February 2015

Employee Volunteering United Way Worldwide partnered with researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business to examine corporate volunteering programs and employee motivations for participating in these programs.

United Ways around the world volunteered to assist with this study by recruiting companies with volunteering programs. Ultimately data on 52 companies were included in this study. A company representative provided information about their corporate program and a handful of employees (ranging from 3 to 10) from each company provided information about their volunteer behavior and motivations, as well as their general workplace attitudes and actions.

Why volunteer?Employees listed a variety of reasons for volunteering, ranging from a belief in the cause to an opportunity to either socialize, gain or use skills, or benefit their employer. Ultimately, two motives emerged as the best (and the only signifiant) predictors of employee volunteering: belief in the cause and an opportunity to gain or use skills.

Why not volunteer?Despite the prevalence of employee volunteering through corporate programs, some employees choose not to participate. Two main reasons emerged for this decision: either anxiety of engaging in new experiences or the desire to keep work and home activities separate.

Volunteer Motives

Employee volunteering was driven by 2 motivations:

• Belief in the cause • Opportunity to use or gain

skills

Company Motives

Companies hosted employee volunteering programs for a variety of reasons. The top rated were:

• Connect with community • Provide bonding experience

for employees • Convey values to employees

Not Volunteering

Employees who chose not to volunteer expressed:

• Anxiety over new experiences

• Desire to segment their work and home lives

Volunteer Programs

• Program structure varied widely by company

• Employees viewed corporate volunteering programs positively, even if they didn’t participate

• Companies tracked participation, but not success metrics

VOLUNTEER!MOTIVES

“It helps me get to !know my !

colleagues better”

“I participate when there is something I feel is going to be !worth while and needs support or awareness”

“I like helping others…!and it’s fun and

rewarding”

“To use the finance and management skills I have developed”

“To promote and advance my

company’s image”

RESEARCH REPORT A Global Study of Employee Motivation to Engage

in Corporate Volunteering Programs

February 2015

Are there benefits of employee volunteering?Volunteers were more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their employer than non-volunteers. In addition, volunteering more often increased both job satisfaction and company commitment, as well as intentions to volunteer in the future.

Corporate Programs Why host a corporate volunteer program?Company coordinators noted a variety of motivations for hosting a volunteering program. Most notably, they had a desire to build relationships with their community, provide a socializing and bonding experience for their employees, and to convey their image and values to their employees.

Coordinators also provided information about the structure of their volunteering program. They most frequently described their program as a formally constructed, “top down” program decided by the company rather than the employees. Most programs incorporated many opportunities rather than focusing on a specific cause, and provided employees paid time-off to participate.

How do companies track volunteering?The vast majority of company coordinators noted that they tracked employee participation in the volunteering program. Although they also believed that these programs were a success, only a minority of companies collected data to evaluate the program.

The report is provided by the research team: Dr. Jonathan E. Booth Dr. Jessica B. Rodell

For more information, please email jrodell@uga.edu

A special thanks to these United Ways for their participation:

Australia • United Way Australia Brasil • United Way Brasil Canada • United Way of Greater Toronto India • United Way Mumbai USA • Greater Mankato Area United Way, Inc. • Heart of Florida United Way • United Way of Asheville & Buncombe County • United Way of Buffalo & Erie County • United Way of Central Indiana • United Way of Central Jersey • United Way of Central Kentucky • United Way of Central New Mexico • United Way of Central Ohio • United Way of Dane County • United Way of Greater Cincinnati • United Way of the Greater Dayton Area • United Way of Greater Lafayette • United Way of Greater Milwaukee • United Way of Greater Philadelphia &

Southern New Jersey • United Way of Greater St. Louis, Inc. • United Way of King County • United Way of Massachusetts Bay &

Merrimack Valley • United Way of Palm Beach County • United Way of Salt Lake • United Way Siouxland • United Way Tarrant County • United Way of the Midlands in Omaha, NE • United Way of Tucson & Southern Arizona • United Way of Yellowstone County • United Way Worldwide We appreciate your assistance! This type of research would not be possible without your help.

!

Formality

Both

Formal Informal

Top Down Bottom UpDriving Force

Program Focus

Time

Incentives

Hi Medium Low

On Own During WorkBoth

50%

Not MentionedYes

14.6%

7.3%

2.4%

Conduct employee surveys to measure

Rely on community partners’ (such as United Way) reports

Compile internal metrics of program success

Track employee volunteering activity 82%