Corporate Volunteerism and Giving Down

The slow-growing economy is affecting not only corporate profits -- it's also straining corporate volunteer programs. That is the word from a recent Stamford Advocate newspaper article.

For many years, nonprofit and charitable agencies in most communities have drawn from a pool of of highly educated and skilled corporate employees to provide services to economic development, civic, elderly, and social service organization. But corporations have shed employees to save costs, and those who remain often are less able to volunteer.

According to a recent survey report by the Independent Sector, a coalition of more than 700 national organizations, foundations and corporate philanthropy programs, found that employees worried about their financial futures are 50 percent less likely to volunteer.

Recent studies conducted by Cone, a Boston-based corporate strategy firm, and the Council on Foundations, based in Washington, D.C., found that consumers are more likely to choose and remain loyal to companies committed to social causes.

This news, while not new to most EDO's, points to the need for economic developers to work especially hard at making the case why their organizations should receive corporate volunteer and financial support. You may want to consider the following actions to strengthen your case:

* Be ready with the facts about your organization's accomplishments. Speak directly to the return on investment (ROI) issue.

* Work on retaining existing corporate leadership involvement and ensure that they see the benefit of their volunteered time.

* Coordinate your requests for funding and volunteer leadership on a community-wide basis to ensure that key corporations are not overwhelmed by demands for their time and money.

* Adopt creative approaches to leadership, such as forming leadership teams, co-chair strategies and other approaches that reduce the time demands on your corporate leaders.

* Clearly define your leadership needs so corporate executives understand what you expect from them.

These and other strategies will help economic development organizations sharpen their ability to compete for available corporate leadership and funding.