Who’s Paying? The Hidden Costs of Volunteering
We are lucky. On one hand, London Bridge businesses have always been generous with their enthusiasm for volunteering and on the other, local charities and community groups are welcoming and eager to provide meaningful experiences for local employees.
The benefits go both ways. However, the hidden costs of volunteering are considerable, leaving an uncomfortable question around who should pay.
One-off volunteering days are not always a cost saving measure, and most of the times are not free. The reality is, for a charity to make these one-off opportunities happen it takes a lot of time, resource and admin work, which otherwise would be spent delivering their core services; hence why most charities, rightly so, need to ask for a fee to cover those costs.
Just as the volunteers themselves shouldn’t be out of pocket from their experience, neither should the host charity.
A mutually beneficial partnership
Many businesses that have been running an employer supported volunteering scheme for a long time would be familiar with this by now, but understandably, it comes as a surprise to others when they are asked to contribute to costs. But whether you call it team building, personal development, CSR or ESG, your volunteering policy is important to your business and worth investing in by making sure that you have a budget in place to make all those ambitions happen.
Anood Al-Samerai, CEO Community Southwark, tells us, “We are delighted that so many of our corporate partners want to give back to their local community, and there are some brilliant examples of positive relationships in London Bridge. Volunteering brings huge benefits to all sides, but it also takes charity and community resource to arrange, facilitate and manage. And sometimes it is hard for a charity to say no, even if it can make things harder. The best partnerships involve honest and open conversations asking charities and community groups about what experiences are like for them – whether that be cost, timing, or power dynamics.”
For those that don’t have a budget yet, it’s not all bleak! If you have the flexibility to look at volunteering differently you can still give back, often without an associated cost. Would you consider:
Skills-based volunteering or pro-bono. Your expertise would really help that charity’s strategic growth by helping upskill their staff or service users;
A regular rota of volunteers. Offering a regular flow of volunteers would help the charity manage their resources and help keep costs down (for example: you commit to sending two volunteers to run the soup kitchen every Monday 2-5 pm by setting up an internal rota; in this way an individual would only have to volunteer a couple of times in a year!)
We are happy to help you work out if some of these alternative models would suit your organisation. Of course, there’s no one size fits all solution, but if there’s a will there’s always a way!
We have a handy directory which lists all local charities within walking distance from your office in London Bridge and the different ways in which you can help. We’d love to help you. Please get in touch with Sofia sofia@teamlondonbridge.co.uk