The Business & Social Case for Corporate Volunteering - United Way

Photo courtesy United Way Australia

United Way’s corporate volunteering program is producing great outcomes for the volunteers as well as the Not for Profits they give their time to, according to their latest research.

A recent survey has found that Corporate Volunteering is a gateway for those new to volunteering.

In 2011 United Way Australia delivered 205 community projects nationally, engaging 3,152 volunteers who contributed 12,479 hours to impact lives of over 15,000 people.

Last year, 36% of corporate volunteers reported that they were volunteering for the first time.

United Way’s CEO Doug Taylor along with the Corporate Partnerships Manager Gabrielle Kay say that from the results it’s encouraging to see that corporate volunteering encourages people to start a volunteering journey.

“There is a great deal of variability in this figure, which reflects the length of the United Way relationship and the size of the company," they said. 

"The good news is that once people have volunteered, they all want to volunteer again with over 50% saying they would like to make a larger contribution to the community.” 

Nationwide 35% of Australian adults volunteer, with rates in Sydney as low as 16%1.

“Clearly corporate volunteering is a critically important pathway to encourage more people into volunteering. It’s also the most effective way of accessing large groups of people to make a contribution within the community.”

United Way says Corporate Volunteering has a strong business case.

“Over the last few years we’ve been looking at the impact of the experience on the volunteers.”

As a result the volunteering experience has:

• Strengthened their relationship with their peers (97%), and
• Are more willing to contribute to their company (86%).

United Way says these results are all the more pertinent when considered alongside recent research from Gallup and Macquarie Economics Research on the business impact of employee engagement.

“This study showed a clear link between companies with higher levels of employee engagement and profitability.”

Taylor and Kay say it’s clear that there’s much to be gained through corporate volunteering; for communities, businesses and employees.

“Our research provides a compelling case to increase focus on corporate volunteering as a sustainable strategy for businesses to engage employees and to help build a stronger community.”