Charitable efforts carried out by companies may have honourable intentions. However, in our U.K pilot study, results showed that companies can actually cause more strain on charities’ limited resources than benefit.
While a ‘fun company team day out’ of volunteering may be welcomed by HR teams or top-level executives, 40% of charities admit that they do not benefit from unskilled short-term activities. 60% of charities surveyed do not support group unskilled volunteering and almost 30% don’t have the infrastructure to cope.
These findings are supported by a March 2018 NPC (New Philanthropy Capital) report. The report shows that half of charities have taken on volunteers they didn’t need to protect their relationship with a company partner¹.
“There is a need to look for win-win situations and to get away from the model of on-off unskilled large numbers to more longer-term partnerships, utilising skills and employee experience.” – survey respondent
There is a clear problem in the current models of communication between charities and companies. With increasing budget cuts in services, the sector is only becoming more responsible for the welfare of our society. The resource gap must be bridged.
70% of charities would benefit from skills-based volunteering and only 40% are currently receiving this.
60% of charities would value strategic development to elevate their efforts to the next level.
Over 85% of charities would prefer fundraising commitments from companies.
These stats highlight a desire to move away from relying on grant funding only (which can be restrictive and prohibitive towards necessary operational costs) and towards a more collaborative and dynamic chain of giving.
Tiia Sammallahti, founder and CEO of whatimpact.com says: “Companies are looking for charitable activities to suit their schedule, their reputation and employee engagement requirements, which are not necessarily the charities’ expertise or focus. Companies of all sizes are increasingly willing to donate their expertise, time, money, goods and services to the charity sector, but are not always able to find the perfect charity match.”
Research shows that 30% of company volunteers would volunteer more if they could find local opportunities² and 70% of charities surveyed said they would benefit from skills-based volunteering.
The survey also revealed that 50% of charities do not receive money donations and 40% of charities do not collaborate with companies in any other way. Of those 40%, 50% of charities say the reason for this is that companies have not approached them. Fundraising by working directly with companies appears to be a barrier; over a quarter of charities that don’t collaborate with companies say they do not have the right reporting tools and skills that would appeal to businesses.
At whatimpact.com, charities and companies alike can feel at ease knowing that the communication of their needs is handled by our matching algorithm. Our AI-based algorithm means that your requests and offers for goods, services, and money donations are automatically matched with organisations based on your given criteria. As for concerns over having the right reporting tools, our social impact reporting tool means this part of the process is automatically and digitally managed so that you don’t have to worry. To discuss how our platform can work for your CSR goals, book a 15 minute introductory call.
For any questions get in touch with us here.
