Company Culture is King but Inclusion and Recognition Rule

Good morning and thanks for joining me on no-meetings Thursday. Your company doesn’t do that? Time off for volunteering? Untracked PTO? Stocked happy hour cart? Please say you at least have a coffee maker? Ok good. Every company has a different culture, but for the companies I’ve led, having an entire day, once a week, without meetings has been a welcome change of pace for my staff. 

It can be a quiet day for concentration, a day to catch up on work, or a day of relaxation with no presentions or team discussions, which is a space to breathe that many people need. And today, I have a few other tips to share on guiding your company culture in a way that feels authentic, includes every team member, and is uniquely (your company name here). 

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but my ideas here will be focused on employee recognition and retention through charitable giving, which is still a road less traveled even considering its empowering versatility and engagement potential. 

Allow me to start by leaping to the overarching conclusion: A company’s charitable giving demonstrates values in something beyond profits, and it becomes part of company culture when all employees have a say in the causes the company supports.

 Add a company giving program to your benefits package. A workplace giving program is an attractive benefit for prospective and current employees—especially if your company offers matching options. My suggestion is to launch it, or increase engagement if it’s already in place, with a gift contribution into each employee’s giving account, which is remarkably simple to do for businesses using Groundswell as their company donations platform. 

A contribution from the employer does two things: It encourages engagement and goes a long way in showing a team member they’re valued and appreciated. 

Match contributions around the holidays. What better occasion to give than around the holidays?! Anyone who’s been in the nonprofit industry knows the overwhelming majority of donations come in at the end of the year, so there’s a good chance more people giving through work are planning and researching where to donate this time of year. 

One note on this one: Offering company matching does more to enhance the sense of camaraderie, culture, and impact of a giving program and ideally applies to all contributions (to a set limit); however, once a year is better than nothing.

 Drop in a tax-deductible contribution along with that nice annual bonus—the cherry on top. Bonus cash that an employee can donate to their favorite charity on top of a bonus is a pretty straightforward way for a company to show they care about the causes their employees care about.

Reward achievements with cash for a cause at all-staff meetings. I’ve always been in favor of public acknowledgement for those who go above and beyond to make the team stronger. Acknowledging specific team members' accomplishments and hard work for an audience of their co-workers is a crucial part of building a culture of appreciation. A lot of times companies include a bonus with these monthly or quarterly awards, and like I mentioned with annual bonuses, here’s another opportunity to tack on a charitable bonus as well.  

For the sake of clarity, I’ll point out that my recommendations are based on a modern model of corporate philanthropy that’s managed through an all-in-one giving platform like Groundswell—there’s my second and final shameless plug. 

For companies doing it the old-school way, scanning paper receipts, and sending emails, implementing these strategies to invigorate your office culture (remote teams too) may take more administrative work but will be worth it in the long run. 

The benefits of employee giving are a mere slice of what makes an inclusive and engaging company culture, and I hope my thoughts on it gave you something to take away. 

Until next time, thank you for reading and have a great rest of your week. 

– JW