Many corporations believe that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance. Businesses use prosocial programs to boost employee morale, increase retention rates, and attract new talent.
Societal improvement is important for employees who seek a higher purpose in life. According to the UnitedHealth Group’s Doing Good is Good for You: 2013 Health and Volunteering Study, 76% of people studied said that volunteering made them feel healthier and identified volunteering as a health benefit.
An employee’s volunteer work is also good for the businesses they work for! Volunteering improves employees’ physical and mental well-being and helps them develop leadership as well as soft skills. Employees appreciate companies that initiate, support or become involved in their volunteerism.
The CECP’s annual Giving in Numbers report is an analysis of 2012 corporate giving data from 240 Fortune 500 companies, including 60 of the largest on the Fortune 500 list.
Facts from the 2013 Report About the Companies Surveyed Inlcude:
- Direct cash donations dominated at 47% of total giving
- Median total giving in CECP’s sample was $20 million
- Since 2008, non-cash contributions grew at a rate of 10% or more each year
- K-12 and Higher Education was the most funded program area for all respondents
- 70% of the companies surveyed offered paid-release-time volunteer programs
- Forty percent of companies expect giving to increase from 2012 to 2013
- Companies headquartered in the American Northeast are most likely, on average, to offer a domestic Paid-Release-Time volunteer program.
Employers can promote their employee’s altruism and cultivate happy, engaged employees while also serving the community. Corporations find many ways to participate in prosocial programs including matching employees regular gift giving, disaster relief gift giving, organizing days of service, paying employees for service with a 501(c)(3) organization during a normal work day, giving pro bono professional services
