How to retain, engage, and build loyalty among current employees is a hot topic for corporations these days. Between the pandemic fatigue, virtual working/learning environments, and the uncertainty of the Delta variant, companies are finding it progressively more challenging to meaningfully engage their workforces and combat the “Mass Resignation” effect that is sweeping the country (according to a recent study on August 19^th of 2021 by PwC, 65% of U.S. employees are looking for a new job!).

However, purpose and fulfillment can be the antidote (and is one of the top items that employees are requesting) to help reignite the employer/employee relationship and build back stronger, more motivated workforces. The challenge for corporations, however, is how to do this in an authentic way that is built into the structure of the virtual or hybrid work environment.

Accordingly, we’ve accumulated a few ideas and best practices that you can share with your corporate partners to help ignite conversations around the influence of purpose and to help empower your corporate partners to better engage their employees around your cause (and in official partnership lingo, we like to call this a win-win!):

 

Best Practice #1 – Empower your corporate partners to share educational material about your org with their employees

 Be The educator!

 Often, employees are aware of the organizations their companies support, but they don’t always understand the full breadth and depth of the services and communities their partner organizations provide. Making employees feel connected to an organization’s mission can empower them to feel a sense of belonging and purpose.

 Come Prepared:

 Build a (preferably digital) repository of educational materials to educate your corporate partner’s employees about the wonderful work your org does, the why behind why your org exists, and the population that you support. Don’t be afraid to dive into all the details, explain commonly used terms, and of course lead with impact stories or videos that allow employees to make a personal connection to your cause. Other ideas include virtual meet-and-greets or webinars to allow employees of your corporate partners to meet the team behind the cause and ask questions.

 

Best Practice #2 – Make it easy for corporate partners and their employees to get involved with your mission

 40% of employed Americans would feel the same or more positive about their employer if they offered engaging ways to volunteer (Accelerist June 2021 Fundraising Report).

77% of respondents say company-sponsored volunteer activities are essential to employee well-being (Deloitte 2017).

Employees want the opportunity to engage with and volunteer for a great cause and, as seen in the stats above, feel this is vital to building a strong corporate culture. A simple way for corporations to add value for their employees is to work with their nonprofit partners to set up virtual volunteer experiences. However, we do understand that this is easier said than done and many times half the battle is promoting these virtual opportunities to those who are looking for them. According to our recent 2021 Fundraising Report, 64% of employed Americans who hadn’t virtually volunteered stated that they hadn’t done so because they weren’t even sure how to find opportunities.

Come Prepared:

The saying if you build it, they will come is a great movie line but doesn’t always pan out in reality. You and your fellow teammates have worked hard to pivot to provide virtual volunteer opportunities and experiences. Now, the challenge is making sure your corporate partners’ employees know these opportunities exist.

Come to the meeting with your corporate partner with a list of virtual volunteer options. Talk with your partner about if there is a place to “house” this information online, whether it is a webpage or something as simple as a google doc. In addition, brainstorm with your corporate partner the best way to advertise these opportunities. Added Bonus – Create digital content that employees can share across their social networks that include links/info on how to virtually volunteer for your org.

 For more facts on drivers of employee engagement and giving, check out our new Accelerist Fundraising Report.

 

Best Practice #3 – Don’t forget to discuss employee fundraising opportunities

Donating is the #1 way in which employees prefer to give back to their community, followed by advocating for a cause at #2, and skills-based volunteering at #3 (Accelerist June 2021 Fundraising Report).

 Employees love to support organizations in a variety of ways from advocating to volunteering, but when it comes down to it, the number one way in which employees prefer to give back is through donations. We know this is top of mind when talking with your corporate partners, but make sure the donation process is as simple and seamless as possible.

Come Prepared:

 Audit the ways in which your partner’s employees can donate to your cause. Talk through the results with your partner to see if there are any hang-ups or challenges that need to be improved to increase the employee’s overall experience. Sometimes a simple process change can dramatically increase an employee’s willingness to donate!

 

Opportunity #4 – Add an element of fun by incentivizing engagement

81% of employees would donate, advocate or volunteer more if their employer offered them an easy (and fun!) way to do so (Accelerist June 2021 Fundraising Report).

We love a little healthy competition and think this is a great way to motivate employees to give back. Whether it’s for a company-wide giving day or giving month, people love to participate in “gamified experiences”.

Come Prepared:

Think through the different ways in which you can count and sort donations that will easily trackback to employee “teams” or departments to allow for the friendly workplace competition to take place. And, for larger campaigns, offer to send out daily or weekly status reports so that employees can track their team’s donations. Or, if you have a little more bandwidth, offer to build a simple webpage where you can track and display employee donations daily. Ensure you heavily advertise the page to make sure everyone can have access to and partake in the fun!

 

Opportunity #5 – Arm your partner with the knowledge to properly vet organizations that align with their mission

 More than 70% of employed Americans said it’s important or very important to work for an employer where mission and values align. (Accelerist June 2021 Fundraising Report).

Authentic cause-alignment is huge when it comes to employees wanting to participate and give back to organizations. When employees feel that their interests are represented, they will be more likely to engage in volunteer work/advocacy/and donate towards a cause.

Come Prepared:

Understand that your corporate partners are most likely being contacted by other organizations who are seeking partnerships – for an inside look at what corporations are dealing with, check out the first volume of our corporate playbook series, Vetting Like A Boss. If your partners are feeling overwhelmed, feel free to share the playbook with them. Also, don’t be afraid to dive into conversations around cause alignment. Having the conversation about how and why you and your partner are a great match will only strengthen your partnership in the long run.

 

For more information on how to successful employee engagement strategies, register to attend our employee engagement webinar which will feature Nancy Stinson-Harris, who serves as the National Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at the Arthritis Foundation. Nancy will review how the Arthritis Foundation successfully developed, curated, and implemented an employee engagement program to help them secure a handful of partners within a few months! This will be a great conversation you won’t want to miss. Register Here!

Bonus Value Hack: If you are looking for an efficient, turnkey way to engage your corporate partner’s employees, check out our Employee Engagement Fundraising module to see how you can quickly and easily implement a solution that will meet you and your corporate partner’s needs around employee engagement!