6 Reasons Why Your Business Should Invest In Employee Giving Programs

These days, many companies donate some of their resources to give back to communities and support a cause they believe in.

These companies also encourage and empower their employees to contribute to society through employee giving programs.

These programs provide employees with the opportunity to take part in volunteering activities or to make donations to support specific or multiple causes.

As well as being a noble act, employee giving programs can benefit your company in many ways, such as promoting employee engagement and strengthening workplace culture.

If you’d like to know more, keep reading. This article will provide you with six reasons why your business should invest in employee giving programs.

So let’s get right to it.

What are employee giving programs?

Employee giving programs allow companies to engage their employees in small acts of kindness that can make a positive impact on society.

Donations can have the most disparate purposes. You can choose the one that best aligns with your company’s mission. As an example, if your company aims to be sustainable, initiate and involve employees in eco-friendly volunteering and donating programs.

Overview of common giving programs

This section explains how companies tend to structure their workplace giving programs.

There are two main giving models you can consider implementing.

Campaign giving

The campaign giving month is when employees commit to donating their payroll contributions for the next year.

A campaign is a focused initiative with a limited window of time during which companies aim to educate and make employees excited about the opportunity to support a cause important to them and society.

Year-round giving

Contrary to campaigns, year-round giving programs let employees make donations whenever they wish, throughout the entire year.

Giving year-round helps companies foster an ongoing culture of social engagement.

However, this could mean continuing to promote the giving programs more than what happens with campaigning. As a result, it might be necessary to dedicate resources (such as a CSR manager) exclusively to this activity.

Most common types of employee giving

It is possible to introduce different types of employee giving programs into your organization. Below you can find some of the most common.

Employee donation matching

Matching donations refers to companies matching their employees’ contributions to a particular cause, increasing the amount raised. For instance, if an employee donates $50, then the charity organization receives another $50 from the company, for a total of $100.

Gifting or in-kind donations

Charity organizations sometimes don’t ask for funds, but rather for donations, such as clothes and food. These are known as in-kind donations.

Employee do-good grants

If employees reach a specific achievement, instead of receiving a financial reward, you, as a company, can convince them to donate that bonus to a nonprofit organization that sustains a relevant cause.

Volunteer grants

A volunteer grant is a corporate giving program that encourages employees to give their time and efforts to their communities. Companies provide financial support to nonprofits where their employees volunteer regularly.

6 Benefits of employee giving programs

Investing in employee giving programs allows your company to benefit from multiple points of view. Below are six of the most relevant advantages.

Improve your business productivity and revenue

You can show your gratitude for a good deed by rewarding employees economically and non-economically for participating in giving programs.

If you do so, they will feel more appreciated as workers, and this will motivate them to work harder.

As a result, as well as doing better what you ask, they will often go beyond your expectations by doing more.

As a result, your employees’ productivity increases and improves. This means that your business will benefit from better productivity and sales.

Motivate your employees and boost their moods

The feeling that arises after contributing to an important cause and performing kind acts boosts everyone’s mood.

Therefore, participating in giving programs will boost employees’ morale and make them happier.

Employees who feel happy will do their work better and more enthusiastically, resulting in increased productivity and collaboration.

Attract investors and profitable partnerships

Investors and other companies appreciate the fact that a company invests in or at least does its best to sustain a worthy cause.

So, this might make them invest in your company and other companies will be more likely to reach out to you and collaborate for sustaining a common cause or other types of partnerships.

Bring in more customers and increase loyalty

Customers are constantly looking for organizations that do whatever it takes to improve society and improve the world in general.

Just to make an example, people are more likely to buy from companies that adopt a sustainable approach and declare in their mission statement to protect the environment through donations and volunteering actions.

As a result, you will create a much better and more positive impression of your business.

Because of this, you can expect positive reviews, more returning and loyal customers, and brand advocacy.

Strengthen your company’s culture

The culture of your company reflects your brand identity. It can also affect each operation within your company.

In other words, it represents the way you show to your customers that you keep your word regarding your mission statement.

The company culture is not only important to customers but also employees. Most employees regard their workplace culture as more important than their salaries.

In such a situation, employee giving programs can give your employees and customers the feeling that you care about your causes and do your best to support them, thus instilling professionalism.

Enhance employees’ skills and knowledge

Additionally, employee giving programs may encourage a desire for self-improvement among your employees.

For instance, by involving your employees take part in volunteer activities that are in some way relevant to your business, they may learn new skills that will benefit your business.

This means increasing employees’ engagement, having more qualified and expert staff, which will increase the likelihood of innovations, improved services, and improved productivity.

How to motivate employees to take part in your giving programs

There are many ways through which you can convince your employees to take part in your giving programs. Here’s a list of the most common and effective.

Providing rewards

Offering rewards to your employees is a great and effective way of motivating them to take part in your giving programs and express their gratitude. It is possible to reward them in both financial and non-economic ways. Listed below are some of the most common rewards.

Certificates

As the digital world grows and develops, certificates take on an increasingly significant role, as they become proofs of skills and qualifications.

Giving certificates of appreciation and recognition to your employees who take part in volunteering activities and donations shows your gratitude and makes them feel appreciated.

Your employees will also be able to share their certificates on social media, resulting in free brand advocacy for your business.

Gift cards

As an alternative way of rewarding your employees for their participation in volunteering activities or donations, gift cards are a great option.

The best thing about this reward is the fact that you can set the price and make the rewards vary. You can choose from many types of cards, including e-learning, fitness, food, and more.

Public recognition

Social media and other channels are great tools for letting your customers and the world know you appreciate your employees’ work and efforts.

You can thus recognize employee kindness through a blog, social media presence, or newsletter by writing and showing what volunteering activity they took part in or which cause they have supported through donation and how much you admire them.

Focusing attention on the cause of donation

Making employees aware of the importance of the cause your business hopes to support is one of the best ways to motivate them to participate in giving programs.

You can accomplish this by organizing online meetings or in-person presentations in which you describe the severity of the situation and the positive impacts that volunteer activities or donations could have.

Highlighting the benefits of being involved

You should explain to your employees the benefits they can get by taking part in giving programs and how valuable volunteering is for their careers. By leveraging the moral benefits and rewards you’ll provide the participants, you’ll increase your chances of reaching your goals.

Establish and measure goals

Outline the goal your company wants to achieve through the donation, and perhaps share how you’ve achieved that or similar goals in the past with your other giving programs.

Share, for instance, the amount of money your company has raised through donations or the impact of your employees’ volunteering activities.

Wrapping up

Since employee giving programs benefit your business on many levels, including better brand reputation and improved work culture, they are worth the effort.

Getting your employees to take part in them might not be easy, but choosing the right giving program and applying the tips suggested in this article will make it easier for you.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this blog post. I hope it was helpful and interesting.

If you’d like to learn more about giving programs, visit Alaya’s blog. There, you’ll find in-depth articles and guides on the topic.