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By Rick Hanson, SAIF Corporation of Oregon
Many businesses have discovered that incorporating corporate giving and community involvement into their business plan not only benefits the company, but boosts the bottom line, as well. In a recent study, 69 percent of Americans cited corporate citizenship as important to their trust in business, and 52 percent of Americans indicated that they are inclined to start or increase their business based on positive perceptions of a company.1
Regardless of whether your company is motivated by a passion for philanthropy or the prospect of positive press, corporate giving should be a well-planned activity. Nearly every AASCIF organization contributes to programs in their community through grants, charitable giving, event sponsorships, or by matching employee donations. Having a policy in place to guide your giving will help your company determine which requests to grant and will also help you budget more effectively for corporate giving.
AASCIF members Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund (IWIF) in Maryland, Pinnacol Assurance in Colorado, and Workers’ Compensation Fund (WCF) in Utah all contribute generously, and strategically, to their communities. Here are just a few of the ways they do so:
Tying corporate giving to strategic goals
Taking a strategic approach to philanthropy helps companies express their vision and values while allowing them to maintain (or attain) a reputation as a caring company.
Although WCF budgets over $300,000 annually for charitable giving, the company recently re-examined its approach to giving. By refocusing its charitable giving to concentrate on four categories where business operations intersect with public need (public health, education, occupational health and safety, and community involvement/economic development) the company is able to directly impact people in the community while contributing to issues that align with corporate values.
“Strategic philanthropy is an opportunity for a company to differentiate itself in the community and to direct philanthropic activities on a logical basis to causes that are important to the company, its employees, and customers,” says WCF Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel Dennis Lloyd. “This focuses and involves employees in company operations, and customers in the marketplace. As the company spreads goodwill, the company’s reputation is enhanced, and it distinguishes itself from its competitors.”
Encouraging employee volunteerism
When employees volunteer in the community, they act as informal ambassadors and show that a company employs caring individuals. One way companies encourage volunteerism is by providing paid volunteer leave time to employees.
At IWIF, employees are given 12 hours of paid volunteer leave time annually. They can use that time to volunteer at any organization that meets criteria set by the company, or they can participate in the “reading buddies” program for IWIF’s employees, where they can spend time teaching a student to read at a local school.
Setting up scholarship funds
When a worker is killed or severely injured on the job, the financial impact on his or her family can be devastating, and children of these workers often find it challenging to attend college. To help alleviate the financial strain these families face, many insurers have established scholarship funds specifically for the children of injured workers.
Most funds limit their scholarships to children of workers insured by their company, but some, like Pinnacol Assurance, accept applications from anyone in the state whose parent was severely injured or killed on the job, regardless of their insurance carrier.
”We wanted the Pinnacol Foundation and its cause to be bigger than Pinnacol Assurance,” says Director of Public and Community Relations Margie McCarthy. “Our hope is to touch lives in every corner of our state. The focus is on people—injured workers and their kids—rather than on who paid the claims.”
Since its inception in 2000, the Pinnacol Foundation has contributed 141 scholarships totaling $407,000.
Matching employee contributions and contributing to their communities
Nearly every AASCIF organization contributes to programs in its community through grants, charitable giving, event sponsorships, or by matching employee donations. Having a policy in place to guide your giving will help your company determine which requests to grant and will also help you budget more effectively for corporate giving.
At IWIF, each employee can contribute up to $250 annually to a charity of the employee’s choice, and the company will match it dollar for dollar. IWIF also awards small grants to local charitable organizations. Generally, any group with 501(c)(3) status that benefits children, injured workers, the Maryland community, or a local environmental cause is eligible. IWIF’s matching program and grant program donation requests are reviewed and approved by a volunteer committee to ensure that the recipient meets IWIF’s criteria. Following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, employees contributed nearly $10,000 to the American Red Cross; IWIF matched every penny.
"IWIF employees are generous in giving of their time, talents, and treasures. Those charities that are important to our employees are important to IWIF. It's a small way for us to build a stronger corporate culture of acknowledgement and appreciation," says IWIF Director of Communications Jim Taylor.
Strategic corporate giving and community involvement are just part of a larger holistic approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR). For more information about CSR, contact Amber Fries at SAIF Corporation in Oregon.
1The Strategist, “Making the Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: Why It Should Be Part of a Comprehensive Communications Strategy,” Spring 2005.
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