April 21-27 marked National Volunteer Week.  How did your company celebrate its employee volunteers?

We know how important volunteer service programs are, not only to companies, but to communities as well.  So to continue that recognition, we dedicate this section to all things employee volunteering.

Still Trying to Make the Case for Employee Volunteer Programs?

• According to the Trends Of Excellence In Employee Volunteering Series by Points of Light Institute, a company will spend about $416 on each person that participates in an employee volunteer program. That’s significantly lower than the $1,200 that it costs per employee for one training program (via human resources think tank Bersin and Associates). And consider the morale and productivity it creates…

• True Impact’s 2013 Volunteerism ROI Tracker Report found that, among other things, employee volunteer programs strengthen the “social capital” – i.e., the personal networks and relationships that generate engagement.  Furthermore, “programs that nurture human interactions are key to engaged employees, locally, remotely, and globally.”

Determining the Value of Employee Volunteerism

• The Independent Sector, a nonpartisan coalition of approximately 600 nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs, uses a strategy based on the average hourly earnings of all production and non-supervisory workers on private non-farm payrolls (as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics).

• In the article “Time Is Money: How to Measure the Value of Volunteers” (The Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 14, 2013), Diane Knoepke of Mission Measurement suggests a formula for determining the net value of your employee volunteers’ time.

• The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship offers a confidential, custom benchmark report that compares a company’s own employee volunteering and giving programs against the Drivers of Effectiveness for Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs, as well as against other companies.

• The Maximizing Corporate Community Investments (MCCI) education program module about corporate volunteerism (developed by the Forum of Regional Associations in association with TCC Group).

• This list of volunteerism resources can help identify local volunteer opportunities for individuals as well as groups. They may also provide additional information about community organizations and issues facing the community.

• Reimagining Service has corporate research about using employee volunteer engagement to achieve social impact.

• Volunteering on nonprofit boards:
  • LinkedIn Board Connect helps nonprofit leaders quickly identify quality professionals to join their boards…and helps professionals identify nonprofit boards they might wish to join.
  • BoardSource’s governance education program, the Certificate of Nonprofit Board Education, is for new and potential board members and covers fundamental nonprofit governance concepts.

• Making it Count: How to Measure the Impact of Volunteerism (January 2011). This report, commissioned by Starbucks Coffee Company and conducted by Mission Measurement, seeks to build a meaningful, yet practical and widely applicable, framework to identify and measure the social impact and business value of volunteerism.

• Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey (2011).  This research from Deloitte suggests a powerful link between frequent participation in workplace volunteer activities and several measures of employee engagement that, in turn, contribute to employees’ perceptions of positive corporate culture.  The survey results may also serve as a sample survey for companies to gauge their own employees’ satisfaction with workplace giving and volunteer programs.

A group of East Bay residents from Orinda, Piedmont, Berkeley and Oakland has launched a foundation with the idea of building an energetic Chinese-American community to promote philanthropy and volunteerism.

The Chinese American Community Foundation, launched Feb. 28 in San Francisco, hopes to use its donor community to tackle challenging problems and advance creative solutions within the Bay Area’s growing Chinese-American population. Led by Board Chairman Dr. Rolland Lowe, of Orinda, Vice Chairman David Lei, of Piedmont, and Treasurer Buck Gee, of Hiller Highlands, the foundation’s goal is to strengthen community-based nonprofits that support Chinese-American society.

The need for this foundation is based on the fact that though many nonprofits operate within the Chinese-American community, running the gamut from youth and senior services to immigration issues and newcomer services, few services exist to ensure their survival. To answer this need, the foundation will work toward becoming a leading platform for sustained philanthropy, focusing on two main areas. The first is to create a more dedicated, aware and effective community of donors.

Read the full article online.

And to learn more about the Chinese American Community Foundation, visit their website.