Why are charitable initiatives important in the workplace? 🤔
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is on the rise, and for good reasons. For employees, 90%+ believe companies should benefit their communities. For businesses, benefits include:
- Engaged employees are happier and more productive
- Team bonding and employee affinity for employers
- Consumer support for businesses that give back
So how do you get more of your people to participate in your CSR program or other charity initiatives at work? Try these 6 approaches we’ve seen work for GoodToday’s giving platform and our corporate partners.
1. Give employees a choice ⚖️
The rise of more autonomous work the past few years shows that employees want more flexibility. We’ve seen how productivity can benefit from increased choices, and giving programs can too.
GoodToday builds in choice by providing two charities to pick from each day. Both options share a similar cause, though missions vary so employees can choose the charity that best fits them.
Our friends here at Confetti understand the benefits of choice too. The Virtual Confetti Pub experience includes pub trivia with extra heart. For each correct answer, players give their points to a charity, with the winning charities receiving a donation in the customer company’s name. Cheers to that kind of choice doing good!
2. Make giving a habit 💪
You know that expression, “Old habits are hard to break?” Great! Consistency helps reinforce behaviors to become habits. Habits create a positive feedback loop that encourages continued participation within the employee experience.
In fact, this is a key component to why GoodToday sees up to 60% daily employee participation in our GoodToday for Teams program for businesses. Each day, folks pick between one of two organizations to support with a small donation. And that quickly becomes a habit for good.
For instance, gifting platform Snappy has seen more than 60% recurring engagement with their CSR program. How? By turning employee giving into a weekly ritual. What started as a simple “donate $3 each week” evolved into a tradition that’s now an established part of Snappy’s Friday company lunches.
3. Tie into your company culture 🎀
If you’re not getting the engagement level you want, your employees might feel less connected to the available opportunities. Employees want to be and feel connected to their company’s values and mission.
Try choosing causes that tie directly into your company’s mission. It can also help to include initiatives that benefit the local communities where your people live and work. Why not go straight to the source? Ask your teams what causes and organizations matter most to them, especially for urgent needs such as disaster relief.
Another option is leveraging skills-based volunteering, where your employees use their expertise to help others. Developers can teach coding to kids. Tradespeople can build houses for the homeless. Each person has abilities to share, for the good of all.
4. Keep it simple for employees 👌
We keep things simple using an A or B choice of charities each day. It’s manageable personal autonomy. Think of it like the difference between “Do you want tacos or pizza?” vs “What do you want for lunch?” Delicious, yes. Decision paralysis, no.
Another way to maintain simplicity is by meeting employees where they already are. For onsite employees, you could arrange volunteering opportunities that happen at work. Like putting together backpacks of school supplies for underprivileged students.
Also think of the communication and productivity tools employees already use. Can you integrate your CSR program into those resources? Employees and employers alike love how they can donate to charity with just a tap via the Slack app for GoodToday.
5. Actively invite employee feedback 🤗
You know how employees want to be heard? Encourage feedback on current giving initiatives to show you care. You just might uncover blind spots or discover new ideas along the way, like how GoodToday accepts suggestions for causes and charities to consider.
We’ve seen this prove out in the real world via employee nominations for causes to support. When war in Ukraine started in February, 2022, UiPath’s 4,000 employees asked for a quick way to help. With a few simple adjustments to their ongoing program through GoodToday, UiPath set up a month of daily giving to benefit those affected by war.
By listening to their people, UiPath raised $70,000+ in company-sponsored employee engagement donations. Especially engaged employees contributed even more out of pocket. Jessica Nolin, Head of Social Human Responsibility, loved being able to “empower employees’ passions through the open platform of nominating a cause.”
6. Close the loop ⭕️
Success breeds success. Show your employees the impact of their giving, such as through updates in employee newsletters or during company meetings. Give shoutouts to employees who nominated the cause. However you do it, demonstrate the results of your effort.
To put this into practice ourselves, GoodToday shares an update via email or Slack after each day’s giving. The collective total turns 25 cents here or a dollar there into something greater than any one person. This update also helps naturally springboard into the current day’s donation choices.
The power of choice 🙌
With the six tips above, now you have the know-how to improve employee engagement. Now the choice is yours: How will you start boosting participation for your CSR programs?
About GoodToday
GoodToday makes it easy to engage, educate, and empower your employees to do good. Each day, employees choose between two charities and donate in one click. Discover GoodTodayTeams and how easy it can be to make giving part of your company culture.
