15 examples of corporate volunteering
Corporate volunteering is a huge topic in 2024, and is only increasing in popularity. According to ACCP’s 4th Annual CSR Insights Survey, 61% of respondents reported an increase in employee volunteering in 2023. This is a welcome trend, in contrast to the decline in corporate volunteering in recent years since the COVID pandemic.
But understanding different types of volunteering can be tricky and time-consuming. As a business, you want to dive into employee volunteering, but you don’t know where to start. Sound familiar? OnHand can help.
We’ll take you through the types of volunteer work that you can get stuck into, both as an individual employee and as a company. We’ll also highlight how OnHand can help you manage corporate volunteering, and be a champion for businesses supporting charities, communities, and their employees.
Today, we’ll walk you through:
Why you should take part in corporate volunteering
Micro volunteering
Skills based volunteering
Volunteer days
Workplace volunteering
What you can do next
We’ve also got 15 examples of corporate volunteering for you, split into these 4 different sections, so whatever you’re after, we’ve got you covered.
Why take part in corporate volunteering?
If you're not yet on board, you may wonder what the point is in putting so much focus on volunteering activities within the workplace. Well, the stats don’t lie:
91% of companies found a positive correlation between employee volunteering and employee engagement scores (Boston School of Management)
76% of those who volunteer through work had more positive attitudes towards their employer, boosting employee morale (United Healthcare)
Nearly 70% of employees say they wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose (Aflac)
Companies with highly engaged employees are 23% more profitable (Gallup)
Companies that provide their employees with a sense of purpose and clear direction and expectations outperformed the stock market, achieving returns 6.9% higher than the market (Great Place To Work Institute)
There’s a serious business case for doing good at work, wherein increasing engagement and productivity lead to increased ROI. Corporate volunteering isn’t just a want; it’s a need in the post-pandemic working landscape.
Micro volunteering
What is micro volunteering?
Micro volunteering is volunteering condensed into short, accessible chunks. It could be 15 minutes twice a week; it could be 30 minutes whenever suits you. It involves doing good without needing to commit to regular corporate volunteering sessions, and is the perfect solution for busy employees without much time to spend regularly doing good.
Micro volunteering examples
Complete a litter pick in your local area over your lunch break
Have a 15 minute check-in chat with an older or isolated person
Be a digital volunteer for one of the many charities on the OnHand app, and help fill out surveys, share information on your social media, and advocate for a cause you believe in
OnHand hosts a huge range of micro volunteering opportunities. While micro volunteering may feel like a drop in the ocean, we help gamify community impact to motivate employees.
Every action on the OnHand app wins you Hero Points, and you have a bespoke leaderboard for your organisation, so you can take a peek at how much good everybody is doing. Our points system proves that small actions add up – and what’s wrong with a little competitive spirit between colleagues?
Skills based volunteering
What is skills based volunteering?
If your employees are more committed to volunteering based on their skillset, skills based volunteering is the perfect opportunity to utilise unique knowledge and talents. Skilled volunteering is often more specifically focused, and can be a longer-term commitment for your employees, depending on what they’re willing to offer.
Skilled volunteering examples
Some examples of volunteering skills, available on the OnHand app, are:
Help a charity build a website
Lend marketing or social media knowledge to a charity without an online presence
Become a mentor to a young person
Teach a language or assist with local language classes
With OnHand’s Discover page, finding opportunities like this is as easy as ordering a takeaway. We frequently update and arrange Sections based around specific types of missions, and skills-based volunteering always has pride of place on the front page, easy for you to find and even easier for you to accept.
Volunteer days
What are volunteer days?
Volunteer days are a more traditional approach to corporate volunteering. They involve taking time out of the office for a day to do something within your community.
Traditionally, volunteer days with free-for-all time for employees to find opportunities aren’t that successful. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with choice and the admin of finding something good to do.
However, for some teams, shutting down the office for a morning or a day can be the perfect solution to engaging your employees in volunteering, especially with OnHand to help. Check out some volunteer day ideas below.
Volunteer day examples
Ideas for 1 day of volunteer opportunities could be:
Getting stuck in with maintenance or animal care at a local farm
Spending the morning at a soup kitchen, prepping meals for those who need it
Sorting donated items at a charity shop or food bank
Embarking on a team litter pick, followed by a team lunch
With OnHand, team days are core to what we do. We have a wide range of team missions on the OnHand app, so your team can pick up an action that’s close to their hearts. For additional fees, the OnHand team helps you tackle the admin of volunteering days, so you can get out of the office and enjoy doing good without the stress.
Workplace volunteering
What is workplace volunteering?
Workplace volunteering is, essentially, volunteering that you can complete at work, within your team, or as part of an organisation’s volunteering program. Despite its wide definition, it’s not necessarily easy to find workplace volunteering opportunities.
For example, if you typed ‘corporate volunteering opportunities London’ into a web search, you could be left with thousands of irrelevant results that don’t align with your expectations for workplace volunteering.
Workplace volunteering examples
Have a creative session – make cards for sick children in hospital
Set up a food or clothing donation drive for a charity of your choice
Organise a workplace speaker to educate your employees on a cause close to your heart
Set up a CO2e reduction competition, awarding prizes to those who save the most carbon emissions through day-to-day changes
Whatever you have your heart set on, OnHand can provide your teams with bespoke actions to suit your needs. All you have to do is tell us what you’re up to, and we’ll generate a mission, so that your team can earn Hero Points for your choice of activity.
I’m convinced – what’s next?
OnHand does volunteer management for you. We organise so that you and your team can reap the benefits. To summarise, here are 15 examples of corporate volunteering you can achieve, either as a team or individually:
Complete a litter pick in your local area over your lunch break
Have a 15 minute check-in chat with an older or isolated person
Be a digital volunteer for one of the many charities on the OnHand app, and help fill out surveys, share information on your social media, and advocate for a cause you believe in
Help a charity build a website
Lend marketing or social media knowledge to a charity without an online presence
Become a mentor to a young person
Teach a language or assist with local language classes
Get stuck in with maintenance or animal care at a local farm
Spend the morning at a soup kitchen, prepping meals for those who need it
Sort donated items at a charity shop or food bank
Embark on a team litter pick, followed by a team lunch
Have a creative session – make cards for sick children in hospital
Set up a food or clothing donation drive for a charity of your choice
Organise a workplace speaker to educate your employees on a cause close to your heart
Set up a CO2e reduction competition, awarding prizes to those who save the most carbon emissions through day-to-day changes
If you want to make the most of the OnHand platform, book a demo with us today. We’ll boost your corporate volunteering to the next level.
