Corporate/employee giving campaigns key to future donation growth
Posted on January 28, 2020 in Inclusion Delivery System
Source: ThePhilanthropist.ca — Authors: Christina Palassio
ThePhilanthropist.ca – Sector News Digest
January 28, 2020. By: Christina Palassio
Canadians pride themselves on their generosity, and for good reason. According to the 10th edition of the World Giving Index, which aggregates data from a decade’s worth of Gallup surveys, Canada is the sixth most generous country in the world.
But giving rates in Canada have been on the decline for years. In 2017, the index notes, only 20% of Canadians reported having made a donation the previous year, down from 26% in 1997. The trend underscores a looming problem: as demand for services rises, the social deficit grows. Brian Emmett, Imagine Canada’s chief economist for the charitable and non-profit sector, forecasts that in 10 years, social-purpose organizations will need $25 billion more than they have today to meet demand for services.
The role the corporate sector will play in bridging the giving gap isn’t clear, but a new report points to the significant power workplace giving programs have to both raise charitable giving rates and bolster companies’ recruitment efforts, retention rates, and bottom lines.
Imagine Canada’s Profit, Purpose, and Talent report captures results from two surveys: one of 1,500 private sector employees and the other of 65 leading companies, which together had contributed $592 million to community causes in the year preceding the survey.
The company survey found that 79% of employees with access to workplace giving initiatives reported making donations, compared to a giving rate of 47% among employees with no access to workplace giving programs. The survey also found that when workplaces provided access to fundraising campaigns in addition to donation matching and payroll deductions, rates of employee participation rose.
The companies that derive the most business benefit from their community investment efforts have programs that are organized, authentic, and long-term. The employee survey found that people who believe their employer is strongly committed to the community are 1.5 times more likely to stay in their jobs, nearly twice as likely to be highly satisfied, and 2.5 times more likely to recommend their company to job seekers. A quarter of employees surveyed said they would even take a pay cut to work for a company that’s more involved in supporting the community, while 43% of companies reported that they planned to increase their community investment budgets.
Tags: ideology, participation, philanthropy
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