By Bryan de Lottinville

Traditional objectives for workplace giving programs often focus on reaching a (well-intentioned) monetary target for a campaign or a cause. At the same time, most companies are seeking to achieve broader measures of success from their programs, particularly around employee engagement.

Here’s a new view: if you want to achieve greater employee engagement and ROI, you need to change your perspective on what you’re doing.

On Definitions of Impact
We talk to a lot of companies who are looking to improve the level of employee engagement and other outcomes from their workplace and corporate giving programs. But a recent comment from a largeco CSR program administrator reminded us that there is more at work in creating successful corporate giving programs than just great software and services; you need to pay attention to the goals.

“If an employee can easily give wherever they want, won’t that dilute our impact?” The answer to the above question of course depends on your perspective. If your goal is to hit a donation target for a single charity or cause campaign, I can see how one might think that enabling people to donate more broadly might potentially impact those efforts. (Although, experientially, our user metrics show that a “rising tide raises all boats” and that when people are offered broader choice, they not only give to their causes, they’re also more likely to give to your strategic ones as well).

So let’s say your target is a dollar amount, and you marshal a ton of corporate and charity resources to compel people to give. Maybe even your senior management gets involved (which is great if done properly) and firmly “persuades” people to give a certain amount based on what they earn or have done in the past.

You’ve hit your goal, but have you made the desired impact? Maybe your employees feel like their giving has been dutiful, rather than altruistic, or that the chosen cause isn’t really resonant to them. You’ve taken away the “feel good” aspects of it, likely making it difficult to engage them in other aspects of your programs.

If instead your definition of impact is focused on the level of willing participation in your programs and the extent that it ignites employee engagement around your brand, programs and culture, then you should never be asking the question posed above. You need to ask different ones.

The Problem with the Status Quo
Many corporate philanthropy programs – including workplace giving programs – are still focused on “handing out fish”, rather than creating or engaging passionate fishermen. Companies field hundreds or thousands of well-meaning requests for grants, say no to 99.9% of them, and hope that the few that they do choose to support are sufficiently strategically aligned with their company and their brand that their customers and employees will be wildly engaged to hear that the company has given those charities resources. Even then, the amount that most companies can or will give to their corporately supported charities isn’t really enough to move the needle on the issue or pillar, so it actually ends up being something of a lose-lose. The company hasn’t generated the business or social ROI it is seeking, the investments don’t resonate with employees or customers, and the charity wants more.

If Engagement is the Goal, You Need to Think Differently
At the same time that companies are recognizing they are underachieving in the returns from their programs, businesses are trying to embrace the tremendous power and diversity of the crowd. [Btw, if anyone thinks that we can solve all of the world’s social issues through donations from high net worth individuals, transfers from government or the current extent of corporate giving, they live in a different world than me.] To be the change we seek, companies need to engage and cultivate throngs of grassroots or “citizen philanthropists” as Carol Cone and subsequent writers have coined.

This isn’t as hard as it sounds, particularly since people care more than ever about giving back. People have a desire to add this kind of meaning to their lives – both inside and outside of work – so there is a broad opportunity to connect with employees based on something other than what they’re being paid or what perks they have. Most people already have a cause or pillar that they care deeply about; connect with them on that and you should create an element of glue or loyalty that is enduring and difficult for your competitors to supplant.

But make no mistake: engaging people broadly requires empowerment, choice and a measure of democratization, not arm-twisting. It requires a year-round strategy and commitment that features choice, flexibility, convenience and creativity, not just a once-a-year campaign that seeks to hit a number and then “shuts off” until next year.

A New Definition of Impact
So stop measuring success based on how and to whom you hand out fish. Foster and measure the breadth and scope of your participation. Consider these simple steps:

1. Broaden Your Matching Program.
If you want to capture more of your employees’ charitable activity, you need to broaden choice. Matching is the main reason they will participate in your program, so be strategic about it. Use more of your charitable dollars to foster investment and engagement by others (eg. match to any 501(c)(3) that is in good standing, but match at a higher rate to those causes that are strategic to your company. And make sure it’s easy to donate and easy to get the match!

2. Make Your Volunteering “Grants” More Flexible.
In fact, a better step might be to think less about grant making and more about strategic incentivizing. Many companies will offer a “dollars for doers” or similar grant to a cause where an individual volunteers, based on the number of hours that the person contributes. Most often, there is not only a cap on the hours (ie. the total grant) but also a threshold below which volunteering isn’t recognized with an investment by the company. The cap likely makes practical sense, but the threshold really doesn’t – especially if engagement is the goal. If I’m a single mom or dad and can only devote 10 hours instead of 50, should I really feel like my contribution doesn’t matter to the company?

3. Delink Rewards or Grants from Specific Causes.
This is related to the above point, and again is especially true in Volunteering programs and dollars for doers (DFD) rewards. If you have corporate volunteering opportunities that are strategic to the company, you obviously want broad participation. There are many people who care deeply about a cause, but may not be able to volunteer there (typically because the cause can’t accommodate volunteers easily – such as a Sexual Assault Crisis Centre). You may want me to participate corporately at the Local Soup Kitchen, but I really care about the YWCA. If I can earn my DFD reward by volunteering at the soup kitchen but donate it to the YWCA, I’m far more likely to don your t-shirt and get out there…

4. Use Charitable Gift Cards Instead of Just “T&T”.
We have several clients that use the charitable gift card functionality within our workplace giving software to issue branded employee and client appreciation rewards. This gifting of “donation currency” is not only a strategically aligned alternative to typical “trinkets and trash”, but will engage people in giving back to campaigns or causes you present. You’ll get more people engaged in your program, create opportunities to expose them to your community investment initiatives and create a landscape impact under your brand. It’s just another way of deploying existing budget in ways that will engage others, rather than just the ultimate charity recipient.

Doing these simple things doesn’t mean you have to abandon your strategic pillars or causes, it just means you’re doing things more broadly than you have in the past.

Bryan de Lottinville, Founder and CEO at Benevity, has spent the past fifteen years in senior operational roles with growth companies, in both the bricks and mortar and web worlds. His most recent claim to quasi-fame was as Chief Operating Officer and Director of iStockphoto Inc. (a top 300 Alexa-ranked site). Before he started working with entrepreneurs, he was a corporate finance partner at a major Toronto Law firm (although he rarely admits to being a lawyer). Bryan and all Benevity’s employees are very passionate about helping all types of businesses create more engaging, strategic and choice-driven “Goodness Programs” that deliver greater social and business impacts.

Originally published on Benevity.org.Reprinted with permission.