The Points of Light Foundation Awards for Excellence in Corporate Community Service The Points of Light Foundation seeks to inspire and enable employees and retirees to volunteer in the communities in which they live and work. In keeping with that aim, the Foundation joined with business and non-profit leaders to establish this annual award of excellence. Nominees are judged according to the Principles of Excellence, guidelines established by the Foundation. 2001 Winners 3M Cargill, Incorporated EDS Legacy Health System MTV Networks Washington Mutual Citation Designees Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Ricoh Electronics, Inc. Advertisers' Web Sites Agilent Technologies www.agilent.com Home Depot www.homedepot.com Verizon www.verizon.com Points of Light www.pointsoflight.org

Businesses have contributed to social causes for the past two centuries, but it wasn't until modern times that a paradigm shift brought corporate volunteerism to life. By the 1970s, companies were moving from more passive, cash-only charitable giving to today's strategic and diversified contributions--including the time and talents of their employees. And the business value of corporate volunteerism has never been stronger. Consumers are saying that social responsibility and corporate citizenship are deciding factors in choosing and buying brands.

Corporate volunteerism has been on the rise for the past decade--despite economic shifts. Why? It makes strategic business sense, in good and uncertain times. Research conducted by the Points of Light Foundation, a primary resource for helping businesses develop, manage, and implement effective employee volunteer programs, shows that such programs enhance corporate image, benefit the community, are important to shareholders, and help distinguish a company from its competitors. Employee volunteer programs also promote employee loyalty and morale, factors long linked with increased productivity and retention. And they can foster capabilities crucial for success in a global economy: team-work competencies; communication skills; time-management abilities; valuing diversity.



Companies know that they must invest in their communities--strengthening their communities and, ultimately, their customer bases. Consumers and employees will reward these companies with their purchasing dollars and loyalty.

Investing for the Long Run: Leveraging Community Service
Evidence points to the increasing popularity of corporate volunteerism, both in the United States and abroad. Volunteerism is so popular in part because it suits the market-wise mentality of corporate philanthropy now.

Businesses want increased visibility and brand recognition along with improved employee and customer satisfaction. In-kind and product contributions are up, as are donations of expertise. Companies are also targeting funding--meaning they give where they have a vested interest or see good "fit"--and they are looking for employee volunteers to bring added value to core business functions. A study by the Points of Light Foundation shows an increase, from 31 percent in 1992 to 81 percent in 1999, in companies using employee volunteer programs to benefit core business functions.

Corporate volunteerism meets these goals and more. Programs are making headway in pressing needs from health care to hunger, from education to economic development around the world. Many of these programs are international--or have global reach. Thousands of Verizon volunteers have gone out and wired schools and public libraries, for example, helping to create one world through Internet access. One of Agilent Technologies' global programs sponsored college students to teach science in rural China, areas so poor the children wrote on rocks because they had no blackboards. Employee initiative and company matching funds got them the proper equipment. No wonder the Chinese name for the program is "warm heart club."

The Right Fit: Which Programs Will Work Best for You
Corporate volunteerism is evolving as business culture evolves. And all programs are different. When designing an employee volunteer program, it is important to consider the business's culture and mission and to give consideration to identifying with corporate priorities and goals that can be met by the program. According to the Points of Light Foundation, the best program models are employee-driven, bring added value to company priorities, and help meet real community needs.Currently, volunteer programs take three dominant forms:

Many companies have flagship programs where their efforts are clearly identified with their name.

Other programs operate as skill-based consultancies, offering company expertise and/or technical assistance to a non-profit partner agency. Companies are realizing that lending expertise in their core competencies can significantly--and distinctively--add value to grants of cash or time and effort.

A final popular approach is employee-planned and -managed participation in community projects or organizations. In only its first year, the "Verizon Volunteers" program, which supports employee contributions of time and money with donations of up to $23,750 per year in matching funds, raised $46 million--funds that went to 11,000 non-profit organizations across all 50 states and in two foreign countries.

Home Depot's "Team Depot" gave six million hours last year to support community programs. Since 1990, the company has given over $18 million to Habitat for Humanity, building over 150 homes. And, since 1996, Home Depot has built 75 new playgrounds with Kaboom, a national non-profit.

Successful employee volunteer programs can incorporate some or all of these methods. Volunteerism is a winning strategy in a changing milieu, so new ideas are being innovated every day.

Achieving the Common Good: Ten Steps to a Successful Volunteerism Program
Start at the Top: The absence of top management support is frequently cited as the most significant barrier to developing a successful program. The "Agilent Action" program of Agilent Technologies was launched when the company spun off from Hewlett-Packard in late 1999. "Volunteerism will never stop being a priority from the CEO on down," says Cynthia Johnson, vice president of public affairs. "It's part of the company's DNA."

Align with Corporate Mission: At Home Depot, "giving back is one of eight core values of the company," says Suzanne Apple, vice president of community affairs. Volunteer activities should contribute to the company's ability to reach business objectives and should relate to, or reinforce, its brand identity.

Speak Out: Recognize that social and local issues have a real relationship to company success. Express this vision clearly and consistently in mission statements, policy memos, and credos to increase awareness among all internal and external stakeholders. Use a variety of communications techniques--company website, company intranet, newsletters, bulletin boards, news releases to the media, retail displays, and regular advertising and direct mail--to generate awareness and stimulate interest and participation.

Listen: Ask employees what issues and areas matter to them. "At Verizon, we believe our people are our most important asset--bar none," explains Suzanne DuBose, president of the Verizon Foundation. "Arising from our commitment to them, we put together a flexible program, full of choices, that would truly incent, reward, and promote employee involvement in whatever areas they care about."

Align with Corporate Philanthropy: Leverage your company's philanthropic giving and volunteering time by having them reinforce one another. While Verizon emphasizes choice, it also makes efforts to enlist employee support for causes that receive corporate donations, such as the company's signature focus on the cause of literacy called "Verizon Reads." Other companies develop an ongoing relationship with a particular non-profit group, providing not only volunteer time but financial and in-kind support as well.

Look Around: In trying to target serious social needs and those with a good fit for community relations, notice what causes competitors are supporting. Ascertain what issues your employees and customers care about. Take advantage of national volunteer opportunities such as National Volunteer Week, Make A Difference Day, Join Hands Day, and others.

Recognize Efforts: To keep the program thriving, create a system to acknowledge the time and efforts of employees with certificates, coupons, or other gifts. Commit: While case studies suggest that volunteerism programs need not require huge financial outlays, they cannot succeed without allocation of sufficient resources for management and for financing programs and incentives. Most companies do find a solid return on that investment in marketing, human resources, public relations, government relations, and sales.

Be Flexible: In these times, employees need flexible options. Companies are implementing programs in a range of ways, including release time (where companies match volunteer hours with paid time), paid volunteer hours or days, and flextime (for volunteering during office hours). And while it can be helpful to establish incentives for participation, research suggests that a coercive environment where employees feel pressured to volunteer can undermine office performance.

Know What You're Doing: Create an instrument to measure the program and evaluate results. According to the Points of Light Foundation, some 70 percent of companies surveyed now conduct both internal and external impact assessments. Experts say programs succeed long-term when identifiable outcomes can be explicitly aligned with the interests of all stakeholders--non-profits, employees, communities, and companies themselves.