Join our session to explore proven strategies for planning, executing, and sustaining impactful holiday volunteer campaigns.
- Best practices for holiday volunteering campaigns.
- Insights from successful "Season of Giving" initiatives.
- Strategies for maintaining engagement post-holiday season.
- Tips for seamless campaign execution and planning.
- How to maximize employee participation and impact.
In this Season of Giving special of Voices of Change, leaders from Atlassian Foundation and Arrow Electronics shared strategies to transform employee volunteering into meaningful, year-round impact. Key insights include empowering employees to lead initiatives, fostering inclusivity across global teams, aligning giving campaigns with strategic CSR pillars, and celebrating both quantitative outcomes and the human stories behind volunteering. By listening to employees, equipping volunteer champions, engaging leadership, and maintaining flexible, culturally relevant campaigns, companies can make corporate volunteering a core part of organizational culture.
Q: Can you introduce yourselves and your roles?
A:
- Missy Peck: I lead the Global Employee Engagement and Volunteering Programs at Goodera, based in Dallas, Texas. I’m passionate about corporate volunteering initiatives, employee engagement, and social impact programs.
- Meire Braga: I manage Global Volunteer Engagement and CSR Campaigns at Arrow Electronics. Originally from Brazil, I’ve spent 16 years in the U.S., giving me a unique perspective on managing cross-cultural employee volunteering programs and holiday volunteering initiatives.
- Mallory Burke: I serve as Senior Program Manager of Social Impact at Atlassian. I oversee global corporate volunteering programs, employee giving campaigns, and philanthropic initiatives. My background in homeless services and AmeriCorps guides my approach to impactful community volunteering programs.
Q: Can you provide an overview of your Season of Giving volunteering programs?
A:
- Mallory Burke (Atlassian): Atlassian runs two major holiday volunteering campaigns:
- Week of Good: Holiday-focused volunteering locally, supporting housing and food services.
- May It Forward: Employees design and lead their own volunteering programs for social good.
- Collectively: $54M globally, 200,000+ volunteer hours, 133,000 free/discounted product licenses.
- Week of Good: Holiday-focused volunteering locally, supporting housing and food services.
- Meire Braga (Arrow Electronics): Two flagship Season of Giving campaigns:
- Earth Month in April: Environmental volunteering.
- Season of Wellbeing / Tech for Good in October: Combines employee engagement and community service.
- Supported by ~160 global volunteer champions organizing donation drives and local holiday volunteering events.
- Earth Month in April: Environmental volunteering.
Q: Why are Season of Giving volunteering campaigns important?
A:
- Missy Peck: They boost morale, strengthen community connections, and foster long-term employee engagement while showcasing tangible social impact.
Q: How do you ensure inclusivity across global teams and diverse holidays?
A:
- Mallory Burke: Focus on acts of giving, not a specific holiday, and leverage ERGs like “Faith in Action” to create culturally relevant opportunities.
- Meire Braga: Avoid overemphasizing a single holiday; volunteer champions design initiatives meaningful to their local context.
Q: How do you keep volunteer champions motivated during busy periods?
A:
- Meire Braga: Provide tools, resources, and platform support (e.g., Goodera) to simplify planning and ensure strong participation.
- Missy Peck: Pre-packaged volunteering activities reduce planning stress and maximize engagement.
Q: Biggest challenges in planning holiday volunteering campaigns
Poll Results: Employee engagement (39%), finding time to plan, setting realistic goals & leadership involvement.
Q: Pro tips for successful campaigns
A:
- Meire Braga: Start early, listen to employees, provide ideas and NGO contacts, and ensure volunteer champions have support.
- Mallory Burke: Keep campaigns fresh, engage leaders early, offer hybrid volunteering events, and empower employees to take ownership.
Q: How do you measure success?
A:
- Meire Braga: Qualitative measures like employee excitement, photos, and feedback.
- Missy Peck: Storytelling and visual content showcase real impact beyond numbers.
Q: Common pitfalls to avoid
A:
- Over-scheduling during busy periods
- Ignoring global holidays and employee availability
- Overplanning; flexibility is key
- Overloading employees with multiple initiatives
Q: Sustaining volunteer momentum post-holidays
A:
- Missy Peck: Celebrate volunteers, keep tools ready year-round, share impact stories, integrate volunteering into culture.
- Meire Braga: Use a global calendar to balance ongoing campaigns.
- Mallory Burke: Encourage employee-led campaigns and reward grassroots programs.
Q: Thoughts on Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
A:
- Mallory Burke: VTO helps but culture is equally important.
- Missy Peck: Policy alone is not enough; culture of volunteer engagement is crucial.
Q: Aligning Season of Giving with strategic CSR focus areas
A:
- Meire Braga: Aero Electronics’ CSR pillars include Giving for Good, allowing employees to propose and lead volunteering programs.
Q: Securing leadership buy-in
A:
- Mallory Burke: Demonstrate business value via retention, engagement, and storytelling; embed volunteering into OKRs.
- Meire Braga: Use data on employee engagement and volunteer impact to strengthen leadership support.
Q: Most eye-opening volunteer experiences
A:
- Mallory Burke: Supporting education for incarcerated individuals showed transformative power when leadership is involved.
- Meire Braga: Direct participation in community volunteering and observing the impact.
