Benefits of Corporate Volunteering for Individuals and Companies

23. October 2017 | Last Updated: 22. June 2023

by Sven Ladovic

Whether you’re happy with your job or not, whether afterwards you run to the gym, or just home to relax or talk to your family and friends. Whether you work in a big or small company and regardless of what your job description is, chances are, that if you are a member of the „working class“, or the „corporate world“, you will be thinking similar to the way myself and others in the same situation do:

There’s just not enough time. You don’t keep your eye on it too tightly and it often slips, to the point where it feels like past days, weeks, months, were no more than a blackout in which only thing you remember is an occasional trip, party and that one weird encounter with your neighbor. You wish to do more new, entertaining things and you just don’t know where to start.

You could also be a manager, a boss, an MD, a CEO, wondering what it is that is holding your business back. Maybe it’s the employees? Maybe it’s the company culture? But how to get around all those issues, how to deal with potentially worse ones not mentioned on the list above?

The part of the answer might lie in the idea of „Corporate Volunteering“.

The place where different interests can meet, where useful dances with uplifting, where bonding is one with helping is sometimes hidden in plain sight. The benefits of Corporate Volunteering is best summed up, but not limited, in the following perks for both individuals and companies:

1. Volunteering combined with work

You might not have time on the weekend, yet you work through the week and by the time you’re off, non-profit organizations mostly aren’t open anymore. If your employer is flexible enough, a Corporate Volunteering event could be what you’re looking for. This is what happened in my case, where my company Ad2Games decided to send my team to help children refugees at one of the centers in Berlin. Why was it a good idea, you might be wondering! Well, for starters, we have contributed, only requiring half a day off which was, generously enough, provided by my employer, as a form of team building. We went to do our best and help as much as possible within that time, but we also managed to fulfill our inner desire to do something worthwhile.

Me playing soccer with the shelter's kids — Me playing soccer with the shelter’s kids

2. Team building

If you’re a manager, highly positioned within your company, or a lead to any team in any setting, you understand the importance of teamwork, cooperation, and interaction. It has become an omnipresent effort to foster those values through team building events. However, not all team events are the same. Not all of them provide the unique opportunity to contribute to more than just the team. vostel offers a way to help companies provide their employees with self-actualization window, while at the same time achieving team building results and nurturing the internal relationships. Let employees help themselves, but also the others, while at the same time helping your company.

3. Setting an example

You wish to be a paragon, and you want others to follow in your wake? What better way of doing so than by saying „if we can do it, so can you“. If we all did that step in the direction of giving back to the society, helping the disadvantaged and those in need of assistance, we’d help contribute to a society with values that promote happiness, self-actualization, fellowship and positive reciprocity. Turn your company into a socially responsible community and enable everyone involved to reap the rewards.

4. Helping out

Last, but not nearly the least, you help. You have the power to invest a bit of your most precious and irreplaceable resource that is time, to make others’ time feel equally as precious, in a place where the risk is non-existent yet rewards sometimes have a „soul-healing“ potential. The reward can be a smile, a hug or a kiss. Maybe gratitude, maybe a new friend, or maybe just a lick, in case you decided to help animals. If you could relate to any of the points mentioned, or you just wish to try on a new hobby or a challenge, sign up!

Since I volunteered in the before mentioned center, I have not only met new people and tried something new, but I also contributed and discovered new opportunities, such as this very article you are now reading!

As with any other concept, this one could be of great aid to you, personally or business-wise. Are you looking for a place where one’s needs can be fulfilled, as well as the needs of others? Perhaps you just simply wish to meet likeminded people or help your team bond? It’s time for a new adventure!

Sven is a 28 y.o. from Croatia, working and living in Berlin. He’s trying to experience as many new things as possible, loves conversations about ideas! He finds passion in many things, such as sports, travel, science, nature and music.