How Much Does Employee Volunteering Cost?

The costs for charities to take on corporate volunteers and look after them can actually be very high. It's why so many charitable organisations just steer clear of organising their own volunteering with corporate partners.

We often encounter confusion from companies about why they would pay to volunteer their team's time to help support charities. Surely it should be free? You're doing them a favour right? Well... yes and no. It's really not that simple when it comes to employees volunteering.

In this article we'll walk you through the various forms of employer supported volunteering opportunities, the costs associated, and the benefits of giving back in this way.

What Is Employee Volunteering?

So, how do you define employee volunteering?

In short, you can summarise corporate or employee volunteering as workplace-based programmes where businesses provide the opportunity, support, and resources to volunteer (usually within their paid office hours).

It is often packaged as an employment benefit. Alongside paid holiday days, private health insurance, mental health support etc, many forward-thinking companies now allocate paid volunteer time to all employees. We'll cover the benefits of offering this further down in this article.

The Different Ways To Give Back

Corporate Giving

Corporate giving is essentially when companies donate money to charitable organisations instead of their time.

This is often seen as a much 'easier' and quicker approach to giving back and having an impact, and no one can deny the power and obvious value to funding for an under-supported cause in your local community. But, this CSR solution provides very limited benefits to your workforce in regards to employee wellbeing, motivation, team building, and staff retention.

It's a less personal, less hands-on approach that bigger enterprises often choose alongside actual team volunteering projects to make sure they are ticking every box when it comes to supporting all the various causes important to them as a brand.

On it's own this form of giving back doesn't really involve or benefit employees.

Group Volunteering Days

In-person, group volunteering days are a really popular choice among companies wanting to kill two birds with one stone. Group volunteering opportunities allow employers to hit their corporate social impact targets, while also providing a truly beneficial and motivational day to their employees.

Employees can a chance to work with departments they may not have had much communication with in the past, gain new experiences, and develop a real sense of purpose in their work. Research shows that volunteering at work can really contribute to a workforce that feels valued, and therefore can have a knock-on affect on employee retention too!

Whether it's feeding the homeless together at your local shelter, preparing packages for a food bank in your community, or simply sprucing up a nearby community garden, group volunteering is an amazing way to create an impact locally, and simultaneously improve your company reputation.

Remote Volunteering

Remote volunteering is a growing trend in the corporate volunteering world, and for good reason. Not only does it open up charities to a plethora of new, untapped pools of skilled corporate volunteers, but it also provides employees with a far wiser selection of voluntary organisations and community groups to choose from.

But how can you make any real impact remotely you might be asking? You might be surprised to learn that actually, the kind of skills-based, largely remote volunteering platforms like Matchable offer create an average of 7x more impact value than traditional in-person volunteering! 🤯 🤯 🤯

Now you and your team can give back from the comfort of your desk!

Whether you're creating a marketing strategy for a domestic violence charity that can't afford a marketing hire; reviewing website copy for a marine conservation team that aren't native speakers, or helping a black-owned business collective prepare for their next event, your employee's individual skillsets can create a big impact remotely.

On the Matchable platform, we provide 1000s of both online, and in-person volunteering days depending on your preference and location, so maybe a combination of the two is the perfect solution for your team.

Pledges

With corporate social responsibility on everyones minds these days, brands are quick to take advantage of any quick wins that can improve their image.

When we talk about pledges, we're referring to promises, or targets that companies set themselves as a whole, or on an individual basis from team to team or employee to employee with the goal of having a positive impact in the world.

These can vary from simple ones like employees pledging to wash their clothes on a cold wash at 30 degrees to save energy, to company wide agreements like implementing a cycle to work scheme to reduce your carbon footprint.

Often these lower investment options for giving back are a popular choice for smaller startups who maybe don't have the resources or knowledge to organise a corporate volunteering experience for themselves.

But if you're looking to have a high-impact with your CSR activities, then we'd steer you towards skills-based volunteerism instead of pledges or micro volunteering.

How Much Do Corporate Volunteering Programmes Cost?

So, how much is offering corporate volunteering likely going to cost you? Well, as you have seen there are many different ways to implement a corporate volunteering strategy, and so the costs can vary.

But as a guide, employer supported volunteering can range from as little as a few pounds per employee for big teams, to a few hundred per employee per year depending on who is organising your volunteering.

Some of the lower-impact options like platforms that allow your team to agree to and track 'pledges' can be under £10 per employee (but the positive impact created is equally low).

Whereas group volunteering days are more likely to be £50 per person upwards. However you have the added benefit of the in-person team building, and employee motivation opportunities (not to mention an opportunity to capture content to share online about your company’s philanthropy).

The great thing about opting for more remote, skills based volunteering solutions is that you are able to keep the higher impact, but with all the convenience of doing your volunteering from the office or home.

Remote, high-impact volunteering opportunities can range anywhere from £1-£15 pounds a month per employee on average.

Is It Worth It?

UK charities need your help, and you have a team wanting to volunteer. Or maybe your employees have never brought up volunteering before, but you're considering the benefits of introducing it for them.

We've actually created an article highlighting all the key reasons why offering paid days for volunteering is worth your time and money.

This includes increase employee wellbeing, attracting the best potential employees when you're hiring, retaining talent, and supporting your community through your organisation. You can read all of these reasons here.

It's simple really - charities need volunteers, employers want a more engaged workforce, and employees want their workplace's values to align with their own. It's mutually beneficial.

Who's Beat You To It?

Offering volunteering as a benefit has become pretty standard in every modern, forward-thinking or purpose-driven company, and so it's no surprise that most of the big name brands have a volunteering strategy in place.

Just on the Matchable platform alone we have the likes of Primark, GANT, Deutsche Bank, Radley and Indeed Flex to name a few.

We're also seeing a surge in innovative start ups and scale ups implementing volunteer programmes, who are looking to build a culture of giving within their smaller teams.

So in conclusion, if employers want to increase attraction for top talent in your industry, have a positive impact in your community, and empower your employees to up skill through giving back, then having an employee volunteer benefit really is best practice!