Plugging the “experience gap” and the path to $100mm for charity
By: Matt Amalfitano, RaisedBy.Us Executive Director
TL;DR
Employees are increasingly looking to join employers that align with their values of creating greater social good. This alignment is happening most frequently through employee philanthropy programs — a necessary element of corporate social responsibility. Big companies have large teams that execute on employee philanthropy programs. Specifically, these teams bring philanthropy programs to life through giving campaigns, volunteering and community building. Without these teams, small and medium sized businesses face an “experience gap.” RaisedBy.Us plugs that gap for its partner companies.
What is corporate social responsibility?
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept with many definitions and practices. The way it is understood and implemented differs greatly for each company and country. One definition from the Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility, ISO 26000, published in 2010, says it well:
“Social responsibility is the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour that:
- Contributes to sustainable development, including the health and the welfare of society
- Takes into account the expectations of stakeholders
- Is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behaviour, and
- Is integrated throughout the organization and practised in its relationships.”
A 2012 Harvard Business School working paper breaks CSR into three “theatres:” 1) corporate and employee philanthropy; 2) reengineering the value chain for good; and 3) wide-scale change to the business to solve societal ill. While the authors argue that companies need not address the theatres in order, it is our sense that “theatre one,” or employee philanthropy, is essential for not just a successful CSR program, but corporate culture broadly. Senior leaders in RaisedBy.Us programs report to us that their employees want to organize around give-back activity in their communities, even if their companies already have elements of “theatres” two or three.
Employee philanthropy has changed over time
These reports are in line with the evolution of corporate and employee philanthropy programming. Historically, groups like the United Way and other charity federations offered platforms to run annual campaigns, organize Days of Service, and facilitate payroll deduction. But the lack of choice provided by these programs rendered them insufficient for the modern workforce. Data from Cone Communications show that 84% of millennials (who now comprise over 50% of the workforce) want their company to identify ways to get involved in their community, and 88% of millennials say their job is more fulfilling when they are provided opportunities to make a positive impact.
Big companies, benefitting from large CSR teams, are leaders in CSR
Big companies have led the way in embracing all three “theatres” of CSR. Data from the G&A Institute show that while just 20% of S&P 500 companies published CSR reports in 2011, a whopping 82% published CSR reports in 2016. With their employee philanthropy programs, these large companies have embraced the desires of their changing workforces. Specifically, these programs let employees take the lead so that they can give directly to the organizations they care about most. For example, the Founder and CEO of Benevity recently highlighted that shortly after the travel ban was announced earlier this year, Google employees raised $2 million for refugee support in under 24 hours after the company pledged to match their efforts. In addition to these rapid responses to natural disasters and humanitarian crises, these big company employee philanthropy programs feature giving campaigns, curated volunteerism, and events to build community around giving back. Multi-person CSR teams at these big companies execute on these many programs plus other CSR initiatives.
Small and medium sized businesses face an “experience gap”
It is the combination of 1) technology to process donations and track volunteering and 2) in-real-life (IRL) programming that is essential for the modern employee philanthropy program. While small and medium sized businesses can subscribe to giving and volunteering technology, they lack the manpower to craft and execute the IRL programming — the giving campaigns, curated volunteerism, community events, and rapid response playbooks — needed for employee participation.
An “experience gap” has formed for these sized businesses. It exists between, on the one hand, a desire to run modern employee philanthropy programs and, on the other hand, the giving and volunteering technology available in the marketplace.
RaisedBy.Us bridges the “experience gap”
Through workplace charitable giving, volunteerism and community building, RaisedBy.Us is bridging this “experience gap.”
- Workplace charitable giving: Technology alone doesn’t drive employees to donate to charity. Rather, in addition to technology, RaisedBy.Us runs two-week giving campaigns at the office. RaisedBy.Us trains volunteers, creates events like charity lunch-and-learns, and resources senior stakeholders to drive the campaign messaging. Additionally, RaisedBy.Us provides rapid response playbooks after natural disasters and humanitarian crises so employees know where they can most effectively give back. This is why RaisedBy.Us had an average employee giving participation rate of 30% in 2017 — with one company as high as 76% — vs. the nationwide matching program average of just 9%.
- Volunteerism: Coordinating volunteering events with non-profits takes time. Without a CSR team, small and medium sized businesses often delegate this task to an HR/People professional or Office Manager. With neither the requisite non-profit community relationships nor the time required to curate events, it’s difficult for these folks to do as much as they’d like. RaisedBy.Us creates scale by doing non-profit consulting for its partner companies and curating micro-volunteerism at partner company offices.
- Community building: Experience creation is not just intra-company. Rather, RaisedBy.Us brings together employees across companies through its community events. Just recently, RaisedBy.Us hosted a trivia-for-charity event where teams from 20 companies competed for charities of their choice. Last December, RaisedBy.Us ran a winter clothing drive for its partner companies. Additionally, RaisedBy.Us builds a community of employee philanthropy administrators across its network with a Slack channel and workshops on organizing volunteerism, running giving campaigns and employee engagement.
Impact
Since its inception, RaisedBy.Us has helped direct over $1.7 million to 1300+ different charities — including tens of thousands of dollars last year for hurricane relief efforts — and logged thousands of employee volunteerism hours for organizations that need it the most. In a survey conducted at year end 2017, most participants indicated the RaisedBy.Us program catalyzed an increase in their yearly charitable giving.
That same survey confirmed RaisedBy.Us’ status as a culture tool. Participants indicated that, because of RaisedBy.Us, they feel happier at work and feel more connected to their colleagues.
Where we’re headed
We’re just getting started. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, our motivation is to have the greatest impact towards social good. By growing the program to include more companies and more IRL programming, we can cumulatively direct $10 million to charity by the end of 2020 and $100 million by the end of 2023.
Charity is personal. These results can’t happen if the “experience gap” isn’t plugged. We’re here to do just that. The stakes have never been higher, either. Not only are employees increasingly looking to employers for philanthropic opportunities, but half of Americans are employed by a small or medium sized business. Success in plugging the “experience gap” means a sea change in philanthropic habits nationwide.
