Why Engage Employees in Pro Bono Service?

​In a prior post, we presented an introduction to pro bono, or skills-based, volunteering. In this post, we share the two main reasons your company might want to develop an employee pro bono service program: to contribute to society and to strengthen your organization.

Contribute to society
Studies suggest that pro bono service is an effective way to strengthen nonprofit organizations, drive social impact, and address societal issues. For example:

• A survey conducted by the Taproot Foundation found that 95% of nonprofits that engage in pro bono service report it improves their organization’s effectiveness via cost or resource savings, efficiency, and the quality of operations or services.(1)
  
• Data collected by HP shows its global pro bono program accelerates mission accomplishment for over 90% of involved nonprofits by helping them serve more people, offer higher-quality services, and operate more strategically, for example.(2)
  
• Over 70% of U.S. nonprofit leaders say that leveraging volunteers and their skills has improved their organization’s quality of services or programs to a “great extent,” per a survey conducted by the University of Maryland.(3)

Strengthen your business
The most compelling reason to offer employees the opportunity for pro bono service is to support societal causes. Yet, another excellent reason is supporting the success of your organization. Pro bono service has been shown to benefit the employer in three key areas: employee outcomes, such as satisfaction and engagement; employee skill development; and sales and related outcomes, as detailed below.

Improved employee recruitment, satisfaction, engagement, productivity, and retention

• Academic research finds that employee volunteers show significantly higher rates of job satisfaction than non-participants.(4)
  
• An Australian study found that employee volunteers are more committed to their employer and, thus, more likely to stay with them.(5)
  
• An academic study found that employees who volunteer are subsequently more productive.(6)
  
• An analysis of pre- and post-measures across several companies found that employee volunteers experience a 20% larger increase in employee engagement and a 13% larger increase in job satisfaction than the control group of non-participants.(7)

Employee skill development

• A comprehensive academic review of all the studies conducted on the skill-building impact of all types of employee volunteering finds that participants and their supervisors often report that the service boosted leadership, teamwork and communication skills, as well as technical skills related to the service, such as financial planning, media relations, and project management. The impact is even greater for pro bono volunteering.(8)
  
• A Deloitte employee survey found the vast majority of pro bono volunteers reported their service improved their communication, leadership, and other skills.(9)
  
• A longitudinal study found that well-designed volunteering was effective at developing cross-cultural competencies.(10)

Improved company reputation and sales

• A BCG study found that, even though Gulf State consumers aren’t as oriented toward conscious consumption as their European or U.S. counterparts, it’s still the case the majority will consider adjusting their behaviors in accordance with a brand’s actions on societal issues.(11)
  
• An IBM study found that half of global consumers say they’ve paid a premium—an average of 59% more—for products branded as sustainable or socially responsible in the last 12 months.(12)
  
• A 2021 global survey found that 85% of respondents have shifted their purchase behavior toward being more sustainable in the past five years.(13)

In summary, engaging your employees in pro bono service can be a win-win way for your company. To learn more, contact us!

​​(1) “95% of Nonprofit Professionals Report that Pro Bono Service Improved their Organization’s Effectiveness,” Taproot Foundation, 2016.
(2) “Community Engagement Scorecard,” HP, 2015.
(3) Nathan Dietz and Dr. Robert T. Grimm, Jr., “The State of Volunteer Engagement: Insights from Nonprofit Leaders and Funders,” Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, 2023.
(4) Debbie Haski-Leventhal, Andrew Kach, and Mehrdokht Pournader, “Employee Need Satisfaction and Positive Workplace Outcomes: The Role of Corporate Volunteering,” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (2019).
(5) Haski-Leventhal, Kach, and Pournade, “Employee Need Satisfaction and Positive Workplace Outcomes.”
(6) Brian D. Knox, “Employee Volunteer Programs are Associated with Firm-Level Benefits and CEO Incentives: Data on the Ethical Dilemma of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities, Journal of Business Ethics (2020)
(7) Bea Boccalandro, “Increasing employee engagement through corporate volunteering,” Voluntare (2018).
(8) Kiera Dempsey-Brench and Amanda Shantz, “Skills-based volunteering: A systematic literature review of the intersection of skills and employee volunteering,” Human Resource Management Review (2022).
(9) “2016 Deloitte Impact Survey: Building Leadership Skills Through Volunteerism,” Deloitte, 2016.
(10) Paula Caligiuri et al., “Developing cross-cultural competencies through international corporate volunteerism,” Journal of World Business (2019).
(11) “Are Consumers in the Gulf States Ready to Go Green?”, BCG (2021).
(12) “Balancing Sustainability and Profitability,” IBM Institute for Business Value (2022).
(13) Simon-Kucher & Partners, “The Global Sustainability Study 2021.”