Employee Engagement Strategies

As organizations continue to prepare for 2026, employee engagement continues to be a top priority for organizations. With shifting employee expectations, hybrid work methods, and a growing emphasis on company culture, companies must evolve their engagement strategies to stay competitive. According to the latest research, companies that invest in employee engagement programs see up to 21% higher profitability and 59% less turnover. 

With relation to employee participation in social and community impact, our 2025 CSR Industry Review reveals that engagement in employee volunteering and giving programs is holding steady, even as donor patterns shift and expectations rise. Notably, companies offering integrated giving and volunteering programs see engagement rates nearly three times higher than those offering only one. 

Employees increasingly expect opportunities for social impact at work, with 72% more likely to apply to companies they perceive as socially responsible. As you plan for 2026, now is the time to invest in strategies that build connection, purpose, and growth.  

Employee Volunteering Strategies

Skills-Based Volunteering

Encourage employees to apply their professional expertise, such as IT, finance, or marketing, to help nonprofits solve real challenges. This approach not only benefits the community but also fosters employee development and purpose. With purpose-built volunteering software like CSRconnect, employees can build their own skills profile that CSR administrators can then use to find the volunteering opportunities that align best.

Volunteer Time Off

Offer paid volunteer time off to empower employees to serve organizations they are passionate about. Consider individual VTO policies or company-wide service days. This could also recognize employees who volunteer outside of work hours with extra vacation time.

Check out how Liberty Bank achieved 100% volunteer engagement rate by offering employees 30 hours of paid time off to volunteer for causes that they are passionate about.

Team-Based Volunteering Events

Facilitate opportunities for departments to volunteer together, strengthening collaboration and team spirit. Host quarterly volunteer days, highlight team efforts in internal communications, and recognize contributions with awards or shoutouts.

Hear from Nutrabolt on the success of their dedicated Service Day and how their employees supported 63 global communities and contributed 1,500 volunteer hours in just one day.

Virtual Volunteering

Provide virtual volunteering opportunities to accommodate remote, in-person, or hybrid work environments. This flexibility ensures everyone can participate, regardless of location or work arrangement. Virtual volunteering also expands your company’s reach to support causes globally.

Flexible or Micro-volunteering Events

Incorporate micro-volunteering opportunities—short-term, low-commitment activities ranging from 15 minutes to an hour. These can serve as gateways to longer-term engagement and are especially effective for companies looking to engage frontline employees.

Employee Giving Strategies

Make Giving Easy and Inclusive

Build workplace giving programs where employees have a wide range of choices and can support causes that matter to them. Provide a variety of options, such as one-time or recurring donations, to maximize participation. Using digital platforms like CSRconnect to facilitate giving can ensure programs are accessible to all employees.

Payroll Giving

Enable employees to donate directly from their paychecks, making charitable giving convenient and consistent. Payroll giving remains the most engaging donation method for our clients, with the highest participation rates among all donation types. Companies that support employee generosity by enabling payroll deduction can benefit hugely from this increase in engagement and impact.

Matching Gift Programs

Amplify employee giving with matching gift programs that are simple to use, have low minimum donation requirements, and follow best practices. This incentivizes employees to support the causes that matter most to them and can be a great way of increasing program relevance and participation.

Portland General Electric’s 10:1 donation matching program for wildfire relief highlights the power of matching gifts to amplify employee generosity during times of crisis.

Involve Employees in Grantmaking

Invite employees to participate in the company’s grantmaking process by reviewing applications or directly nominating charities for grants. Their input can help identify community needs and foster a sense of ownership, transparency, and inclusivity in your philanthropic efforts.

Employee Resource Groups Strategies

Create Affinity and Resource Groups

Support the creation of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and affinity groups to build a sense of inclusion and grassroots engagement. These groups can also help amplify giving and volunteering initiatives.

Make sure you cover the fundamentals when setting up ERGs to secure organizational buy-in and employee champions, go through goal setting, and identify strategies around awareness and member recruitment.

Engage ERG Leaders in CSR Strategy

Provide funding and leadership support for ERGs, and involve their leaders in shaping CSR strategy. Work with ERGs to identify and support causes that resonate with your workforce. This ensures that engagement opportunities align with employee interests and company values.

For instance, following the success of their Young Professionals Network involvement in their recent Fight Against Hunger campaign, Applied Materials has integrated ERG champions into its campaign leadership structure.

Celebrate the Impact of ERGs

Recognize and celebrate the value of employee resource groups in facilitating collaboration and impact. As an example, during the pandemic, Capgemini discovered that the ERGs were tracking more volunteering hours than any year before, were being promoted throughout the company two times more than normal, and were retaining members at an 8% higher rate.

Recognition & Rewards Strategies

Volunteering and Giving Incentives

Leverage incentives such as volunteer grants, where nonprofits that employees volunteer with can receive grant funding, or cause cards, where employees are given a gift card that can be redeemed in the form of charitable donations. This can work especially well for familiarizing new hires to the company’s CSR programs.

Recognize Service Beyond the Workplace

Recognize and celebrate employees who volunteer outside of work hours, such as supporting extracurricular activities at schools or serving on nonprofit boards. Consider offering extra vacation time or simply spotlighting these efforts.

Celebrate Employees Internally

Empower employees to recognize each other’s contributions in real time using digital platforms for shoutouts and badges. Tie recognition to company values and celebrate milestones publicly in forums like team meetings or town halls.

Learning & Development Strategies

Educate and Communicate

Regularly educate employees about community issues and the impact of nonprofit organizations. Host lunch-and-learns, share stories, and provide resources to help employees understand how their contributions make a difference.

Uncover how Northern Trust takes this to the next level by training a global committee of 160 CSR ambassadors to support their international giving and volunteering initiatives.

Support Young and Frontline Employees

Recognize the unique perspectives and needs of younger employees and frontline workers. Create engagement programs that are accessible and relevant to all employee groups, ensuring everyone can participate meaningfully.