Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Volunteering

Books and e-Volunteerism articles on this topic

For information specifically about pro bono work and professions in service, click here.

Articles and book excerpts on this topic:

Building Nonprofit Capacity Through Workplace Volunteering by David Warshaw
The Business Case for Employer-supported Vvolunteering for Small and
Medium-sized Companies from Volunteering England
Companies Are From Mars; Nonprofits Are From Venus by David Warshaw
Corporate Citizenship: A Tax in Disguise? by Richard Teather, challenging the philosophy behind the practice.
Corporate Volunteering from Take Your Partner for the Corporate Tango
Corporate Philanthropy 2.0 by David L. Caprara and Robert L. Mallet, Brookings Institute, 2008
Employee Volunteering Guide A resource for employers, volunteers and not-for-profit organizations, from the NSW Premier's Department Employee Volunteering Working Group in Australia
How Employee Volunteers Multiply your Community Impact by Jessica Stannard-Friel, onPhilanthropy (2005)
Pro Bono / In-Kind / Donated Services for Mission-Based Organizations When, Why & How? by Jayne Cravens
Promoting Employee Engagement from the International Youth Foundation
Recognizing Employee Volunteers from Employee Volunteering: The Guide
The Social Case for Corporate Volunteering, by Kenn Allen
Tapping the Small Business Community from The NonProfit Times column "On Volunteers"

Valuing Volunteering – A Route to Professional Development, by Petra Cook and Nicky Jackson. Explores how volunteering can help to develop the critical professional management skills of working with people who have different timeframes, values and interests. It assesses the personal experiences of senior managers and also their views on volunteering in their capacity as employers. The study also examines the views and actual experiences of returned VSO (UK) volunteers. (24-page PDF, 2006)
Volunteers from the Workplace by Betty B. Stallings for USIA (1998)

Free electronic books on this topic:

Can Corporate Volunteering Support the Bottom Line?

Report commissioned by the Case Foundation and Hands On Network (2005, 48 pg. PDF)

The Role of Volunteers in Promoting Global Corporate Citizenship

Global Report from United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the New Academy of Business, 2004 (66 pg. PDF)

Volunteer Connections: The Benefits and Challenges of Employer-Supported Volunteerism, from Volunteer Canada (54 pg. PDF)

Volunteering for Impact: Best Practices in International Corporate Volunteering by Greg Hills and Adeeb Mahmud, FSG Social Impact Advisors, 2007(44 pg. PDF)

Websites with useful information on this topic:

Alltop: Corporate Responsibility News

http://corporate-responsibility.alltop.com/

Site that gathers news and information about corporate responsibility and presents it in one place, with links.

Brookings Institute Corporate Philanthropy

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2007/1128_corporate_volunteering_caprara.aspx

Articles about new directions in international corporate philanthropy, including employee volunteer programs.

Business in the Community (UK)
http://www.bitc.org.uk/index.html
Business in the Community is an organization of over 700 corporations in the UK "committed to improving their positive impact on society." This dense Web site has a great deal of information (case studies, reports, news items) about all aspects of community involvement, including volunteering.

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR)

http://www.cbsr.ca

Resources for Canadian companies interested in social corporate responsibility.

Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College

http://www.bc.edu/centers/ccc/index.html

Site to advance "strategic corporate citizenship," including reports on such things as "Corporate Social Responsibility Monitor" and other reports.

Corporate Month of Service – September
http://www.behandson.org/wiki/cmosresources
Showcases the collective power of corporate America to create significant change in communities at home and abroad through volunteer service. An initiative of the Hands On Network Corporate Service Council, the Web site provides how-to information and templates.

Corporate Philanthropy and Volunteerism
http://www.charityvillage.com/cv/research/rcp.html
Series of articles from Charity Village (Canada).

Corporate Social Responsibility News and Resources
http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/index.html
Resources for people determined to act as change agents within their business for corporate social responsibility/corporate citizenship, including employee volunteering.

CRS Wire

http://www.csrwire.com/

Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire Service posts all sorts of press releases and reports on business programs. Search under "volunteer" to find many items.

Developing Volunteer Projects Toolkit

http://www.behandson.org/wiki/developing-volunteer-projects-toolkit

The Developing Volunteer Projects Toolkit offers simple, practical advice for planning group volunteer projects, ready-to-use worksheets and forms, and strategies for engaging volunteers in service. Especially pertinent for corporate volunteers since the site was created for the employees of Home Depot to work with Hands On Network.

Employee Volunteer Programs – HandsOn Network

http://www.handsonnetwork.org/plug-in/corporate/workplace-volunteering

Reports and tools for organizing workplace volunteering.

Employer-Supported Volunteering Initiative - Volunteering England

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/WhatWeDo/Projects+and+initiatives/

Employer+Supported+Volunteering/

Have devoted a section to the special issue of small and medium-sized businesses getting involved in volunteering.

Good Company

http://www.goodcompany.com.au/

Connects skilled professionals with Australian charitable organizations in need of pro bono assistance.

Imagine - Corporate Citizenship

http://www.imaginecanada.ca/node/33

Canada 's national program to promote public and corporate giving, volunteering and support for the community. Site has many resources and downloadable materials.

Investing in Volunteersfor Employers (UK)

http://iive.investinginvolunteers.org.uk/

Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organizations which involve volunteers in their work -- includes a complete section for employee volunteer programs. The Standard enables organizations to comprehensively review their volunteer management, and also publicly demonstrates their commitment to volunteering.

Mission & Market Program of the Independent Sector http://www.independentsector.org/mission_market/index.html

Information for forming corporate-nonprofit partnerships.

Points of Light Foundation resource section

http://www.pointsoflight.org/resources/

Fact sheets and guides, most in PDF format, on various topics. Select browse by network" and then "business" to focus on corporate volunteerism titles.

Realizing Your Worth

http://realizedworth.blogspot.com/

A blog on "utilizing Employee Volunteer Programs to give you the edge in business."

Taproot Foundation - Knowledge Center
http://www.taprootfoundation.org/corporate/resources.php
Taproot is focused on encouraging pro bono donations of professional services. Here are articles and research reports about business and professional community engagement.

US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center

http://www.uschamber.com/bclc/default

The Business Civic Leadership Center exists to support the civic and humanitarian initiatives of businesses.

Corporate Model Programs:

Cisco Systems

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac48/about_cisco_volunteer

_programs_list.html

Example of a multi-faceted corporate employee volunteer program.

Timberland

http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?page=csr_civic_engagement

Includes tool kits for employees wanting to run their own projects.

The Wal-Mart Foundation

http://walmartstores.com/CommunityGiving/203.aspx

National Web site explaining all the many community service projects that Wal-Mart sponsors through its employees and customers. Many project ideas.