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because the identities and histories of these firms are support CSR and larger budgets to provide incentives
often closely connected to the community, and they like matching gifts.
want to engage where their people live and work. Q: The data also show that bringing like-minded
Nonprofits also have the opportunity to develop deep- employees together can be effective, as employers that
er relationships and invite company leaders—at all offer employee resource or affinity groups see an ap-
levels—to serve on committees and boards. Although proximate 12:1 employee engagement rate ratio when
it is true that companies that have branch operations in compared with companies that do not offer groups to
the area, by definition, have leaders that sit elsewhere, employees. How/why does this work?
research will tell if the firm has goals around local in- A: Whether companies offer affinity groups, ERGs
volvement. Nonprofits should look for branches that (employee resource groups) or BRGs (business
have visible local leaders and seek to meet and cultivate resource groups), these groups are meant to create
relationships with these people. As a part of this pro- communities among the employee base, building
cess, nonprofits are well served to ask how companies connections and friendships at work.
communicate internally with their employees and what Because they are often focused around having af-
their needs are. Finally, given the current pandemic, finity with one another in some way, the relationships
nonprofits with quality virtual volunteer opportuni- built through these groups can be very strong. Often
ties should actively reach out through broader means these groups wish to serve together as a part of their
to build their volunteer base (I meet tons of people efforts, either simply to give back to the community
through LinkedIn). Companies like Blackbaud, with in meaningful ways or to help mark a day that is im-
3,300 people who love to serve, can’t find enough of portant to them (for example, Pride and MLK day).
these opportunities to share with our team. The process of serving together builds even greater
Q: Employees at companies on opposite ends of the connections.
size spectrum—those with fewer than 1,000 employees Other studies of younger generations have taught
and those with 1,000,000 or more—tend to donate the us that these employees often prefer to serve together
most. Is there anything specific about organizations in groups, so this also adds to the dynamic. We cer-
of these size ranges that makes them more amenable tainly see all of this at work at Blackbaud with affinity
to engagement? groups, planning and delivering programs for at-risk
A: The data and information we get from custom- youth, participating in celebrations and parades and
ers do not provide enough insight to truly answer this hosting educational sessions with a dose of fun to
question. However, based on my years of experience help share information and build allies.
in this industry, I can tell you it really comes down Also, companies that demonstrate they value and
to company culture. For smaller organizations, it honor employees’ experiences and passions tend to
becomes a matter of being able to easily commu- foster deeper engagement. If companies have ERGs
nicate to everyone what the company is doing in as part of their social good programs, they are inher-
giving and volunteering. Also, employees in smaller ently invested in their employees’ experiences and un-
organizations don’t want to be that one person who is derstand that it is a factor in employee retention. With
not participating. It’s easier to spread the excitement recent events such as the Black Lives Matter move-
and emotion of giving back at a smaller organization. ment, we are seeing employees asking for resource
Making that feeling contagious is very powerful when groups, and more companies are exploring how to
it comes to engagement. create and engrain ERGs into their programs. ■
For larger organizations, building a similar culture
takes cross-departmental and executive support.
For more information
Teams in this category must have a very methodical
way of communicating how the employees can en- Rachel Hutchisson is Vice President of Corporate Citi-
gage and what is important to the company. If done zenship and Philanthropy at Blackbaud, a leading cloud
correctly with departmental and onsite champions, software company powering social good. Serving the
larger organizations can build that same culture and entire social good community, Blackbaud connects and
contagious emotional connection. Larger organiza- empowers organizations to increase their impact through
tions also tend to have a deeper bench and expertise cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence.
on their CSR team, more sophisticated technology to For more information, visit https://www.blackbaud.com.