We at Realized Worth compiled a set of resources providing insights on how COVID-19 and social unrest/justice movements have impacted the world of workplace giving and employee volunteering. The organizations listed here have worked hard to survey stakeholders, collect data and offer practical insight to help CSR managers understand the broader landscape and potentially even benchmark their company’s efforts given the historic challenges of the past two years. If you know of additional resources and research that we should include, please send them our way and we will update our list. You can reach us at contact@realizedworth.com or at this link.
SECTION ONE: REPORTS AND SURVEYS
Investing in Society – CECP
Investing in Society is the authoritative source to assess the corporate sector’s progress toward being increasingly purpose and stakeholder driven. CECP’s assessment combines rigorous analysis with research, trends, and cases from the ESG landscape, examined through the lens of CECP’s engagements with more than 200 of the world’s leading companies. Investing in Society organizes its insights as a company might in its own scorecard: Priorities, Performance, People, Planet, and Policies (the five “Ps” framework). Investing in Society is the must-read digest for the state of corporate purpose.
Influencing Young America to Act – Cause and Social Influence
As the pandemic wears on, some of the social issues that young Americans (ages 18-30) were concerned about before 2020 are now drawing interest and activity again. Concurrently, a behavior that results in more well-informed individuals has become the most popular action to take and the choice not to support social issues is being made by fewer young Americans. Each quarter, Cause and Social Influence tracks the behaviors and motivations of young Americans related to social issues and major moments. This, the third report on the social issue and movement actions in 2021, zeroes in on climate change.
Insights & Impact 2019: Disaster Response – From Relief to Resiliency – Common Impact
Common Impact’s report Insights & Impact: Disaster Response – From Relief to Resiliency outlines how companies can leverage their strongest philanthropic asset – the talents, know-how and passions of their people – to help communities recover from and prepare for the next disaster more effectively.
Benevity Labs Special Report: COVID-19 Relief – Leading with Purpose in Extraordinary Times. – Benevity
In this COVID-19 Special Report, we look at how some of the world’s most iconic brands activated their people and communities during a time of global crisis. We examined our data to identify companies and individuals taking action, how they are addressing relief and recovery, the top causes they are supporting and the resulting emerging trends.
The State of Corporate Purpose – Benevity
The State of Corporate Purpose is a first-of-its-kind report that takes a comprehensive look at the ESG landscape as business continues to be the most trusted institution. It studies the effects of the events of 2020 on corporate purpose, including the growth in consumer and employee activism as the driver of more democratized approaches by companies who are leading the way in the era of stakeholder capitalism.
Amidst Crisis, What Americans Want from Corporate America: Just Capital’s 2020 Survey Results October 2020 – Just Capital
This year’s survey results arrive amidst this unprecedented time, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for corporate America. In 2020, 92% of Americans agree that it’s important for large companies to promote an economy that serves all Americans, but only 50% believe that companies are actually doing that.
Issue 9 – Industry Review: Employee Engagement & Corporate Social Responsibility – Blackbaud
Since 2015, the Industry Review has been developed to provide corporations insight into employee engagement and social responsibility. Observations of key learnings and trends throughout this report were analyzed through data collected within the CSRConnect® and GrantsConnect® platforms. The 2021 report consolidates and details data collected between January and December 2020. Our team sets out to identify shifts in employee philanthropic behavior, as well as trends in program elements offered by corporations to their employee population. All findings are dispersed and shared with the employee and social responsibility community to ensure they are armed with the latest research from this space. This edition of the Industry Review provides information to our peers, customers, and prospective customers in the employee engagement and corporate social responsibility community—allowing them to expand and maximize the effects of their philanthropic efforts.
COVID-19 REPORTS – CAF America
When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March, 2020, CAF America embarked on a journey to chronicle the impact of the crisis on nonprofits worldwide and help donors develop data-driven giving strategies.
The seventh edition of our COVID-19 report series represents the voices of 496 charitable organizations across 129 countries and features the powerful interviews with leaders in the nonprofit world.
Leadership for Volunteering: The COVID-19 Experience – IAVE
The research study was commissioned by IAVE to create a body of knowledge about the experience of national volunteering leadership organizations in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The research report examines how COVID-19 has impacted on the strategic leadership role of national volunteering leadership organizations (VLOs) in advocacy, development, and volunteer mobilization. It also considers what this means for VLOs and the future of volunteering.
Effects of The Pandemic on Employee Community Engagement – Volunteer Canada & Volunteer Ireland
Volunteer Canada, in collaboration with Volunteer Ireland, sought to better understand how this global crisis has affected the field of employee community engagement2 and how best to support employees “giving back” as we move through the pandemic towards recovery. This snapshot of the employee community engagement lens of COVID-19 was drawn from the insights of business CSR leaders in Canada and Ireland between July and September 2020.
The Impact Of Pandemic & Racial Justice Movement On CSR – ACCP and Rocket Social Impact
ACCP and Rocket Social Impact heard from 100 CSR executives (SVP and director level) from 100 companies representing a range of industries and sizes, to find out more about the dramatic shift corporate responsibility continues to experience, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice movement.
Forum Research Report – COVID-19 and the Future of Volunteering for Development – The International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum)
Findings from a study conducted for the International Forum for Volunteering in Development (Forum). This research report examines the lessons from the COVID-19 experience in 2020, the emergence of alternative programme models, and the future of volunteering for development. A detailed study was conducted with seven international volunteer cooperation organizations, in addition to the collection of qualitative data (individual and focus group interviews involving 56 participants) and quantitative data through two online surveys – one with VIOs and one with volunteers.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Volunteering – VolunteerMatch
The series of surveys conducted by VolunteerMatch are designed to better inform your decision-making and encourage collaborative problem solving. The results of those surveys— conducted in March and May of 2020—have provided valuable data on the state of volunteering during COVID-19. In both surveys, participants ranging from nonprofit program directors to CSR practitioners to government officials to volunteers themselves were asked the same series of questions centered around how current environmental, economic, and social conditions were influencing their attitudes and behaviors.
From care to where? Understanding Volunteerism in the Global South: A Multi-Country Study on volunteering before, during and beyond COVID-19 – Gallup and UNV
As part of the next State of the World’s Volunteerism Report, UNV commissioned a study based on original multi-country quantitative data to understand patterns of volunteer participation during the global COVID-19 pandemic, volunteer motivations and experiences, and what these might mean for people’s voluntary participation.
Industry Review : Employee Engagement & Corporate Social Responsibility – Blackbaud
This 9th issue of the Industry Review: Employee Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility report explores key learnings and trends analyzed through data collected within the CSRConnect and GrantsConnect platforms. The 2021 report consolidates data collected between January and December 2020.
Volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic: What are the potential benefits to people’s well-being? – Oxford University COVID-19 Evidence Service
A potential way to boost well-being in a time of crisis may be to increase people’s sense of ‘mattering’, through volunteering. This may bring particular benefits to older members of the population, enabling them to establish a strong social role and ties. But since they are at particular risk of negative effects from contracting COVID-19, volunteering may be curtailed at present by advice to avoid social contacts.
The Role of Volunteering in Philanthropy – Fidelity Charitable
The results of our nationwide survey among donors about volunteering during COVID-19. The study found that two-in-three volunteers decreased or stopped contributing time due to the pandemic.
The Volunteering Lens of COVID-19 – Fall Survey 2020: Data Highlights – Volunteer Canada
Volunteer Canada, in collaboration with Volunteer Management Professionals of Canada (VMPC) and spinktank, conducted a survey of non-profit organizations and volunteers in October 2020, to better understand how volunteer engagement has been affected by the continuing pandemic, to better equip us to provide support and leadership in the months ahead.
Nonprofit COVID Impact Survey Results – The Foraker Group
In partnership with the Small Business Development Center, Foraker surveyed the nonprofit sector to learn more about the impact that the pandemic has had on their organizations. We received responses from 157 organizations across the state and over half (56%) responded that COVID is currently having a significant impact on their programs, operations, and general services.
Volunteering and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 (May 2021) – Volunteering Australia
This factsheet provides analysis of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volunteering, using data collected at the end of 2020/early 2021 and March 2021. It complements an earlier factsheet – Volunteering and the early impact of COVID-19 – published in April 2020.
SECTION TWO: RESOURCES
Leveraging Skills-Based Volunteering to Promote Mental Health During COVID-19 – Common Impact
The skills-based volunteer team working with the Social Centers was tasked with addressing the critical challenge of how nonprofit managers can support the mental wellness of their teams in moments of crisis. After learning more about the Social Centers’ true needs and unique challenges, the Blue Cross volunteers developed new feedback, communication, and training frameworks to help leadership support staff during the pandemic and beyond. “The East Boston Social Centers is the catalyst for a tight-knit, thriving and joyful community,” said Pasquariello. “This project will help us achieve that intended impact by better supporting our staff, moving us closer to our goal of being a top place to work.”
COVID-19 Nonprofit Impact Report: A Guide for Providing Philanthropic and Skilled Volunteer Support – VolunteerMatch
How varied are the challenges that different types of organizations are facing? What kinds of support do they need –from their volunteers, funders, and corporate partnerships? Is it possible to focus on capacity building at this moment? We know, of course, that there is no one answer to any of these questions. The impact of COVID-19 varies significantly across regions and more deeply impacts organizations led by and serving communities of color. Still, there were helpful themes that emerged from our research, including the core challenges different groups are facing, and how funders can target their philanthropic and skilled volunteer support. Here we share those headlines, compiled from nearly 40 different sources and examining nine types of organizations.
Responding to a Pandemic: A Practical Guide for Volunteer Involving Organisations – Volunteering Australia
This guide provides practical guidance and assistance to volunteer involving organizations when responding to a pandemic.
Virtual Volunteering: A Guide for Businesses – VolunteerMatch
Get the tools to enhance your existing virtual volunteering program or learn how to start one. This toolkit will show you:
- How to drive real impact through your virtual volunteering programs
- The main steps in developing them
- Tips to engage and retain employees in your programs
SECTION THREE: RESEARCH PAPERS
Corporate Social Responsibility: Business Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic – Sage Journals Open Access pages
Grounded on stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature, the study attempts to explore business responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to support its vital stakeholders such as employees, customers, communities, and society as a whole through CSR initiatives. The study based on the contemporary phenomenon considered multi-items as data sources such as press releases, newsletters, and letters to shareholders, which were retrieved from the top 25 (the sample) corporations of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens-2019 (the population) in the United States’ respective websites on the internet.
On solidarity and volunteering during the COVID-19 crisis in Denmark: the impact of social networks and social media groups on the distribution of support – European Societies
This paper unfolds how informal civil society quickly mobilized citizen-to-citizen support when government and non-government organizations locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper focuses on two elements of the mobilization: the role of social networks and social media groups.
The impact of COVID-19 on volunteering in Europe – Ghent University, Belgium
Policy brief for the international workshop: What motivates volunteering in China and the UK? The impact of COVID-19 on volunteering in Europe – Central insights from existing evidence.
Corporate Social Responsibility in Times of Crisis: Covid-19 – The Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework for the study of corporate social responsibility in crisis situations with special reference to the situation related to Covid-19.
Volunteerism during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A look at Risk Perceptions, Health Behaviors, and Quality of Life – University of Missouri-Kansas City
The COVID-19 pandemic has had effects on individuals and society with thousands of citizens volunteering to fill the gaps in their communities’ infrastructure and services. It is unclear how volunteering during the pandemic has impacted the health of volunteers. This study sets out to examine the effect volunteering has on quality of life during the pandemic.
State of the World’s Volunteerism Report 2021: Volunteering and the 21st Century Social Contract – UN Volunteers
While policy frameworks recognize volunteerism’s role in development, the report seeks to generate much-needed evidence to further understand how emerging volunteer models could better contribute to the SDGs. Making new models of volunteering visible will provide insights into how social contracts for the ‘new era’ could fundamentally reorient approaches to people’s engagement and how volunteering could be central to achieving the SDGs moving forward.