Ask a CSR Friend: The Value of Signature Volunteer Programs

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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,

For years my employer has offered volunteer opportunities that connect to our focus area – financial literacy. We reward employees for supporting and participating in these activities and ask that the company match they receive, either for financial donations or for volunteer time, are donated to nonprofits working in this space. We’re proud of the deep impact we’ve created by closely aligning corporate and employee support for this specific cause. However, in the results from our most recent employee survey, I noted that there is waning interest in signing up for financial literacy projects. Why do you think this is happening and do signature volunteer programs continue to provide value?

Signed,

Impact Impasse in Irvine

Dear Impact Impasse,

Without knowing your exact short and long-term goals, I’ll give you a fairly general response – yes, they absolutely provide value and continue to be a strategic way to positively affect a particular cause or community.

Before answering your question, let me first describe for our readers how I define a signature volunteer program. I like to think of it as a standout or flagship, strategic initiative that reflects a company’s unique values and purpose, concentrating resources on a specific cause or community need to create significant, long-term impact. This intense focus can be referred to as being “a mile deep, rather than a mile wide.”

Signature initiatives are hopefully integrated across different functions so that each department plays a role in marrying their objectives with advancing the cause. They are often branded and provide a cohesive goal for employees, investors, and customers to rally behind. A signature program becomes a defining element of a company’s social impact efforts, reinforcing brand identity while engaging participants in a unified and meaningful way.

Okay, now that we’re all on the same page… let’s tackle the first part of your question – why interest in your employer’s signature volunteer program may be declining. I think the fading interest can be attributed to several workplace dynamics:

• Desire for Greater Flexibility and Inclusivity: A signature program may be perceived as too restrictive, limiting employees’ ability to support diverse issues that matter to them personally. They may also expect their employer’s CSR efforts to reflect a broader range of social issues. A narrowly focused signature program may not resonate with the diverse interests of employees who are passionate about multiple causes.
• Shift Toward Immediate Action: Employees can be motivated by opportunities that offer immediate, tangible impact. Signature programs, which often require long-term commitment, may be seen as less appealing in a world where employees want to address urgent and varied needs as they arise.
• Perception of Brand Overreach: There can be a perception that a tightly aligned signature program is more about promoting the company’s brand than about genuine social impact. This perception can lead to skepticism among employees, particularly if the cause doesn’t resonate deeply with them or if the program feels more like a marketing effort than a sincere commitment to social change.
• Potential for Volunteer Fatigue: Over time, employees may experience fatigue or burnout from being continually engaged in the same cause, particularly if they feel their efforts aren’t producing impact.

The evolving expectations and interests of employees can lead to decreased engagement, especially if you’re repeating similar messaging year-over-year and not taking the time to communicate the positive impact that employee volunteers generate for that particular organization or cause area.

But the value of signature programs remains, and I implore you to stay the course, while also contemplating how you might better meet the interests of your colleagues and support other community needs through a multi-faceted approach. In fact, companies that support both company-created and employee-created volunteering opportunities have participation rates that are, on average, 12x the level of those companies employing neither feature. Let’s look at the benefits of a signature volunteer program:

• Positive Community Impact: A signature program allows the company to make a significant, long-term impact on a chosen social issue or community—full-stop. This deep, focused involvement leads to measurable outcomes and lasting change. Employees get to know your strategic partners and build a deep understanding of the issue or community need, which drives greater awareness in and outside the workplace.
• Strengthened Brand Identity and Increased Recognition: A signature volunteer program can become synonymous with your brand, reinforcing your company’s commitment to social responsibility. It creates a unique identity that differentiates your company from competitors and enhances your brand’s reputation. These programs can also gain media attention and recognition from industry groups, which can further enhance your company’s public image.
• Improved Accessibility: A signature program can be a way to provide greater access to volunteer opportunities. Because it can be seen as an important, enterprise-wide initiative it can have increased support and buy-in from all levels of management and it can be harder to deny participation. Read our learning brief, Making Social Impact Accessible for All Employee Roles and Settings, to explore additional ways to improve access.
• Reinforced Corporate Culture: Signature volunteer programs foster a sense of unity and shared purpose among employees. As you know, employees who participate in meaningful volunteer activities are more engaged, feel a stronger connection to the company, and have higher job satisfaction. This can lead to improved employee retention and a more positive workplace culture.
• Attraction of Top Talent: A well-publicized volunteer program can attract prospective employees, especially millennials and Gen Z, who often prioritize working for socially responsible companies. It can be a key differentiator in talent acquisition. According to the 2023 Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report, 71% of American workers aged 18 to 29 say they would leave their job to work for an employer that has a greater positive impact, and 29% say they would take a 10% pay cut to do so.
• Deeper Relationships with Stakeholders: A signature program can deepen relationships with key stakeholders, including customers, investors, and community leaders, by demonstrating your company’s long-term commitment to social issues.

By investing in a signature volunteer program, companies can create a legacy that benefits employees, communities, and the business itself.

My unsolicited advice to you is to two-fold.

1. Find time to critically evaluate your current signature program to ensure that it is still meeting both community and business goals, enhancing workplace culture, and building bonds with partners and stakeholders. Are there small tweaks in messaging or structure that can breathe new life into the program? If you’re not sure, ask your partners and fellow employees what they might suggest. A Fidelity Charitable study states that nearly half of Millennials want their voice heard about how their workplace giving programs are structured and managed.
2. Contemplate how you might begin to infuse new tactics that support the personal interests of your coworkers. A growing number of employees are showing a clear preference for programs that allow for personal or open choice. Recent research from Ares Management tells us employee ownership matters: 79% of survey respondents want variety in activities, 72% say that they would like variety in causes, 72% say they want to provide input on the types of volunteer activities that are made available, and 73% desire a voice in deciding the types of charitable organizations and causes that their organization supports.

Of course, balancing a signature volunteer program with an open choice model has its own set of pros and cons – just as sunsetting a signature program does whenever that time comes. But I’ll save those lists for future posts!

Until next time,
Your CSR Friend

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