The Booming Benefits of Corporate Philanthropy

Guest contributor Bill Keena, Acclaris COO and CSR Executive Sponsor You may have read my colleague’s take on how to help employees get the most from healthcare open enrollment, but healthcare is just one of many important benefits for today’s employers. More than ever before, employees are looking for companies that share their values and a big part of that is philanthropy. Noted as one of the ways to boost employee morale, investing time, money and resources in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs can also build corporate camaraderie. The best candidates in today’s socially responsible society demand that companies give back – it is becoming an important incentive and helps attract and retain stellar employees. Today’s team building and corporate morale initiatives need to focus on serving local communities. Corporate philanthropy programs and CSR initiatives are very effective ways to build corporate morale – offering a powerful way to build a stronger team and unite employees. Centering on CSR Based on our global CSR initiative, Acclaris Cares, it has become clear that today’s employees want to giveback to their communities – and they want their companies to lead the way. The first year of our global CSR program focused on raising money and volunteering time for local charities. We set a record pace with 90 employee volunteers logging more than 375 hours at local community service events and raising more than $25,000 for the United Way. Ranking second highest in volunteer participation in all of Tampa Bay, providing more community support than companies ten times its size, our employees earned “The March of Dimes Rookie of the Year” award.

From donating gifts to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay during the holidays and collecting pop tabs to benefit local Ronald McDonald House Charities to office events like potluck lunches and painting classes, our employees were eager to participate throughout 2014. Bettering the community often can trump other teambuilding initiatives in terms of creating a unified workforce – joining together to better their community and support important causes also cultivates a common bond and an ongoing team-centric mentality. What works best? Focusing community involvement efforts on the key areas deemed most important by employees will help ensure CSR success. As an example, Acclaris employees voted to focus on causes related to the elderly, childcare, healthcare and poverty. Based on my decade-long involvement with the cause and the entire team’s interest in health/children, the March of Dimes was a natural choice. If employees care about the cause at hand or have a personal connection to the organization, it becomes more rewarding and also helps drive involvement and support from their business network, family and friends. Our team continues to enthusiastically embrace our CSR effort. More than half of our employees participated in our 2015 March for Babies effort, well surpassing our fundraising goal. It has been an enormous honor to Chair an event driving more than $450,000 in donations – and we got to boost our own team morale in the process. In addition, make sure you help employees understand the impact of all of their CSR efforts. We recently hosted the March of Dimes National Ambassador Elijah Jackson for a luncheon in our Tampa headquarters – offering our employees another way to see how their hard work is changing lives. Seeking out CSR When looking for their next career move on Glassdoor, potential employees will be making sure their future employer serves its local communities. Learn more about our current CSR initiative now.