Improving Employee Volunteer Programs
From PhilanthropyWiki
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Improving Employee Volunteer Programs: A View From Both Sides, By Hayley Hext, a Masters of Community Management student at the University of Technology, Sydney, provides a snap shot of the realities of corporate volunteering from the perspective of those who manage the volunteering programs in both the company and in the not-for-profit organisation.
The respondents answered questions on the role of volunteering in establishing and maintaining long-term partnerships, the need for written agreements and setting expectations, finance and resource issues, finding suitable volunteering opportunities and employee motivation. Benefits and challenges for both partners are listed.
More businesses and not-for-profit organisations are becoming partners by establishing employee volunteering programs but what are the real benefits each receives and what are the challenges? In 2005 Philanthropy Australia commissioned research to examine corporate employee volunteering, which for many Australian companies is a new concept.
We know that businesses and their partners are gaining a great deal of benefit from volunteering and we commissioned the research so that others who are thinking about volunteer programs can learn from their experience. There’s a growing level of sophistication among the partners as they creatively deal with the challenges of different cultures and different needs. This report contains key suggestions to help others run successful volunteering programs.
A key finding is it’s important that both corporates and not-for-profits have a clear understanding of what they want, what they can offer and why they are forming relationships with each other. Employee volunteer programs should provide significant benefits to both partners that outweigh any challenges, and that each must make a conscious effort to understand the organisation they are partnering and its needs because to be successful the partnership must be a good match.