Ask a CSR Friend: When it Comes to Volunteering, What Counts?

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Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned pro, we know it takes a village to create vibrant workplaces where employees are equipped to contribute to the communities and causes they care about. So, when you need a trusted advisor to lean on, rely on Points of Light to be Your CSR Friend. Each month, our experts share their wisdom and wit to address a specific but often universal challenge related to your work as a corporate social impact practitioner.

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Dear CSR Friend,

I lead a well-loved and, I think, well-used employee volunteer program. However, every year we struggle to confirm how many employees are participating because we can’t seem to convince all employees to report what they’ve been up to. I know it’s only one way to measure the output of our employees’ efforts but it’s disheartening to not be able to move the needle on the annual participation goal we set because so many aren’t reporting their activities. Do you have any new ideas to incentivize or reward employees who track their volunteer time?

Signed,
Underreporting in Union City

Dear Underreporting,

Don’t you wish every CSR role came with a 101 session on behavior change and organizational psychology? Alas, it doesn’t, and corporate social impact leaders like yourself have been grappling with this question since the dawn of time! There are some straightforward ideas to motivate employees to track their volunteer activities, but first, let’s highlight one crucial element—defining your company’s view on volunteering.

At Points of Light, we have a formal definition of an employee volunteer program: a structured effort to motivate and enable employees to volunteer under the guidance of their employer. However, the true definition is shaped by each company’s unique culture, values, goals, priorities, employee interests, and the needs of the communities they serve.

Let’s first address the elephant in the room. Should we be tracking activities and participation in the first place?

Inputs and outputs are great to have on hand when goal setting, benchmarking, and applying for external recognition. For instance, I can tell you that, on average, this year’s honorees of The Civic 50 engaged 40% of their workforce in external volunteering. But that number doesn’t paint a clear picture of the impact that these volunteers had on communities and causes. It does tell us that these honorees are going above and beyond the average participation rate provided each year by CECP in their Giving in Numbers report. And it tells us that there is still room to grow when it comes to widening the pool of potential participants, ensuring equitable access across all employee roles and work settings.

A pro tip from me to you: tracking activities and participation help you understand employee interests and engagement but consider what else you may want to report on related to your volunteer activities to demonstrate the impact of your employer’s social impact strategy. Check out this resource from ACCP and True Impact to get started on measuring outcomes.

Explicit, written guidelines – especially as they relate to what counts as volunteering – ensure consistency and provide a clear understanding of eligible activities and partners. Surprisingly, many companies don’t write out guidelines, leaving employees unsure of what’s expected and what they should be reporting. With a global workforce where many cultures view volunteerism as simply being neighborly and some companies introducing “acts of kindness” that aren’t associated with a nonprofit, an agreed upon definition of what counts as volunteering will help all employees better understand what they need to track.

Why written guidelines matter:

• They serve as a go-to source for program details.
• They prevent misinterpretations and ensure uniformity.
• They help manage future requests and align with company interests.
• They solidify the program’s principles and expectations.

Accessible, up-to-date guidelines, regularly communicated to all employees, reduce daily inquiries and boost engagement. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach—each company should define what counts as volunteering based on its goals, culture, and reporting needs. A word to the wise: don’t get caught up in semantics. Call them “guidelines” or a “policy” or a “program manual,” whatever will indicate to colleagues that this is a resource that will explain what they should be reporting.

To start, consider your response to the activities listed below and whether they would count as volunteering at your company. There’s no right or wrong answer to whether or not these activities should count as volunteering and be tracked; it’s up to your program’s goals, your company culture and values, and most importantly, what your company wants to report at the end of the year.

• Coaching a Little League team each spring
• Running in or training for a charity race
• Attending a bowl-a-thon or charity golf tournament
• A gala dinner for a prominent nonprofit partner
• Chaperoning a child’s field trip to a nonprofit arts museum
• Volunteering for the PTA at your child’s school
• Donating to a collection drive or shopping for holiday gifts for under resourced families
• Giving blood at a company-organized blood drive
• Participating in a career fair sponsored by your Veterans’ employee resource network
• Fostering animals for a local pet rescue
• Shopping for essentials for a home-bound neighbor
• Marching with a well-known environmental nonprofit to drive awareness of climate change

Keep in mind some of the activities listed may come with stipulations, spell them out so no one is surprised when they go to track hours or when you pull a report! Consider specific parameters like:

• What is the maximum number of hours that can be claimed for fostering an animal?
• How much time can you track for donating a pint of blood and does that amount differ if you donated platelets?
• Do the PTA volunteer hours count if there is a minimum required number of hours of service by my child’s school?
• What if the organization is not a 501c3 – how do I track that?

Clear, thoughtful guidelines build a more cohesive and impactful volunteer program that aligns with company values and maximizes social impact.

As promised, here are some tried-and-true methods that many companies employ to encourage employees to report their volunteer activities:

• Make it easy! Use technology to your advantage and automatically track the hours of volunteers who show up for their shift. Ask employees to share a story or photo on social media or on internal channels after their volunteer experience. Use a special hashtag and track the use of that hashtag as a proxy.
• Ask volunteer champions to remind colleagues of the significance of reporting activities. Sometimes a personal request works better than another company-branded email arriving in inboxes.
• Add achieving certain thresholds to your current volunteer recognition strategy.
• Offer donations to the employee’s charity of choice for every hour they volunteer.
• Consider non-cash incentives such as reserved parking spots, more vacation time, or access to key company leaders.
• Create a points system where employees earn points for every hour volunteered or activity reported, redeemable for company or program-branded swag.
• Offer professional development opportunities on social impact topics or volunteer leadership as a reward for committed volunteers.
• Feature dedicated volunteers in company newsletters or on social media.
• Provide letters of appreciation signed by senior leaders or schedule virtual lunches with senior executives for top volunteers.
• Create digital badges for volunteers to add to their email signatures as they hit designated milestones.

These strategies not only reward employees but also foster a culture of giving back, enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction. Tailor the incentives to align with your company’s values and the interests of your employees for maximum impact.

Until next time,
Your CSR Friend

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