The one-day volunteering event — where employees give back to their communities by packing boxes of food or cleaning up a park or fundraising — is so ingrained in corporations that it’s long been lampooned by pop culture, AP News reports.
However, as the decline of volunteerism deepens, both corporations and nonprofits are looking for something more useful.
“A leader calling up the nonprofit saying, ‘Hey, I have 20 people that can be over there in an hour. What do you want them to do?’ That’s not helpful,” said Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas, managing director of corporate insights and engagement at Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose, which advises companies on sustainability and corporate responsibility issues.
“What you want is for those volunteers to be part of an ongoing engagement, so those volunteers become embedded in the community,” she said. “They understand better what those participants needs are and they truly are then approaching their volunteerism work not as ‘I’m helping you,” but with a lens of ‘We’re in a partnership about making our community a better place.’ That levels the playing field. It doesn’t make it charity. It makes it a relationship.”
It’s the kind of relationship that more and more corporations are trying to cultivate with their philanthropy.
Tech giant Salesforce is a high-profile example of that connection, with its wide range of volunteer programs and funding initiatives that focus on education and workforce development, as well as climate and community resilience.
FULL STORY
Corporate volunteerism: ‘Not charity. It’s good business.’ (AP News)
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