With many organisations now embedding social and environmental governance in their business strategy, employees have more opportunities than ever before to lend their voices and support to the causes that matter most to them.

Research by Workplace Giving Australia identified that over 50% of the employees surveyed wanted to have a say about the social and environmental causes their workplace supported, and with 60% of large organisations in Australia now actively adopting workplace giving programs, employees are actively driving social impact at work!

Workplace giving can take many forms, providing employers and employees flexibility to give in a way that best responds to their social priorities while also acknowledging the varying giving capacity of their workforce. In fact, the most successful workplace giving programs are those that provide their employees a wide range of giving opportunities. Some of the most favored approaches to workplace giving programs include:

Cause specific matched giving campaigns

Workplace matched giving requires organisations to match the total donations made by their employees to an agreed charitable cause or appeal. These campaigns are a fantastic way to involve every employee in an organisation’s social or environmental mission and can be one of the most impactful ways that a workplace can invest in their community.

Every donation made during the campaign, whether by an individual employee or direct from the company kitty, is tax deductible provided the recipient cause has DGR status. It’s a great way for employers to invite employees to be an active contributor to the organisation’s social investment and a genuine opportunity for employees to see their employer putting their money where their mouth is!

Regular giving

Regular giving is simple way for individual employees to give to their preferred charity from their pre-tax salary. Employees elect how much they’d like to give to their chosen charity and that donation is paid to the charity direct from the employee’s regular salary. Organisations with active workplace giving programs sometimes partner with giving platforms to streamline the employee giving process, and to provide every employee loads of options to align their personal social priorities with registered charities.

Workplace volunteering

Even the most resourced charities need the help of volunteers from time to time and workplace volunteering is one of the most effective ways that organisations can enable and mobilise their teams to give back to their community. There are a number of ways that workplaces support workplace volunteering; employees to select their own volunteering experience and their employer provides them a capped number of hours each year to participate in volunteering, or the organisation might invite whole teams to come together to support a specific group volunteering effort. There’s no question that charities large and small welcome volunteer support and what a great way for organisations to dip their toe in the workplace giving pond!

Workplace fundraising events

Everyone loves a chance to slip away from the desk for chat and a break so workplace fundraisers are terrific way to give the team some time out while giving to a shared social cause. Employers can support workplace fundraisers through lunch time team BBQs, morning teas and even offsite social or team based sporting events. The opportunities are endless and require just a small contribution from employers and employees to make a powerful and lasting social impact.

Jenny’s Place is fortunate to have the support of many wonderful local organisations and we give thanks to all our workplace giving partners and their teams for all they do for women and children in our community impacted by domestic violence and homelessness. If you’d like to know more about how your organisation can support Jenny’s Place through workplace giving, check out the Engage Your Workplace page on our website or reach out to our community relations team at communityrelations@jennysplace.org