Corporate Events with a Purpose: How to Combine Your Christmas Party, Summer Party, and Other Events with Social Engagement

Mulled wine, a buffet, maybe even a Secret Santa game: In many companies, the Christmas party follows a similar pattern every year. It’s cozy, but it rarely leaves a lasting impression. How about a company party with a purpose? First, spend a few hours working together on a charitable project, then celebrate together.

The Christmas party is a great opportunity for this, but it’s by no means the only one. In this post, you’ll learn why social engagement goes so well with company parties, what ideas are out there, and which formats suit which teams—from a social team event for a single department to a Social Day for the entire workforce.

Contents:

1. Why Company Parties and Employee Engagement Go So Well Together
2. Ideas: Here’s How to Make Your Company Party Meaningful
3. An Overview of Three Formats for Businesses
4. Here’s how your partnership with vostel.de works
5. From the Christmas party to the summer festival: here’s how to bring new ideas to your company
6. FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About Corporate Events with a Social Cause

1. Why Company Parties and Employee Engagement Go So Well Together

Whether it’s a Christmas party, a summer festival, or a kickoff event for the new year: Company parties bring a team together. A joint effort for a charitable cause in your local community is a great way to celebrate.

• Strengthening Cohesion: Working together to help others strengthens team cohesion and satisfaction.
• Contributing Skills: Employees contribute personally and further develop their skills in the process.
• Demonstrating responsibility: Your company visibly takes on social responsibility, both internally and externally.
• Minimal effort: You can delegate the planning, coordination, and communication with the organization.

When companies enable their employees to engage in this kind of volunteer work, it’s called corporate volunteering. A company event—such as a Christmas party—is an easy way to give it a try.

2. Ideas: Here’s How to Make Your Company Party Meaningful

Which project is right for you depends on your location, team size, and interests. We’ll work with you to select the project. Here’s an example of what a collaborative project might look like:

• Fulfilling wish lists or wrapping gifts for children
• Packing Christmas or care packages for people in need
• Prepare sandwiches for homeless people
• Paint rooms at nonprofit organisations, such as a daycare center
• Build raised garden beds, for example at a senior living facility
• Beautify your neighborhood or organise a cleanup in your neighborhood
• Support local charity organisations

The topics covered are diverse: ranging from environmental protection, nature conservation, and animal welfare to assistance for the homeless and poverty alleviation, food rescue, and support for children and youth, as well as initiatives involving refugees, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Depending on the project, a social team event can last anywhere from a few hours to half a day. We’ll coordinate the exact schedule with you in advance, and then we’ll head off together to the party.

You can find more information about projects, group sizes, and costs on our Social Team Events page.

3. An Overview of Three Formats for Businesses

Depending on the size of your team and how much time you have, a different format might be best.

Social Team Events: Get Out of the Office, Get Into the Project

Get out together, do good together: At the Social Team Event, you’ll volunteer as a team with a nonprofit organization in your area—for example, by painting rooms, participating in a cleanup, or beautifying your neighborhood. We’ll choose the project together with you. To do this, we’ll draw on our network of around 2,500 partner organizations and also look for opportunities in your area. This is a classic choice for company events like the Christmas party: a few hours of volunteer work, followed by a celebration together. Learn more about Social Team Events

In-House Volunteering: The Project Comes to You

Are you short on time, or do you usually celebrate at the office anyway? With in-house volunteering, we bring everything you need for your volunteer effort. You can choose from activities such as wrapping gifts for underprivileged children, putting together care packages for people in need, making sandwiches for homeless people, or organising a neighborhood cleanup. We currently offer this program in Berlin. Learn more about in-house volunteering

Social Days: When the Entire Workforce Gets Involved

One day, many projects: On Social Day, your company works together—both at your various locations and digitally—to support nonprofit organizations. Formats, locations, and both in-person and digital projects can be combined in any way you like—for example, supporting a summer festival at a refugee shelter or advising nonprofit organizations on their websites. Depending on your preferences, a Social Day can last anywhere from a few hours to a full day. We identify suitable projects, handle the organisation, and support you with internal communication. Learn more about Social Days

4. Here’s how your partnership with vostel.de works

1. Request: Send us your request by simply filling out the request form on our website. We’ll need your contact information as well as some initial details regarding the number of people, location, time frame, budget, theme (if known), and format.
2. Arrangements: We’ll contact you and go over the details together until we reach a final offer. If everything is in order, you’ll receive a booking confirmation from us.
3. Organisation: We’ll find suitable projects in your region based on your preferences and handle the logistics, materials, and coordination.
4. Execution: You’ll receive a comprehensive briefing in advance with all the important details. On the day of the event, you’ll work together as a team, and then it’s off to your celebration.

5. From the Christmas party to the summer festival: Here’s how to bring new ideas to your company

Volunteering is a great fit for almost any occasion where you come together as a team:

• Christmas Party
• Start of the Year
• Summer Party
• Company Anniversary
• Department or Team Day
• Year-End Party

If you want to make volunteering possible not just for a one-time event but on a regular basis, you can turn it into a dedicated program—for example, through pro bono projects, individual volunteer efforts by your employees, or our Volunteer Management Tool for sign-ups and reporting. You can see what this might look like on our Corporate Volunteering page.

Would you like to have something like that at your company?

You don’t have to work in human resources to organise a meaningful event. Often, all it takes is a good idea at the right time.

1. Find the right person to contact: Usually, team leads, HR, People & Culture, office management, or sustainability officers plan the celebrations.
2. Be specific: Don’t just send the idea—include a link that shows how it could work.
3. Get some allies on board: Ask a few coworkers if they’d be interested in joining. This will make your proposal stronger.
4. Think about the timing: Bring up the idea with some advance notice. Good opportunities include the Christmas party, the kickoff event for the new year, or the summer party.

And if you’d like to get involved in your free time, check out vostel.de to find projects in your area that are currently looking for support.

6. FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions About Team Events with a Social Focus

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