With the Section 135 of Companies Act 2013 in place now, more and more companies are looking for NGOs that are reliable, credible, trustworthy, and transparent and accountable, apart from having the documentation and certifications with them. These companies are not only willing to give funds, but also support in terms of management consulting, technical support, linkages, and the most popular one- volunteer support, which is also called ‘employee engagement’ in CSR projects.
It is important for NGOs to understand why companies may be interested in engaging their employees as volunteers, for exposure and hands-on experience, to develop a sense of ownership, for do-good feeling, engagement within their company, or boosting employee morale. Whatever be the reason, the fact is that there is a huge opportunity for NGOs to be tapped, as the corporate volunteers can be a very useful resource. But most of the NGOs do not have a concrete and well-thought of strategy for employee engagement.
So here are top tips for employee engagement strategy for CSR programs:
- Know your project and target community needs and their skills:
Understand the project needs and target community needs and list down what you require from the volunteers. These volunteers will have certain fixed amount of time to be devoted towards the CSR project of their company. Analyze what may be achieved according to the time devoted by them, and then designate the tasks. For example, IT company employees will be well-equipped and happy to teach computer to a group of children, as part of their engagement with an NGO, but they might not be able to contribute much in your financial matters.
- Make a calendar for your engagement plan:
Decide on an engagement plan, as per your requirements, and then make a calendar for involving the corporate employees. Share this calendar with them.
- Make them know you- communicate your goals, mission, vision:
Communicate your organizational goals, mission and vision to the corporate volunteers. This will help them understand you better, and will feel more ‘engaged’.
- Sense of pride in association:
Create and foster a sense of pride in the association of the company or organization, with your cause.
- Be an NGO they can believe in:
Share your organizational values with them and maintain them always. Demonstrate transparency and accountability at all times.
- Communication:
Always keep the doors of communication open. Stay in touch with the donor company, keep them updated about your field and project activities. Respect them and invite them to the main events.
- Feedback:
Always ask for their opinion about the project or the activities you are jointly undertaking with them. This will make them feel valued and thus ‘engaged’ in its true sense.
- Allow them to come up with new ideas:
Though you have much more knowledge about what works and what doesn’t on the ground, allow the donor company or partner organization to express their views. Allow them to come up with new ideas, if they wish to. This may be followed by discussions and brainstorming for the betterment of the entire program.
- Meaningful relationships:
Develop meaningful relations with the partner organizations and companies. If they are interested, involve them in all related activities, right from planning, designating roles and responsibilities, to implementation and finally evaluation.
- Think long term:
With CSR provisions of the Companies Act 2013 in place now, companies look for long term association with credible and reliable NGOs. So think long term and foster long term engagements for a ‘win-win’ situation.
- Provide the needed information or support:
Be there to communicate and provide information, as and when it is asked by them. Assure them of all the support they need, and make arrangements accordingly.
- Treat them as very important:
No doubt, donors are very important for NGOs, and same is the case with corporate volunteers. They are very important resources, and they bring their talent and a new dimension to the social projects, if utilized properly. Always show gratitude and treat them as very important.
- Thanks and congrats:
Say thanks often. Reply immediately to any query from them. Thank them immediately as you receive the cheque or in-kind help or donation.
- Little training initially:
Make sure you provide a short training to the corporate employees in your engagement program. They are coming from a different work environment and a little orientation and training will definitely help in a more fruitful engagement.
- Share stories:
Share stories of success with them which are a result of their engagement. Send pictures and case stories, to appreciate and encourage them. This is also a very good way of saying thanks on behalf of the community they are helping.
