Globally, the participation of employees in corporate volunteering increased by 57% year over year, while the total number of dedicated volunteer hours grew by 41%, according to the 2024 State of Corporate Volunteering report. This surge in corporate volunteering is a welcome change when many companies struggle to find ways to connect and encourage employees to CSR and community-based initiatives.
While these statistics are promising, it’s equally important for corporate workplaces to maintain the momentum of giving and volunteering beyond the one-off, designated volunteering days. This brings us to the question – how do you encourage your employees to volunteer regularly and keep them engaged?
If your organisation is keen to boost volunteering and engagement among employees, ease the process for your teams with the right platform.
Here are five of the most popular corporate platforms that aim to lower the friction and load of employee volunteering and engagement.
1. KindLink
KindLink is at the top of our list, and for a number of reasons. It’s built for corporate teams that prefer a single, integrated platform where raising funds, payroll giving, employee volunteering, matching donations, tracking and reporting sustainability & impact, ESG & SDG reporting can be managed together.
KindLink is a CSR and sustainability management platform offering the exclusive feature of connecting companies, employees and charities through an integrated marketplace and social engagement tools. It also has a non-profit CRM, KindLink Foundation, which connects registered non-profit organisations through a marketplace to companies looking to help.
KindLink is more than an online tool for employee volunteering and engagement. It’s a unified platform for all CSR activities.
Corporate Volunteering Features
- KindLink’s platform is built to simplify the process of driving interest and participation in employee volunteering.
- Its marketplace eases the common roadblock of finding causes and charities to support.
- It encourages employees to select a cause of their choice and pledge their time, talent, and skill.
- Employees can take the lead with user-friendly tools to search, pledge, and join activities as well as organise their own.
- Managers and team leads find it easy to track participation and record volunteering hours as well as manage campaigns.
Employee Engagement & Experience
- With individual employee profiles and storytelling options, KindLink designs a complete experience around employee engagement.
- Employees can create their own profiles to plan, promote, share and further amplify volunteering and giving impact.
- Keep the interest high and momentum going with storytelling options that showcase and project impact to all stakeholders.
Impact Tracking and Reporting
- Going beyond an employee volunteering and engagement platform, KindLink also offers impact measurement and reporting tools for CSR.
- Teams can collect all the data on volunteering, giving, SDGs, and more from their unified platform and easily use it for their internal dashboards and reports.
- See all your data in one place, including volunteering hours, rate of participation, and more key metrics.
Best For
Mid to large organisations that want a unified and user-friendly platform that can not only help their employees build a culture of volunteering but also integrate with broader CSR goals.
2. Chezuba
Overview
Chezuba is a global employee volunteering platform connecting companies to non-profits worldwide. Its core focus lies in connecting volunteers for virtual or skill-based opportunities.
Corporate Volunteering Features
- It offers a mix of virtual, in-person, skill-based and micro-volunteering opportunities.
- Teams can access customised volunteering programmes in line with their CSR and ESG goals.
Employee Engagement & Experience
- Chezuba promotes sustained employee participation and engagement through gamified challenges and micro-actions.
- Employees can also engage in personalised volunteering opportunities based on their location, interests, and expertise.
Impact Tracking and Reporting
- Chezuba offers a dashboard with real-time employee participation and impact data
Best For
Remote or hybrid companies that are looking for engaging, gamified volunteering opportunities.
3. Optimy
Overview
Optimy follows a social impact software as a service (SaaS) model offering volunteering, grants, donations, and sponsorships for corporates and foundations. Many see it as a hub for community-related activities.
Corporate Volunteering Features
- Optimy allows teams to run various volunteering programmes, from team days to skill-based projects to community events, all from one platform.
- Teams can customise workflows to create, approve, and receive feedback on opportunities.
Employee Engagement & Experience
It offers various features that make it easy for employees to sign up for opportunities and increase participation
Impact Tracking and Reporting
- Optimy helps teams record volunteer hours, schedule events, and generate reports.
- Monitor programme progress through real-time tracking, and see its ROI and contribution to CSR goals.
Best For
Companies focused on grants, volunteering, and donations with detailed reporting needs.
4. Neighbourly
Overview
Neighbourly is a corporate volunteering and giving platform that connects companies with 40000+ local charities and community groups, with a focus on hyperlocal community impact.
Corporate Volunteering Features
- Neighbourly’s corporate volunteering programmes ease the process of finding opportunities that fit the skills and schedules of corporate employees
- Tools to run themed or seasonal volunteering initiatives
Employee Engagement & Experience
- This platform has features to manage sign-ups, reminders, and communication, as well as real-time dashboards for tracking impact and engagement
- Create branded company and campaign pages with seasonal campaigns to keep employees engaged.
Impact Tracking and Reporting
- Use data to report on volunteered hours, engagement rates, and demographics.
- It also supports local impact stories.
Best For
UK-based or Ireland-based enterprises looking for local volunteering programmes with support.
5. GivingForce
Overview
GivingForce is an employee giving and volunteering platform aimed at enterprises with modules for managing donations & grants, volunteering, payroll giving, and donation matching.
Corporate Volunteering Features
GivingForce’s employee volunteering module provides access to a database of 60000+ vetted charities.
Employee Engagement & Experience
- Its skill-based volunteering matching tools allow employees to boost their efforts and impact.
- Offers a combined portal for volunteering, donations, fundraising, and matching.
Impact Tracking and Reporting
Gain a centralised view of all CSR activities, not just volunteering.
Best For
Large, multinational enterprises that need a secure and compliant platform for giving and volunteering.
To Sum Up
Before you arrive at a decision, make sure you conduct in-depth research of these five employee volunteering and engagement platforms, checking their payment plans, integration with your existing tools and workflows, support, and platform training and learning curves.
If available, sign up for a demo or a trial version for a more hands-on understanding of how each platform works and which suits your organisation the best.
All five have their own features, strengths, and applications that you can study and prioritise according to your business’ CSR goals. We hope this guide helps to make an informed decision.
