Here are 20 corporate volunteerism statistics. When companies support employee engagement in community causes, everyone wins.
By promoting corporate volunteerism, companies inspire their employees to dedicate their time and expertise to assisting community organizations and causes. These positive impacts are felt not only by the company and its employees but also by the communities they serve.
In a broader sense, corporate volunteerism offers a multitude of advantages, including:
- Employee morale and engagement. Volunteering can improve employee morale, job satisfaction, and loyalty. Through corporate volunteer initiatives, employees are gaining the opportunity to give back in meaningful ways and positively impact their community.
- Employee volunteering allows the development of new skills, including project management, teamwork, leadership, and communication. These can be beneficial for personal and professional growth.
- A company’s reputation is enhanced by engaging in volunteer opportunities. It fosters an image of social responsibility attractive to investors, customers, and talent.
- Volunteering offers an opportunity for team building. Employees’ relationships can be strengthened, and teamwork and camaraderie can develop as they work together toward shared goals outside of work.
- Corporate volunteer programs can appeal to jobseekers who prioritize employment at a socially responsible company. They can boost recruitment and retention efforts and help employees feel connected to their work and company values.
- There will be a positive impact on communities where companies operate when volunteerism is in place, thanks to the support of the well-being of the people who live there.
Overall, corporate volunteerism benefits employees, companies, and communities by fostering social responsibility, employee engagement, and community involvement.
Statistics Highlighting the Value of Corporate Volunteerism
Below are specific statistics highlighting the value of corporate volunteerism for the company, its employees, and communities.
Skill-Based Volunteering
In one survey, skills-based volunteering provided an edge in marketability for people wanting to find gainful employment. HR executives highly value skilled volunteering, particularly its relevance for college graduates and veterans transitioning to civilian life.
81% of HR executives said skilled volunteering was considered in the hiring process. Seventy-six percent said it makes a job candidate more desirable.
HR’s View of Volunteering Within an Organization
Among HR executives surveyed, 88% said volunteering positively impacts the organization’s reputation, and 65% said employees benefit from increased skills. The same data showed that 62% of these executives said volunteering makes employees feel more positive toward the organization.
Builds Culture
When asked, 52% of HR executives reported that volunteering is an important part of culture.
Volunteerism Builds Purpose
According to one survey of working Americans, employees and employers could miss the chance to take advantage of the benefits of volunteering. In that study, creating a culture of volunteerism provides an improved sense of purpose, according to 74% of respondents.
Employee Well-Being
Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents once said company-sponsored volunteer activities are essential to well-being.
Improved Work Atmosphere
Seventy percent of respondents in a Deloitte survey said that companies sponsoring volunteer activities have a more pleasant atmosphere at work. Additionally, 89% said that companies sponsoring volunteer activities offer a better work environment than the ones that don’t.
Desire for More Volunteering Opportunities
Of working Americans, 69% say they’re not volunteering as much as they’d like, and 62% say they don’t have time during the day to dedicate to volunteering, which means employers have significant opportunities here to provide these chances to give back.
Employee Satisfaction and Pride
Millennials who participate in workplace volunteer activities frequently are likelier to say they’re loyal, proud, and satisfied employees than those who say they rarely volunteer or don’t. Millennials frequently participating in company volunteer activities are two times as likely to rate their corporate culture positively compared to millennials who rarely or never volunteer.
Fifty percent versus 36% say they’re proud to work for their company. Fifty-two percent versus 33% say they’re more likely to feel very loyal to their company.
In a separate study, 93% of volunteer employees expressed happiness with their employer.
Career Satisfaction
It’s not just satisfaction with the employer overall that seems to get a boost from volunteering. Thirty-seven percent of surveyed Millennials said they were likely to be very satisfied with their career progress when they’re heavily involved in volunteering, compared to 21% who don’t volunteer or don’t do so often.
Word-of-Mouth Recruitment
Among employees who regularly volunteer, 57% said they were likely to recommend their company to a friend compared to 46% of non-volunteers.
Employer Branding
Survey findings suggest a service culture extends beyond active volunteers’ personal experiences. Among millennials, 70% said they favor companies committed to the community. Still, even among the ones who rarely or never volunteer, 61% said a company committed to serving the community would be a factor when choosing between two possible jobs with the same pay, benefits, location, and responsibilities.
Consumer Perspective
Among consumers, 90% say they want to know how companies support charitable causes. Over the last 12 years, brands with a perceived positive impact have seen growth in their brand value of 175% versus 70% for low positive impact. Eighty-five percent of consumers say they view companies that give to charity more positively.
Morale Booster
From the employee perspective, 70% say that volunteering boosts morale, and 64% say it strengthens camaraderie with work colleagues.
Purpose Driven Employees
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, employees increasingly reported reevaluating work and reconsidering their work type. People living their purpose at work are reportedly more productive than those who don’t. The research from McKinsey also found they’re more resilient, healthier, and more likely to stay with their company.
Seventy percent of employees said their work defines their sense of purpose, so company leadership plays a big role in helping employees identify and live it.
Engagement Equals Performance
While it’s not necessarily directly related to volunteering, as highlighted above, corporate programs that encourage volunteering equate to improved engagement. Organizations with employees that are highly engaged outperform competitors by 147%.
16. Volunteer Grant Programs
Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies report that they offer volunteer grant programs. These charitable gifts that corporations give to nonprofits recognize their employees' volunteer work.
Unconventional Benefits
More than half—55% of employees—say they’d take a pay cut if they could work for a socially responsible company. This can become part of your employer brand if you embrace corporate social responsibility through volunteerism.
Consumer Buying Preferences
Among consumers, 72% say companies have a legal responsibility to society, and 77% are motivated to buy from companies committed to improving the world. Furthermore, 90% of consumers around the globe would likely switch brands to choose one that they see as supporting a good cause. When purchasing, 88% want to know about corporate social responsibility.
Volunteering Is on the Rise
There has been a surge in corporate volunteerism, attributed to companies trying to address the challenges of fostering employee connection in the hybrid world of work.
According to data, the global employee volunteer participation rate increased by 57% year over year. Companies' total volunteer hours increased by 41%. Since the start of the pandemic, there’s been a 15% rise in companies' volunteer initiatives as part of employee engagement.
Team Building Opportunities
Companies that use team volunteering see 7.5 times the volunteer participation rate, and flexibility is key, too. Companies supporting employee-created volunteer opportunities average almost three times the volunteer participation rate.
CorporateGood
Did you know that BetterGood, the creator of VolunteerHub, has a corporate volunteerism product called CorporateGood? CorporateGood is a user-friendly employee volunteering platform designed for corporations.
