Data shows employee giving campaigns can help improve overall employee engagement and retention and can be a key differentiator that keeps top talent.
For the sixth year in a row, donations from Microsoft employees have topped $100 million dollars. The company credits its leadership's focus on giving back as well as its new Microsoft Philanthropies organization for the record-breaking effort. Karen Bergin, director of employee engagement for Microsoft Philanthropies, tells Geek Wire in this article, “It’s fair to say the culture of giving is very much part of our DNA.” (You can read more about Microsoft’s efforts here.)
We couldn’t agree more. We believe the more companies focus on their Giving IQ, the more engaged their employees will be and the easier it will be to retain them. Another bonus: a strong CSR commitment makes those employees more productive, too.
Improve Your Employee Giving Campaign
Here are 3 key ways you can improve your employee giving campaign.
1. Make it Easy
How many times have you stopped filling out a form or left a website because you couldn’t find what you need or the process was too cumbersome? That’s the way your employees feel when you give them complicated forms to leverage the company match or log volunteer time. Technology can streamline that process, improving participation in your employee giving campaigns and providing you the data you need to report accurately on your campaigns and create a program directly aligned with the causes your employees care about. Just think what would happen to your engagement and impact if your team members could log volunteer hours, leverage the corporate match and provide the necessary documentation to you – all through their mobile phones. It doesn’t get easier than a few screen taps.
2. Automate the Paper Process
Holding on to those tax receipts and coordinating the paper process can be one of the most burdensome aspects of employee giving campaigns. Figure out a way to automate the tax letter generation process and make it easy for employees to report their own gifts, removing the reporting burden from yourself and your nonprofit partners.
3. Don’t Forget Volunteer Hours
Employee giving isn’t just about money donated. With coordinated volunteer days and opportunities to give time to the community,you need to ensure you are tracking volunteer hours as part of your employee giving campaign. Too many companies are simply measuring the donated dollar amount when it comes to quantifying their impact and leaving the volunteer hours to a guess at best. Using a platform that automatically tracks your employee volunteer hours can give you an accurate picture of how and where your employees are getting involved, effectively measuring the overall impact of your philanthropic efforts.
Your team members are a critical component of your longevity and growth as a company. Making it easy to participate in your employee giving campaigns, while putting the necessary rigor behind measuring and tracking them, can ensure you are leveraging this important asset not only for the community in which you serve, but also the bottom line.
uBack was built to simplify the donation process. You can learn more about what we can do for you and your company here.