What are the secrets to building a strong and sustainable colleague volunteering programme? Firstly, it must be easy for people to participate. Colleagues are under increasing pressure to work more efficiently, if volunteering is too difficult, or time consuming, people will stay at their desk.

Secondly, having got them out volunteering it needs to be a great quality experience. Challenging, rewarding and successful, the basics need to be right. This is imperative so they come back again next year or develop an ongoing relationship with the charity to build momentum and long term sustainability.

Thirdly, they need to have an element of choice. It’s fine to have a charity of the year, or a fundraising beneficiary, but for volunteering nothing is more powerful than investing in colleagues to give them an opportunity to make a difference to a cause in which they are connected with and passionate about.

Getting those right creates a nice programme, but to make it special it must be measured to understand the impact in the community, the value to the business, and the benefits to the volunteers. This is what gives the return on investment evidence the business needs to demonstrate the value added.

Employee Volunteering CiC is a community interest company, a non-profit organisation regulated by the CiC Regulator, making it easier for communities and companies to work with us. We are a team of successful business people who are passionate about supporting the very best volunteering programmes. Get in touch for a chat over a coffee to see how we can help.