GCVC global corporate volunteering research project

As their contribution to the celebration of IYV+10, the members of IAVE’s Global Corporate Volunteer Council have launched the Global Corporate Volunteering Research Project with the goal of reporting the results at the World Volunteer Conference in Singapore next January.

The purpose of the project is to create new knowledge that will:

• Help global companies extend and strengthen their employee volunteer programs; and
• Help companies and their nonprofit partners strengthen employee volunteering worldwide.

The project has two components:

• The Global Companies Study will examine how global companies organize and manage their global volunteer efforts – what they do, why they do it, how they do it, the challenges they face, their best practices, their partnerships with NGOs, etc.  The goal is to document the work of 50 global companies that are broadly geographically representative of the world.
• The State of Health Study is a region-by-region examination of how key actors – companies, Volunteer Centers, others promoting and supporting corporate volunteering – perceive the “state of health” of corporate volunteering – what is happening, what the trends and innovations are, what external forces are affecting it, what the challenges are, what the future looks like.

MEET OUR SPONSORS
We are very pleased to announce our first group of companies that are investing in the project with financial support.

PLATINUM SPONSOR
UPS – Founded in 1907, UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. UPS is the second largest employer in the U.S., and is in over 200 countries, with 425,000 employees worldwide. UPS supports community service and volunteering through numerous NGO partners, through their Global Volunteer Month, and through their Neighbor-to-Neighbor volunteer program. UPS was the 2009 winner of the Community Service Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

GOLD SPONSORS
GE – Beginning with Thomas Edison’s famous light bulb, GE has for more than 100 years been a part of the lives of people around the world. From washing machines to jet engines, from water to entertainment, GE leads the way in innovations that change life for the better. With their current motto of “Imagination at Work”, GE operates in over 100 countries, and over half their revenues currently come from outside of the United States. Through their GE Volunteers Program – with the values of Connect, Strengthen and Respond - GE volunteers logged 1 million volunteer hours in 2008, addressing needs in creative ways around the world.

MOTOROLA – With an over 80 year history, Motorola is a global communications leader, offering cutting edge solutions for people, businesses and governments to be more connected and more mobile. Motorola operates out of 320 facilities in over 70 countries. Motorola supports employee volunteering through their annual Global Day of Service, through numerous education and community-based programs, and by “connecting the unconnected.”

SILVER SPONSORS
BD – With 110 years of history, BD is headquartered in New Jersey, USA, and has offices in nearly 50 countries around the world. BD manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products. Their motto, “Helping All People Live Healthy Lives”, carries over into their support for community involvement, employee volunteering and programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief in Africa, in which trained BD volunteers help set up clinics and labs in support of AIDS treatment and prevention programs.

ELI LILLY – Eli Lilly and Company is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, marketing their health-enhancing products in 143 countries. The Lilly Company is over 130 years old, and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana, with research and development facilities throughout the U.S. and in most world regions. Lilly supports employee volunteering in many ways, through their Hands and Hearts Program and their Global Day of Service. Lilly was one of the honored recipients of the Points of Light Institute/Hands On Network’s 2009 Corporate Engagement Award for Excellence.

TELEFONICA – Telefonica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, headquartered in Spain, with operations in 25 countries throughout Europe and Latin America. In Spain the company has a history of over 80 years. Telefonica has 257,000 employees worldwide. Telefonica supports community and volunteering through their Fundaciỏn Telefonica, which “works to improve people’s lives and encourage social progress through the use of Information and Communication Technologies.” Through the Voluntarios Telefonica Program, employees make a difference in a variety of unique ways, from helping eliminate child labor through their ProNino Program, to cultural and environmental programs.

MEET OUR COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS
We are pleased that these key organizations have signed on as “Cooperating Organizations” to assist us with the project.  We will be adding to this list in the coming months so that it is broadly representative of the world.

• Community Business (Hong Kong)
• ENGAGE (London)
• European Volunteer Centre (Brussels)
• International Business Leaders Forum (London)
• International Volunteering Project at Brookings (Washington DC)
• Points of Light Institute (Atlanta)
• United Way Worldwide (Alexandria, Virginia)
• Volunteering England (London)

THE FIRST REPORT
The first phase of the Global Companies Study was completed in early June 2009.  We interviewed ten companies, nine headquartered in the U.S. and one in Germany.  This phase was designed to do three things: (1) generate data on these companies; (2) give us the opportunity to test and refine our interview protocol; and, (3) create a conceptual framework to organize and analyze the data.

We produced a “first report” from that phase that was distributed at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco later in June.  It was important exposure for the project and helped spur interest among potential participating and sponsoring companies.

One of the most important insights from this first work was to begin to sketch out the elements of what might be called “global corporate volunteer systems”.  Here is what was said in the “first report” on that subject:

Building Global Systems.  Corporate volunteer programs are systems operating within and affected by the larger corporate systems of which they are a part.  In the companies studied, we identified six core components of their global volunteer systems – although the extent to which they are present varies from company to company.
Culture.  Companies talked about how community involvement is “part of our DNA” or “part of the core values” – or they spoke of how one of their goals is to “embed” volunteering in the company’s culture.  Culture in turn creates expectations for volunteering – but corporate cultures differ greatly so programs usually reflect the prevailing rather than the espoused culture.
Policy.  To varying degrees, companies have created a policy framework that positions the volunteer program in the company and provides guidance on how volunteering happens.
Brand.  Volunteering is seen as a component of the corporate brand – and, in some cases, is separately branded but always in a way that directly associates it with the corporate brand. 
Focus Areas.  Overall, there was a described movement toward priority areas or projects that are more tightly aligned with business priorities or corporate core competencies than has been true in the past.  But in some cases this has created tension with the desire to allow maximum local control over activities.
Technology.  Everyone uses it; fewer are happy with it.  There is a tension among using technology as a control and reporting mechanism, as a way to provide tools to enable project leaders and volunteers and as a way, through social networking, to encourage and facilitate communication and mutual support among company volunteers.  It is a strategic rather than an operational issue, based in the need to conceptualize a system design that meets multiple needs.
Management.  There is an ongoing search for the most appropriate way to manage global programs, ranging from relatively tight headquarters control to maximizing local discretion.  An emerging approach seems to be “facilitated from the top, not controlled.”

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES
To date, we have interviewed these companies:

Citi        GE        UPS       
Disney        IBM        Starbuck’s
Eli Lilly        KPMG (US)    SAP
FedEx        Pfizer
 
In late February, we will be interviewing Marriott Hotels International and Standard Chartered Bank in London.

In March, we will be interviewing Samsung, Hyundai and SK Telecom in Seoul and Fujitsu in Tokyo.

Over the balance of the year, we will be interviewing other members of GCVC – Vale and C&A in Brazil; Telefonica in Spain; UBS in Switzerland; and, in the United States, American Airlines, BD, Kraft, Mattel, Monsanto, Motorola and State Street Bank.

We also are developing a target list of non-member companies throughout the world to ensure geographic diversity.

SPECIAL FORUMS
Part of our State of Health Study will be to stimulate dialogue among companies and others on core questions about corporate volunteering in particular regions.

Our first such forum is being planned for late April in Valencia, Spain, in conjunction with General Assembly of the European Volunteer Centre.  We also anticipate similar forums at the IAVE regional conferences in Colombia and Lebanon in September.  We will be working with our Cooperating Organizations to identify other such opportunities.

OUR RESEARCH TEAM
We are pleased to introduce our core research team and to invite you to communicate directly with them if you have questions about the project.

• Kenn Allen, Project Director.  President of the Civil Society Consulting Group; led the research team that wrote the original book on corporate volunteering more decades ago than he likes to admit; former World President of IAVE.  kenn@civilsocietyconsulting.com
• Sarah Hayes, Senior Consultant.  Serves in a consulting capacity as Director of the Global Corporate Volunteer Council; formerly led global corporate volunteer programs at KPMG and Starwood Hotels.  sarah@civilsocietyconsulting.com
• Monica Galiano, Senior Consultant.  President of Iniciativa Brasil consulting firm in Sao Paulo; former executive director of the National Volunteer Program in Brazil; created statewide corporate volunteer initiative in the industrial heart of Brazil; consults with companies throughout Latin America; researcher and author; fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and English.  Monicabg1951@gmail.com