How to Do Corporate Volunteering Right – Investigating the Optimal Design of Volunteering Programs

Abstract

Corporate volunteering is the most rapidly growing form of corporate citizenship, but still, many questions concerning the design of these corporate volunteering programs and their effect on employees’ intention to participate remain unanswered. Conceptual academic contributions as well as anecdotal evidence from business practice suggest that skills-based volunteering is superior to other, more traditional, forms of volunteering. However, until now, there is no empirical evidence for these claims. Moreover, the effect of the intensity of company involvement in the volunteering program on volunteers’ intention to participate still remains unclear. This study draws on sensemaking and self-determination theory to investigate the effects of the type of volunteering program (i.e., utilization of professional skills or not) as well as the effect of varying degrees of company involvement in the volunteering program on employees’ intention to participate. The results indeed confirm that employees prefer volunteering programs in which they can dedicate their professional skills and experiences to a good cause. In addition, the results indicate that high levels of company involvement may adversely affect employees’ intention to participate. The implications of these findings for theory, future research on corporate volunteering, and managerial practice are discussed.