led by our parent company, Galway Holdings.
Build a (Flat) Team and Process.
While an individual with a pre-existing volunteering relationship is enough to get started, it is unlikely that one person will be able to grow an initial seed into a full-fledged volunteering program. Through initial volunteering events, identify who is most excited about community engagement and encourage them to formalize an overall approach to corporate volunteerism. At Simatree, this role first fell to one individual with executive support. As engagement grew, we expanded into a five-person Volunteering and Giving Committee with a formal charter documenting objectives and the process for taking volunteering ideas from inception through execution. The charter also established accountability principles, communication norms, and a general operating model. This enabled us to expand the number and breadth of volunteering activities each year. We’ve chosen a flat structure, with active engagement from individuals at all levels, such that volunteering is always supported – but never dictated – by senior leaders.
Diversify Volunteering Opportunities.
Not everyone is going to be excited about the same causes or be able to engage in the same manner (e.g., time, money, location, skills). To be clear: volunteering should be voluntary. But, providing a range of options to appeal to different interests and abilities will broaden participation. At Simatree, we rotate through different types of activities—on-site manual labor and fun charity events; remote-friendly virtual creative tasks and donation-based giving. We maintain a mix of recurring engagements and one-off activities, enabling both consistency and diversity.
Track Your Metrics.
Quantifying the impact of volunteering is critical. At Simatree, we defined what data to capture based on three desired outcomes. First, to share the specific impact with participants, such that they are encouraged to engage in future volunteering opportunities. Second, to learn what types of activities are most engaging to our team and impactful to the community. Third, to demonstrate the real impact of our Volunteering & Giving Committee leaders, such that we avoid the trap of undervaluing unbillable, but nonetheless important, labor. We capture data through a combination of project-specific tracking, annual surveys, and hours logged in our standard time tracking software.
As a small, young firm with 70 percent of our employees engaged in volunteering, we’re certainly pleased with our volunteering practice to date—but we’re even more excited to continue to grow our impact in the coming years.
