It's Not Always About Money

"Drivers of Effectiveness for Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs Fortune 500 Survey" is the title of this benchmark study, which is underwritten by Bank of America. Conducted under the auspices of Boston College's Center for Corporate Citizenship and supported by the Points of Light & Hands On Network, it will give companies a measurement of their own programs, as well as provide a roadmap for improving current programs.

What I really like about this study - besides the fact that Bea Boccalandro is managing the project - is that the survey links volunteerism AND giving. One of the main points found in the pilot phase was that this link is integral to successful volunteer programs.

I've long maintained that employee volunteerism moves beyond the job and becomes personal when the company gives and supports the organizations that employees support with their time & sweat.

It's not just for Fortune 500 companies, either. Any size company can use this tool to help review their current program and get ideas for improvement. Plus, with the report on your program, you have some great documentation for the next time you have to justify what your program does!

From the announcement email:

Benefits

As a participant you will receive free-of-charge:

? completely confidential benchmarking report of your program relative to the newly developed Drivers of Excellence for Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs (an absolute benchmark) as soon s you complete the survey and to the Fortune 500 (a relative benchmark) in August;

? the listing of your company in the published report as a supporter of this effort (if desired);

? the satisfaction that you supported the development of a set of benchmarks in the field of employee volunteering and giving;

? and -- if you are a Fortune 500, a copy of the DVD set The War, the highly acclaimed film by Ken Burns about the Second World War, courtesy of Bank of America.

Additionally, the published report will highlight company best practices. It takes most people between 30 and 60 minutes to complete the survey. (Before you decide you don't have the time, remember you will get a benchmark report on the new Drivers of Effectiveness of Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs as soon as you complete it! Also, you can simply start now and continue later - system will provide a user-pin for this purpose.)

Confidentiality

Company data are strictly confidential. Individual responses will not be shared with anybody outside the core Center for Corporate Citizenship research team without your prior permission. Not even the study's sponsor, Bank of America, will have access to individual company data. Only aggregate figures will be made public. Of course, you also have the option of not responding to any sensitive questions for an extra measure of comfort.

How to Participate

Participating is easy: Simply go to www.volunteerbenchmark.com before July 8.

Questions and Concerns

Of course, if you have any questions or concerns, contact Bea: bea@veraworks.com or 717-762-9865.

Go do it - for the investment of 30 to 60 minutes, you'll get information that will help you document the value of your company's employee volunteer program, plus information that will help you with continuous improvement.

That's more valuable than a tank of gas ... even at today's prices!