Employee appreciation done correctly is the key to loyal employees. Yet, community contribution stands as another important factor employees are passionate about.
Chances are, your company already contributes to charities, but the question is: Do your employees get to participate in social giving? Simply involving them can make a big difference in boosting morale and creating engaged employees.
If you are looking for a different way to celebrate your employees on Employee Appreciation Day this year, consider these altruistic celebrations for employees!
1. Donate To An Employee’s Favorite Non-Profit In Their Name
Throwing money at employees is often counterproductive for employee engagement, a measurement for employee happiness at work. But, donating money to an employee’s favorite non-profit shows that you care about their causes and know them individually.
It provides a way for the company to make a significant difference while recognizing an outstanding employee. Many non-profits provide a “gift certificate” for those who donate as a gift for someone else. Present the certificates to your employees on Employee Appreciation Day. Don’t forget to take the time to express the reasons why you are grateful for each employee. A month before Employee Appreciation Day, use the Poll Feature on Thanks to find out what causes your employees are the most passionate about. Organizations can also use the Company Store Feature to create experiences on the causes that they care about.
2. Give Employees Paid Time Off To Volunteer
Some employers have involved employees in corporate giving by encouraging employees to volunteer for a local service project and paying the entire team normal wages while they volunteer. This allows employees time to help and make a difference, strengthens team bonds, and doesn’t detract from personal obligations.
It’s a great way to build loyalty, improve morale, and increase friendships. All of these things contribute to employees feeling valued and appreciated at an employer.
Other employers prefer to use a paid volunteer day as an award or celebration after a significant event. Additional money to employees can have a detrimental effect when dished out incorrectly but gifting an employee a paid day to volunteer has a different feel. Many employees will work harder to benefit a cause of their choice than they will to get an extra gift certificate. That’s especially true when the gift of a paid day isn’t used as a controlling factor.
In some companies, employees can apply for a paid month off to volunteer at the non-profit of their choice. Common requirements for qualification includes being at the employer for 5 or more years, having several years of existing volunteerism, and submitting an explanation of why that non-profit is so important to the employee. Submissions can come in essay, video, or other format.
- Organize a service project or paid volunteer day for a team or your entire company
- Gift a paid day for an employee to volunteer at their chosen charity
- Offer a paid week or month for a long-term employee to volunteer. This could also be used as a service award.
- Give employees the afternoon off help with a community project
3. Hold a Food Drive
Recognize employees by holding a food drive with your employees and customers to benefit a local food bank. Or, consider another type of a drive such as a coat drive, a toy drive, a school supply drive, depending on the season. Let your employees play a key role in deciding what cause to support and how the drive will be executed. Employees who have a voice in these types of major decisions feel more appreciated.
Start the drive off right by either supplying a starting base of products to the drive, or by offering to match the items that come in with either similar products or an equal dollar amount in donations to the non-profit.
Make it fun by tracking the success and collection of items across the company. Involve employees from the highest collecting teams in distributing the food to the food bank and take plenty of photos to share with the rest of your employees.
It will be an experience they will be talking about for a long time.
4. Highlight Employee Causes
Showcase what your employees are passionate about by allowing employees to present a charity or non-profit of their choice and tell why they love it. This both allows your team members to get to know eachother better and allows for employees to really advocate for the social issues that they care about the most.
Feature employees in a company newsletter, or give them time in a monthly meeting to present. On Employee Appreciation Day, you could give employees a certain dollar amount to pass out to coworkers. The money gifted is then donated to the charity of the receiving employee’s choice.
In Thanks, managers would use the polls feature to gather a list of nonprofits beloved by employees. They would them add certificates into the company store. Employees gifted points could redeem the certificates for the money to be donated to the non-profit of choice.
5. Hold a Donation Raffle
Create a fun raffle for employees that both encourages peer recognition and helps a cause. Allow employees to gift raffle tickets to their peers for recognition or as a Thanks for something done. This encourages employees to express what they are grateful for from a coworker. The gifted raffle tickets are entered in with the receiving employee’s name.
As your office shows appreciation for the unseen and seen excellence, commodore improves. At the end of the time period, draw a name, or a couple of names. The employee whose name is drawn gets to determine where the donation dollars are given from the company.
Another twist is to assign a dollar to each raffle ticket and in that way “raise money” for a cause as employees recognize each other.
6. Hold a Fundraiser Contest Between Departments
Have a little fun with a friendly contest, use Quizzes to create a test of company trivia where various departments can compete for the highest scores and win prizes. Or, raise money for a social cause. Use the Poll Feature on Thanks to gather great ideas of what causes your employees want to support.
Use a thermometer, or other visual aid, to show your team how close they are to reaching the goal. At the end, bring in the non-profit representatives and give them the donations in a big check as part of a team celebration. Have a recognition party where your entire team can celebrate together the funds raised and the difference your employee’s played.
Be aware that some social causes may not be something all your employees want to support. Instead, consider offering choices that employees can contribute to by department. Additionally, make sure that employee contributions are kept confidential and the dollar amounts aren’t shared with other employees. Instead track contributions by teams and not by individuals.
7. Employer Match
Consider offering an employer match to any non-profit the employee donates to. It takes a little paperwork to set up the matching funds with non-profits, but it’s worthwhile when employees can feel like their contribution counts even more.
Employer matches both encourage employees to become more involved in their communities and help employees to see how their employers care. Plus it gives employees choice in how corporate donations are given and shows that they have a voice at work.
8. Publish A List of Nonprofits
Many people want to help and contribute, but may not be aware of issues surrounding them. Be sure to allow employees to submit more than one organization. Then, compile a list of the non-profits and what they do. Share it on your website, or intranet with employees.
This allows employees to have a voice and lets them know that you care about what’s important to them!
9. Hold A Fundraiser Gift Exchange
Hold a fundraiser gift exchange for employees. Set a cap on how much employees can spend. Employees write their name and the name of their chosen non-profit on a slip of paper. Then they draw the name of an employee. They make a small donation to that employee’s charity in the employee’s name as a gift.
It’s a great way to have some office fun and help the community.
Conclusion
While managers and employers have endless methods for recognizing employees, offering recognition that involves making a difference in the community and world has unique benefits. Employees can gain a greater voice in helping those around them, enjoy a greater sense of community, and strengthen friendships. Additionally, the service involved builds employer loyalty and creates a lasting impression.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.