Corporate Volunteering

Click below for links to:

• Business Community Intelligence feature article on Corporate Volunteering (PDF 86 kb)

• The Business on Boards Project

• Corporate Volunteering - Organisations

• Corporate Volunteering - Publications

Or read a help sheet about Corporate Volunteering below.

About Corporate Volunteering

There are many ways for a business to partner with community groups to their mutual benefit. One of these is for the company to encourage its employees to join not-for-profit groups or volunteer for community work.

There are many forms of volunteering, including

• Giving your staff a paid day a month in which they can volunteer to work for community groups of their choice (or your choice, or your approved list).

• Having your staff join together for a "team" or "whole-of-business" volunteering day or afternoon. It might be a team project to clean up an organisation's office, pack Christmas hampers, help build a playground, act as marshals at a special event or supply lunch at a local elderly citizens' club.

• Letting your staff volunteer over the internet using their work computer. Virtual volunteering is a great way to let both people out on the road and those back at their desks in the office contribute to the community is a convenient and safe way at times of low demand.

• Having your staff members - particularly those with some expertise in financial or legal matters, volunteer to sit on Boards of local community organisations.

• Buying a block of memberships on behalf of your staff to support a community group.

• Arranging a staff secondment program - for example an accountancy firm might second one of its staff to help out a series of community groups during tax time - to expand the skills and experiences on both sides.

Corporate volunteering has many benefits for employees, community groups, and the community as a whole - and for businesses. These include:

• Increased company pride and loyalty by staff

• Better employee attendance, recruitment and retention

• Improved staff morale, motivation, team spirit and initiative

• Enhanced workplace relationships - unique opportunities for staff to work with people from different areas and levels of their organisation

• New skill development opportunities for staff

• A more positive corporate image

• Heightened and positive recognition by customers and consumers

• New business opportunities

• Transformed relationship between the company and the local community

The best form of corporate volunteering for each company will be determined by the particular circumstances of the case. Our Community's Community and Business Partnerships Brokerage Service walks you through the procedures involved, and other resources are available to help in your planning.

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Corporate Volunteering Links - Organisations

• Australian Institute of Corporate Responsibility's (AICR) Community-Business Partnership Matching Service
This service is for community groups and businesses who want to connect, make a difference and who want to find out more information about forming a partnership - all with the aim to create and inspire more community business partnerships.

• Volunteering Australia - Corporate Volunteering
Your doorway to the latest resources and information to help you extend your networks and stay in touch with the issues around corporate volunteering and social responsibility.

• Pro Bono Australia
A volunteer matching group that may assist your organisation in choosing a partner.

• Join the CV Knowledge Network
The aim of the Network is to enable corporate professionals to get together to share expertise and knowledge and develop best practice in their employee volunteer programs.

• goodcompany
Specialist skilled volunteer matching not-for-profit that offers corporate volunteering consultancy and tailored matching services for corporate staff.

Corporate Volunteering Links - Publications

• Employee volunteering guide: a resource for employers, volunteers and not-for-profit organisations.
A practical resource that covers what employee volunteering is, how to get started, implementation, promotion, evaluation, and where to get more information, produced by the Employee Volunteering Working Group, NSW Department of the Premier, 2002

• Employee volunteering & Corporate Social Responsibility - Government of WA (PDF 3.5 MB)
A guide to assist organisations to develop, implement and evaluate an employee volunteering program, containing alternatives to consider, resources to utilise and step-by-step checklists to assist in planning.

And if, at the end of the page, you still haven't found what you were looking for, look at the field from another angle - check out these other pages.

• Find a Local Group - sorted by state or region

• Find a Group in my Interest Area - sorted by causes

• Find a Group that Matches my Skills - sorted by areas of expertise

• [Provide Corporate Support]

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