Have you considered how charitable giving initiatives and employee giving opportunities can improve your employee engagement and experience?

Business leaders who create “giving back” opportunities, like employee giving programs, are wildly successful in accelerating employee engagement and experience.

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” (Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist, author, and wife of Dr. Martin Luther King)

Giving Back Builds Stronger Communities

Early in my career, I worked as an event planner and development officer for a nonprofit organization.

My team and I spent hundreds of hours planning fundraising events and campaigns. We partnered with incredible individuals, teams, and businesses who believed in our mission. We provided lifesaving services to hundreds of children and their families.

Even with the countless meetings, long work hours, and overwhelming schedules – our volunteers kept coming back. And why?

It’s about people.

It’s about raising money for a child who needs a warm coat for the winter. Or supporting a family who can’t afford to pay their medical bills. It’s about giving back to those in need. Giving back makes us feel good inside – even scientific evidence proves giving is good for our health.

If you want to build a stronger work community, prioritizing employee giving is a great step. Here are four ways that employee giving boosts engagement in the workplace.

1) Employee Giving Programs Provide a Sense of Purpose and Fulfillment

For most of my career, I’ve worked with nonprofit healthcare organizations. I served in these roles with dozens of volunteers from local businesses, schools, churches, and service organizations.

For many of our partners, our organizations’ fundraising events were the highlight of their entire year. They would start saving money, supplies, and more from the start of the year in anticipation of our fundraisers. Employees would create fun team competitions to get into the spirit of giving.

After the fundraiser finished, our volunteers dropped off their donations. Here’s what I heard from their experiences:

“We had a great time!”

“How else can we help?”

“When can we do this again?”

What did this teach me? People want to help people. They want to make a difference. Sometimes, they just don’t know how.

Giving back to others boosts employees’ mental health, self-confidence, and self-esteem. Now, as an employer, are you giving your people the resources to give back? If so, it speaks volumes to them and shows that you care about people.

2) Employee Giving Enhances Company Culture

If employee giving is a part of your company’s inner workings, you’re on the right path. Does your purpose, mission, and core values center on serving people? Good, you’re on the right path. Do you ask your employees what fills their cups? Do you actively listen to their responses? Are you implementing actions in response to their suggestions? Excellent, you’re on the right path.

Employees who feel to their core that their bosses care about what they care about = Mind blown. 🤯

Company culture improves. Staff retention increases. Employee morale skyrockets.

Do you have millennials and Gen-Zers working for you? Then, this formula up here is especially for you.

In a recent Forbes article, Gen-Z was labeled the most “purpose-driven generation yet.” As a millennial and people leader of Gen-Z employees and colleagues, I know that what motivates me and my colleagues is knowing that the organization we’re working for cares for humankind and making a difference in others’ lives.

What first piqued my interest in working for Boss Lady Consulting was our company’s core values: human kindness, health, and honesty.

After months of working here, I can honestly say that we have the healthiest work culture I’ve ever experienced. Are we perfect? No. Do we extend grace daily? Absolutely.

Employee giving is encouraged and championed in our agency. We’re given the resources and responsibilities needed to hold true to our mission. To serve businesses by doing what’s right and believe that human connection and community building are essential for accelerated business growth and prosperity.

3) Volunteering Encourages Teamwork and Collaboration

Research studies continue to show that expressing gratitude and recognition in the workplace significantly improves employee engagement and experience. As leaders, when you create an environment where employees feel seen, heard, and listened to, they will be more engaged.

Volunteering is a wonderful way to get people within your organization to work together and become more engaged. Especially if their daily work doesn’t usually have them working on the same project.

When the company’s CEO and the custodian are planting flowers in a community garden next to each other, that is where magic happens. They’re both doing the same work. They’re both knee-deep in the mud. It can be an unifying experience.

Employee Giving Ideas

Leaders must empower employees with the time, resources, and abilities to serve others. Here are some ideas on how:

• Encourage employees to serve on a local community nonprofit board.
• Donate money to their favorite fundraising project or community service activity.
• Allocate a set amount of working hours for community service.
• Provide frequent chances for employees to share their experiences.

Questions to Ponder

Take a minute and look at your current business strategy. Ask yourself these questions:

• What resources am I providing for your employees to engage in community service?
• Do we collaborate as a team to support charitable organizations?
• Are there organizations that we could serve that align with our core values, service offerings, or mission?

If you don’t have clear objectives about implementing employee giving into your business strategy right now, the time to do it is now.

4) Service to Others Builds a Positive Employer-Employee Relationship

When employers and employees join forces and collaborate for the greater good – mutual respect and stronger relationships can be built. Both parties are knee-deep in the mud planting flowers, right?

I’ve worked with several individuals on charitable projects, events, and outreach efforts. For most of this work, the people I’ve served with had completely different ideologies, backgrounds, thoughts, and opinions than I do. We had different ways of approaching the work; however, it’s always remarkable to me that we found common ground when we were unified in our mission and purpose.

Giving back and serving a higher purpose builds stronger relationships.

Are You Ready to Give Back?

Giving back as an organization provides employees with a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment, enhances company culture, encourages teamwork and collaboration, and builds positive relationships.

Is employee giving a part of your company culture? Do humans matter most in your workplace? Are you focusing on employee engagement and experience? If not, we’d love to help you prioritize employee giving and more employee engagement strategies in your business.

Interested to learn more?

About the Author

Emily Martin is the Communications and Engagement Manager for Boss Lady Consulting. She believes that teams are as strong as their leaders. Her belief that ineffective communication is the #1 cause of organizational dysfunction drives her passion for her work. She’s worked with small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, specifically in healthcare, consumer goods, education, and nonprofit industries, for more than 15 years.