Corporate Citizenship through Employee Volunteerism: Its Role in Engagement, Recruitment, and Company Performance

The Conference Board KnowlEdge Series™

Join a high-level conversation with fellow industry leaders and experts from The Conference Board to address emerging business issues identified by our members. Each KnowlEdge Series is composed of three or four half-hour programs that build on each other. The interactive, web-based format ensures ease of access. Supplemental materials and online availability keep the discussion going long after the series ends. Provocative and proactive, the KnowlEdge Series informs and deepens your company’s internal dialogue on the most pressing issues of the day.

Dates: November 5, 12 and 19; 3:00 pm EST

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Nearly 62 million Americans, or 26.4 percent of the population, volunteer on an annual basis. Among employed persons, 34% of full-time workers and 28% of part-time workers have participated in volunteer activities.^i.
When asked how important is it to them that the company where they choose to work is socially and environmentally responsible, 49% of U.S. consumers said "extremely/very important," 36% said "somewhat important," and only 15% said "not important." ^ii.
When asked how important supporting employee volunteerism is to their company’s role in society, 70% of senior executives said it was either "critical," "very important," or "important."^iii.
62% of employees prefer to work for a company that provides opportunities for them to apply their skills to benefit non-profit organizations, but only 39% actually work for a company that provides such opportunities.^iv.

Business Issues: In these tough economic times, there is a growing interest in volunteerism as many companies see a new value to volunteerism programs. But volunteerism today is changing, and is more than the fundraising walks/runs or one-day clean-ups of the past. How is volunteerism adapting in response to changing workforce demographics, demand for skills-based donations, and the expansion of community involvement programs beyond U.S. borders?

This KnowlEdge Series is targeted at a cross-functional audience: Human Resources, Employee Engagement, Talent Management, Corporate Citizenship, Community Involvement, Corporate Affairs.

Panelists: Carolyn Cavicchio and John Gibbons, The Conference Board

Part 1: (30 min) Changing Content: Skills-Based and Capacity-Building Volunteerism (Thursday, November 5, 2009, 3 PM EST)
Listen to Carolyn and John as they discuss issues on Volunteerism
Key Points to be covered	Webcast Content/Speakers
Identifying "pro bono" skills and services that can best serve nonprofit partners Recruiting and managing employee volunteers Measuring the impact for the company and the nonprofit partner	Guest: Tabatha Stephens, FedEx Global Citizenship As corporate philanthropic budgets shrink, companies are increasingly looking for other ways to provide value to nonprofit partners. Human Resources Departments are also looking for ways to provide developmental opportunities to both high-potential and operations-level employees. Skills-based and capacity-building volunteerism programs can address both these needs.

Part 2: (30 min.) Changing Demographics: Volunteerism to Engage a Younger Workforce (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 3 PM EST)

Key Points to be covered

Webcast Content/Speakers

Demographic data on current and future workforce
Benefits of engaging younger workers
Types of volunteer initiatives most likely to engage younger workers

Guest: Gail Gershon, Director, Employee Engagement, Gap Foundation

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that persons age 35 to 44 are the most likely to volunteer, while persons in their early twenties are the least likely. For companies that employ a significant number of young adults, this data presents a challenge. How do younger workers differ from their older counterparts when it comes to volunteering? How can they best be engaged?

Part 3: (30 min.) Changing Borders: International Volunteer Programs (Thursday, November 19, 2009, 3 PM EST)

Key Points to be covered

Webcast Content/Speakers

Creating a global corporate culture
Redefining U.S.-centric volunteer programs
Managing programs across borders, cultures, and time zones
Benefits of global volunteer programs

Guest: Regina McNally, Volunteer Program Manager/Assistant Vice President, State Street Community Affairs

Recent data from The Conference Board indicates that U.S.-based companies spend, on average, 24% of their contributions budgets outside the U.S., and that those investments are largely driven by the size of the company’s workforce in local markets. Volunteer participation rates by employees outside the U.S., however, lag far behind their U.S. counterparts. For global companies committed to truly global programs, how can non-U.S. employees be more engaged in the company’s community involvement efforts?

Carolyn Cavicchio, Senior Research Associate, Global Corporate Citizenship, The Conference Board
Carolyn Cavicchio is a national expert in corporate community involvement and philanthropic programs, as well as a strategic planner, facilitator, analyst and program developer. Before joining The Conference Board, she founded and led the Philanthropy Division at Changing Our World, where she consulted to Fortune 500 companies and private foundations. Prior to that, Carolyn was a consultant with the TCC Group and worked with nonprofit organizations and private, corporate and family foundations. She was also Deputy Director of the Twin Towers Fund-the charity established by Mayor Giuliani to serve the families of the rescue workers killed in the attacks of 9/11. She is an adjunct professor at the Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at NYU, a frequent speaker at national conferences in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and an active volunteer with several local and national nonprofit organizations.

John Gibbons, Senior Advisor, The Conference Board
John Gibbons comes to the Conference Board with more than 15 years in the field of Human Resources management. Most recently, he served as Director of Human Resources for Gap, Inc. where he was responsible for all HR support for the company’s Northeast operations, representing more than 450 stores, 18,000 employees, and $1.4 billion in annual revenues. The son of a poet and a mathematician, John's approach to Human Resources can be characterized by a combination of intuition and rigorous analysis. Since joining The Conference Board, he has been involved in research efforts in a number of topic areas including human capital metrics, employee engagement, workforce diversity, and human resources offshoring. He has established and led The Conference Board’s research program on Evidence-Based HR.

Tabatha Stephens, Field Advisor, Community Programs, Global Citizenship, FedEx Services
A member of the Global Citizenship team at FedEx, Tabatha serves as the lead for the company’s national hunger relief program called FedEx Feeds. She also manages FedEx community outreach programs in Boston and New England. Prior to joining FedEx in 2004, Tabatha worked in the nonprofit sector at United Way of the Mid-South and the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis where she focused on nonprofit program strategy, outcome evaluation and charitable planned giving for high net worth individuals.

Gail Gershon, Director, Employee Engagement, Gap Foundation, Gap Inc.
The Gap Foundation is the community investment vehicle for all Gap Inc. brands (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta). In current role, Gail leads Gap Foundation’s global employee engagement programs, which are designed to leverage the time and professional expertise of Gap Inc.’s 135,000 employees around the world. Gap Inc.’s target causes are underserved youth ages 12-18, with a focus on career exploration and job readiness (in the developed world); and women’s advancement (in the developing world). Gail also manages a grantmaking portfolio that includes nonprofit organizations in NYC, that are national in scope, and that are based in the UK, France, and Japan. She leads This Way Ahead, Gap Inc.’s signature program for youth. Before joining the Gap Foundation, Gail worked at the Florence V. Burden Foundation (a small family foundation that focuses on youth in the northeastern U.S.), the Metropolitan Life Foundation, and the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers.

Regina K. McNally, Assistant Vice President, Community Affairs, State Street Corporation
Regina McNally is responsible for the management of State Street’s employee volunteer program globally including the Global Outreach Advisory Committee, the leadership body which oversees the Global Outreach program, as well as its subcommittees and portfolios. She serves as the liaison between State Street and several nonprofit agencies to identify, organize, and manage volunteer projects for State Street employees. Prior to her role in Community Affairs, Regina worked as an Administrative Manager and Executive Administrator in the Sales and Client Services Division of State Street Global Advisors. Before joining State Street in 2005, Regina was employed by Wachovia Securities, where she held Series 7 and 64 Securities Licenses.

Current Population Survey, December 2008, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
BBMG 2009 Conscious Consumer Report
The State of Corporate Citizenship in the United States 2009, The Hitachi Foundation and Boston College
Deloitte 2007 Volunteer Impact Study