Spring is here! Along with this awakening from a long winter comes the old adage: out with the old and in with the new. If you are a business owner or an employee who enjoys volunteering, this is a good time of year to start and/or develop a new Employee Volunteer Program (EVP). Strong EVPs can help a community blossom by leveraging an organization’s resources and manpower in projects that target real community needs. With a little effort, your end result could be happier employees and a healthier community. Below are some tips to get you started in cultivating a strong Employee Volunteer Program within your company.

Location, location, location: Think about where a volunteer program could fit best within your business. Corporate communications, marketing, member relations, customer service and human resources are just a few examples of where this type of program can be managed effectively. It is very important to the success of an EVP that it be housed in a department that is focused on community involvement. While you are deciding on a program location, be sure to select a staff person within that department that is committed to the idea of developing and carrying out the mission of an EVP.

Select a program name: For example, Disney VoluntEARS and Xerox’s corporate name for their volunteer program is called Social Service Leave. It is important to select a name that fits your organization’s overall brand and culture. Most EVPs contain the organization’s name, such as “AAA Volunteers” or “Team Depot” for Home Depot’s volunteer department. They have logos integrated into their company’s brand. This can be fun to develop and it gives the program value while letting your employees know that your company is committed to volunteerism and is taking this EVP seriously.

Develop an operating budget: You should look at costs such as integrating your new EVP into your company’s Web site, writing press releases, planning service days, T-shirts, and recognizing those individuals that stand up and take interest in their community. Take that cost, divide it into how many employees you have, and that is (on average) what you need to spend per employee/per year to run a volunteer program.

Structure is the most important dimension among strong EVP’s. All successful companies that promote volunteerism have these common structural elements: they are community oriented, have established a volunteer program name, have one or more people within the appropriate department sharing the task of finding community projects.

Funds are tight for all of us in 2009, so if you are not able to contribute monetarily to an organization this year, instead of saying no all together, you could give them volunteers instead.

The Volunteer Center of Randolph County will be glad to assist your organization with the development of an Employee Volunteer Program. We can also provide you with various volunteer opportunities and community service projects within Randolph County.

If you are interested in Volunteering and/or signing up to participate in The Human Race on March 21, 2009, e-mail amy@uwrandolph.org or call The Volunteer Center of Randolph County at (336) 626-6643.



Amy Byrd is coordinator of the Volunteer Center of Randolph County, a program of United Way. Byrd’s column appears the third Wednesday of each month. A listing of volunteer opportunities in Randolph County appears weekly. If you would like to volunteer, call (336) 626-6643 or send Amy an e-mail at amy@uwrandolph.org.