Employee Volunteer Program EVP 101 Sponsored by connect

Employee Volunteer Program (EVP) 101 Sponsored by: connect. inspire. impact.

About Us • • Founded 1992 Purpose Membership Programming connect. inspire. impact.

What is an EVP? An employee volunteer program (EVP), sometimes referred to as a workplace volunteer program, is a planned, managed effort that seeks to motivate and enable employees to effectively volunteer under the official sponsorship and leadership of the employer. connect. inspire. impact.

Business Goals • EVPs address core business goals: – Recruitment – Training/Development – Marketing/Brand Identity – Communications (External/Cross-Company) – Productivity/Morale – Government Affairs/regulatory – Leveraging philanthropy connect. inspire. impact.

Why do EVP’s Matter? • Data shows that EVP’s boost corporate performance. • EVP’s also bolster cost efficiency connect. inspire. impact.

Where do they fit? • 33% in internal units that are externally oriented (Community Affairs, Corp Citizenship) • 21% in community oriented corporate functions (Foundation/Corp. Philanthropy) • 8% in internally focused departments (HR, Diversity, Work/Life) • 46% in departments that combine internal and external orientations (Marketing, Community Affairs, Corp Communications) connect. inspire. impact.

Management • Employee EVP Manager • Outsourcing EVP Management • Employee Committee or Volunteer Councils (National/global, at HQ only, in field offices or at every office) connect. inspire. impact.

Supporting Programs • • • Dollars-for-doers Matching grants Flextime or release time Vacation/PTO Team project grants Outstanding volunteer recognition connect. inspire. impact.

Getting Started Business Employee Interest connect. inspire. impact. Community Needs

Employee Interests • Surveys • Creative voting • Other? connect. inspire. impact.

Community Needs • Work with partners! – Other CVC member companies – Business partners – Local Federations and Nonprofits – Existing agencies/partners connect. inspire. impact.

Focus Areas • Considerations in selections • Criteria for selections connect. inspire. impact.

Building Your Program • • Management Support Mission/Goals/Strategies/Objectives Tasks Timelines Communications Plans Budgets Evaluation connect. inspire. impact.

Policies Overview • • • Release time or flex time? Disaster Volunteerism Skills Based, Direct Support or both? Family Volunteering In-kind/Product or Financial Support Risk Management connect. inspire. impact.

Release Time • • • Appropriate for your company? Benefits? Cost? Human Resources? Management? Who is eligible? How allocated and monitored? What constitutes as release time? Ineligible organizations? connect. inspire. impact.

Disasters • Taking care of employees first • Partner in advance • Facilitating other involvement connect. inspire. impact.

Friends and Family • Do you count company supported projects done on company time by employees only? • Family volunteering? connect. inspire. impact.

In-kind or financial • Leveraging core business with less out of pocket • Skills based volunteerism • Supporting employees during crisis connect. inspire. impact.

Risk Management • • • Check on insurance off-site Good Samaritan laws vary by state Set expectations and think proactively On-site volunteer programs? Waivers? See nonprofitrisk. org connect. inspire. impact.

Recruiting & Retention • • Volunteer motivations Building on success Staff Development Recognition – from coffee mugs to performance reviews connect. inspire. impact.

Project Planning • Engage your employees • Determine project scope & budget connect. inspire. impact.

Project Planning cont’d • Metrics! • Set expectations with partner agency • Sketch out “day of” event activities #1 reason people stop volunteering is poor volunteer management connect. inspire. impact.

Communications Market the event • Set communications plan & schedule – types & frequency – reinforce link to corporate citizenship initiatives • Vary channels based on audience – e-mails, VM, flyers, posters, rallies, sign up sheets, ambassadors/team captains – targeting hard to reach employee groups connect. inspire. impact.

Communications cont’d • Getting your executives there – “peer to peer” ask – give them an assignment • After event communications – follow up surveys – “impact” communication – newsletter articles, posters with photos from the day, etc. connect. inspire. impact.

Recognition All attendees: – the old faithfuls: t-shirts, volunteer pins, mugs, etc. – post pics online (website or social media), office bulletin board – share thank you from agency connect. inspire. impact.

Recognition cont’d • Internal recognition • External recognition connect. inspire. impact.

Evaluation Typical Questions to ask: 1) Are programs achieving intended results? 2) What is the ROI? 3) How does your performance compare to others? 4) What is the aggregated effectiveness and impact across EVP’s? connect. inspire. impact.

What about budget? • EVP budgets vary greatly, investing anywhere from <$15 to >$800 per employee (not per volunteer) • On average - Excellent EVP’s invest $179/per employee Information courtesy of the 2010 Trends of Excellence Series connect. inspire. impact.

Expenses to consider • Daily operations including website design/maintenance, printing, communications, travel, t-shirts, food, recognition items and supplies • Exclude salaries and community grants such as dollars-to-doers connect. inspire. impact.

Keep it fresh! • Share ideas with other companies through the CVC of Atlanta! • Take advantage of national resources: Points of Light BCLC Boston College connect. inspire. impact.

Questions? connect. inspire. impact.

Thank You! Cheryl Kortemeier Executive Director, CVC of Atlanta 1100 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 2800 Atlanta, GA 30309 404 -745 -2458 or 404 -889 -5112 (cell) cheryl@cvcofatlanta. org Special thanks to Katy Elder, Points of Light for her support of this presentation. connect. inspire. impact.