Can volunteering be strategic or is it merely charity?

A few weeks ago, I was discussing the business case for volunteering with the Lord Mayor, City of London.

The City of London Corporation’s recent publication seeks to articulate the business case for volunteering.

Recent research by a number of organisations and academic institutions supports this case for volunteering. One challenge researchers face is that the impact of volunteering is usually indirect or induced. Cause-effect can be difficult to ascertain.

If you are looking to build a case for volunteering in your company, or tightening the connection between your volunteering programme and your bottom line, here are some statistics to help you:
2010 findings from the City of London’s ‘Volunteering – The Business Case’:

- The average annual cost to support each volunteer involved in an education based activity in London is £381 per person per annum. (This figure comprises the full cost including direct management costs and all additional costs involved in running an effective volunteering programme)
- 31% of organisations used volunteering as part of their strategy to address critical business issues.
- Over 60% agreed that volunteering builds teamwork skills in employees.
- Volunteers believe that they developed the following competencies:
66% communication skills
65% ability to help others
54% adaptability
45% influencing/negotiating
43% team working
41% leadership
41% willingness to improve
40% planning/organising
39% decision making
39% problem solving
39% fostering relationships and networks

The Institute for Volunteering Research conducted a 'Helping Out' study for the UK Cabinet Office in 2008. They found that:
1. 54% of UK employees who do not have access to a volunteering scheme, wish their employer had one.
2. The same study found 67% of UK volunteers felt satisfaction from their results.
3. 82% of UK employees said that having time off would motivate them to volunteer.
4. Where a volunteering scheme existed, 29% of employees volunteered.
5. Women are more likely to volunteer than men (64% vs 54%).
6. The biggest motivator for employee volunteering is having the ability to choose where to volunteer, followed by paid time off and the opportunity to build skills.
7. Employees of large UK companies are 47% more likely to have a work volunteer scheme.

D&T's 2007 Impact Survey found:
8. 62% of employees would prefer to work for a company where they can volunteer

According to the UK Home Office:
9. 11.1 m people involved in formal volunteering at least once a month are most likely to be involved in: organising or helping to run an activity or event (57%), raising or handling money (54%), leading a group/ being a member of a committee, giving other practical help (32%).

Do-It.org finds:
10. The most important aspect of volunteering opportunity is career training (36%), closely followed by wanting to make a difference (27%).

According to this study from Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and VolunteerMatch:
11. Americans who volunteer their time and skills to nonprofit organizations donate an average of 10 times more money to charity than people who don't volunteer.

A 2009 Boston College publication shows:
12. The top three reasons American companies provide volunteering are PR, job satisfaction and team building.
13. Boston College has also published the drivers for volunteering effectiveness based on Fortune 500 companies. They found that one of the biggest drivers (36%) is having a culture of volunteering, which includes senior management volunteerism.
14. The college also designed a benchmarking tool for measuring the impact of volunteering.

A related area that lacks sufficient research is employee ethics. Recently LRN rightfully reported that most companies could do a lot more to encourage employees to do good on-the-job, not just off-the-job. One in three employees have left a company due to questionable ethics: