Volunteer Time Off Guide

Volunteer Time Off (VTO) is an element of a corporate social responsibility or employee engagement program that companies can offer to allow employees to take paid time off to volunteer for causes they care about. In this guide, we’ll explore what VTO is, how it works, its benefits for employees and businesses, and tips for implementing a successful VTO policy.

Main Takeaways

• VTO is a paid time off policy for volunteering.
• It benefits both employees and companies.
• Successful VTO programs require clear policies and encouragement.
• Employees can face challenges in engaging with VTO, but companies can support them to overcome these.

How Do Volunteer Time Off Policies Typically Work?

Volunteer Time Off policies typically allow employees to take a certain number of paid hours or days off each year to volunteer. Businesses with paid volunteer time off programs offer an average of 20 VTO hours per team member annually (about 2.5 days each year). Companies create these policies to encourage community involvement and enable employees to support causes that align with their values.

To write an effective VTO policy, companies should set clear guidelines on the number of hours or days available for VTO, define the types of activities that qualify, and promote the program to employees. Encouraging employees to take advantage of VTO can be achieved through internal communications, such as newsletters and intranet posts, and by recognizing their volunteer efforts through awards or public acknowledgments.

What Are the Benefits of Volunteer Time Off Programs?

One of the most common cited reasons for not participating in volunteering more frequently in a survey was having work commitments. VTO programs, in their ability to provide dedicated paid volunteer time off and incentivize volunteering engagement, offer numerous benefits for both employees and businesses.

For Employees

• Increased Wellbeing: Volunteering provides a sense of purpose and satisfaction, allowing employees to contribute to causes they care about and make a positive impact on their communities. Learn more about the powerful connection between wellbeing and engagement.
• Skill Development: Often, volunteering initiatives, especially those that are skills-based, will enable employees to develop new skills or leverage existing skills in new situations. This kind of volunteering can lead to increased competencies and valuable experiences, which can promote professional growth and career development.
• Improved Work Relationships: VTO provides an opportunity for colleagues to volunteer together and share experiences that build trust and friendship, thereby improving work dynamics and relationships amongst employees.

For Businesses 

• Talent Attraction and Retention: Offering VTO can attract top talent who are looking for employees that prioritize CSR and purposeful workplaces. It can also improve employee retention rates by fostering a positive and supportive work environment.
• Employee Productivity: Volunteering can boost motivation and commitment to work, leading to higher productivity levels and contributing positively to business outcomes.
• Greater Social Impact: Companies that enable employees to volunteer and get involved in more social impact work can drive greater impact in their communities. Social good stories and impact can be captured and highlighted within internal or external reports.

Tips for Implementing a Successful VTO Policy

• Set Clear Guidelines: Define the number of hours or days available for VTO, the types of activities that qualify, and any other relevant details. Make sure the policy is easy to understand and accessible to all employees on how to submit requests for volunteer time off and view the remaining available VTO.
• Promote the Program: Use internal communications, such as newsletters, intranet posts, and team meetings, to raise awareness about the VTO program and encourage participation. Highlight the benefits of volunteering and share success stories and feedback from employees who have participated in previous initiatives.
• Recognize Efforts: Acknowledge and celebrate employees’ volunteer contributions through rewards, public acknowledgments, and other forms of recognition. This can motivate more employees to participate and reinforce the company’s commitment to corporate social impact.

Potential Challenges With VTO Programs

Even when offering volunteer time off, one of the primary challenges is ensuring consistent participation or ensuring inclusive engagement. For instance, some employees may struggle to engage due to varied working schedules. To address this, companies can offer more flexible scheduling options that accommodate employees’ availability, consider additional arrangements that may need to be made for certain employees, or curating virtual volunteering opportunities.

Another significant challenge for companies can be managing the logistics of VTO policies. This encapsulates everything from keeping track of employee paid time off availability and managing approval for managers to actually coordinating the volunteer activities, tracking participation, and measuring impact. For CSR teams, this can be complex and time-consuming. To streamline this process, companies can leverage purpose-built software like CSRconnect where employees can easily find volunteer opportunities, log their hours, and receive automated communications. Appointing volunteering champions within the organization can also help share the efforts of sourcing opportunities and navigating some of the on-the-day logistics of volunteering events.

Volunteer Time Off Case Study

Berkshire Bank offers each of their employees 16 hours of paid time off to participate in a wide variety of community service projects during regular business hours. For more than five years, they have consistently achieved employee volunteering engagement rates between 80-100%. Here is some of what they had to say about the success of their volunteering program:

“A key part of our program’s success is that we empower our employees to select and champion the projects and causes they are most passionate about. It also serves as a great way to encourage team building across departments. We’re not afraid to get creative when it comes to how we volunteer, even spending a fall afternoon apple-picking and then donating the apples to Elder Services’ Meals on Wheels program.”

To learn more about the goals of their VTO program, the innovative approaches they take to engage employees, and their 360-degree approach to nonprofit partnerships, check out the full interview here.

Explore YourCause’s Social Impact Solutions for Businesses

YourCause offers comprehensive CSR management software to help businesses implement and manage their VTO programs. From in-person to virtual events, individual activity tracking to group skills-based projects, our volunteering module gives you a powerful set of features to create an inclusive volunteer experience for all of your employees. This includes tools for event creation, including the ability to manage waitlists and shifts, deliver communications, create custom event questions and tags, and leverage robust reporting capabilities.

Learn more about how YourCause can support your company’s social impact initiatives by exploring our CSR management software solution.