How to Draft an Effective Policy for Your Employee Giving Program

As we enter a new year, you’re likely already outlining priorities and brainstorming ways to further build a connected company culture that engages and retains employees while also attracting talent to your organization. You may already know that a workplace giving and volunteering program will contribute towards these goals in a meaningful way. Perhaps it is even near the top of your “I know we need to launch this this year” list. But, it is understandable that you just may not know where to start. We believe the exercise of creating your policy for this program lays the foundation for its success.

We often suggest clients start with the goal of creating a policy to govern their employee giving and volunteering programs because the process of developing the policy necessitates that you think comprehensively about your strategy, goals, challenges, and risks. After taking stock of these key points, you'll be well-equipped to construct an approach that is aligned with your priorities and is easy to communicate to employees.

HR Giving & Volunteering Policy Toolkit

Workplace giving and volunteering initiatives are an important, and now expected, component of both corporate philanthropy programs and employee benefits packages. But launching these programs can be overwhelming. Not sure where to begin? This complete toolkit guides you through the process of scoping your programs and drafting your policy.

The benefits of developing your workplace giving and volunteering policy include:

• Ensuring alignment of employee giving and volunteering programs with company mission, strategy, and goals
• Protecting employees and the reputation of your company
• Drawing support from top executives
• Gaining clarity about the scope of your programs and their key elements
• Acquiring insight into various operational approaches and potential risks
• Creating a tangible, well-documented plan that is easy to communicate

The policy should clearly convey:

• Direction pertaining to who is allowed to participate in programs (Employees only? Employees and family members? Customers?)
• Understanding of the company’s role in programs
• Explanation of intended beneficiaries
• Components/initiatives of the program

We know that a task of this size can seem overwhelming. That’s why we developed our HR’s Giving and Volunteering Policy Toolkit. This is a step-by-step guide (plus a policy template). It will empower you to successfully create, implement, and communicate your policy (and your programs!).