Sona Khosla
Chief Impact Officer, Benevity
Undoubtedly, corporate and high net worth philanthropy can move the needle on specific issues. Do these large-scale efforts truly foster a society that encourages compassion, generosity, and kindness? Most often, the answer is no.
To support a future where the good of the whole is prioritized over the success of the individual, we need eight billion armies of one mobilizing to make change all over the world, all at once. This is how we create a lasting positive impact on individuals, society, and culture.
And one of the best ways to ensure this future is to leverage the power of business. Businesses employ 3.5 billion of the world’s population — over 40% — so if we want a direct line to reach people and inspire grassroots generosity, corporations are a smart place to start.
To be clear, I’m not talking about traditional corporate philanthropy. Let’s set aside the tens of billions of dollars awarded to nonprofits in grants, products, services, and other social investments. I’m talking about businesses and their leaders’ role in creating an environment where people become more aware of social issues and disparities — and do something about them.
Mounting pressures threaten corporate investment in individual giving
Over the past few years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders have faced intense scrutiny and pressure to show the measurable business and societal outcomes of their social investments (not to mention navigating contentious issues and backlash on DEI, ESG, and climate).
As a result, some companies have reduced their CSR investments in tandem with larger workforces and budget reductions. Others are attempting to justify spend in this area by increasing the precision and confidence of their reporting efforts — 89% of CSR leaders are now being asked to show how their impact is measured and calculated.
This pressure threatens corporations’ social and cultural progress, particularly in recent years, as they stepped up to address numerous crises and drive collective action on global inequities. The past few years have surfaced effective strategies for corporations to continue encouraging individual giving, which could be valuable as we prepare for 2025 and the start of a four-year cycle in which greater civility will surely be warranted.
Gen Zers aren’t philanthropists, yet…
It’s helpful to break down today’s workforce into more actionable segments to support employees taking action. Of course, a key emerging employee group is Gen Z.
Gen Z has already surpassed Baby Boomers in our workforce, and their numbers are growing. According to an Edelman report, 70% of all Gen Zers globally are involved in a social or political cause. But how many are donors and volunteers?
For example, consider that 86% of Gen Z workers plan to participate in an employee resource group (ERG) or another similar organization group, if offered, where they can actively help raise awareness and advocate for the rights of underrepresented groups or other interest areas like climate. Other Gen Zers are willing to participate in corporate challenges, join social movements, or adjust their lifestyle through small actions. These behaviors do not always support a specific nonprofit, but they still drive positive social impact.
These generational shifts are forcing companies and nonprofits to expand their toolkit in response. A few effective strategies that resonate with Gen Zers are:
- Connecting with them through ERGs, where companies and nonprofits can partner to offer educational and experiential lectures, events, and workshops.
- Promoting “volunteer acts of kindness.” Simply rewarding employees for taking time to do good, even if it’s not in support of a nonprofit, can promote broader and repeatable positive action.
- Creating and distributing libraries of small, positive actions or “challenges” Gen Zers can complete at work or home, like physical and mental health challenges or sustainability challenges.
- Gamifying internal competitions to drive greater social engagement.
- Offering time-bound or “pop-up” fundraising or virtual volunteering opportunities. This approach’s combined urgency and bite-size nature can keep younger employees focused on giving for a contained period.
- Focusing content on human rights and climate action — topics Gen Z workers tend to be most passionate about.
With 86% of Gen Z reporting that a sense of purpose is essential to their overall job satisfaction and well-being, for corporate leaders, it’s a lost opportunity not to foster this connection. A recent study undertaken by Cisco shows that engaging employees in doing good even supports organizational priorities, like lowering the odds of employee attrition and increasing the odds of a promotion.
Expand beyond the “echo chamber” of local giving
It’s well known that most individual giving tends to be local. Undoubtedly, the problems I see every day — like the tent city I pass on my way to work — are ones I’m more inclined to support. However, as much as we’re each driven by the challenges that surround us, this human need to “see our impact” concerns me. It’s a behavior employers and nonprofits can work together to challenge.
We’re implicated in many crises which we don’t see every day. 2018, for example, 78% of U.S. plastic waste exports were sent to countries already overwhelmed by plastic waste and significant contributors to ocean plastic pollution. Or consider the clothing we buy from factories in some Asian countries, where child labor is often used due to systemic or cultural factors that leave families with no other way to make ends meet.
As organizational leaders, we can help widen the aperture on global issues that aren’t imminently visible to employees because of where they live. This can look like:
- Offering employees access to a broad base of registered and non-registered global organizations, which they can support via donation matching and volunteering.
- Develop events and content programming to raise awareness of issues in the different regions where your organization operates or depends on.
- Promoting storytelling with nonprofit partners working in smaller communities around the world.
- Empowering employees globally to share unique fundraising and volunteering opportunities with their colleagues.
- Providing your people with opportunities to respond to disasters as they occur, not just in North America, but abroad.
The amount of diaspora giving alone should justify a global approach in workplace giving programs. We have a powerful opportunity to mobilize a transfer of wealth to address the global inequities we continue to live with, but that aren’t always apparent in our day-to-day lives.
Corporations must stay the course
In the past few months, we’ve seen headlines of companies stepping back on their DEI, social, and climate commitments, whether it’s in response to activism, backlash, or budget. The past several years have also seen individual giving decline.
However, there remains a clear need for individuals to give and for companies to continue to foster and reward this behavior through their CSR programs. This requires the philanthropic sector to embrace new forms of giving by recognizing the generational differences and global dynamics affecting generosity. The evolution of giving is especially relevant as we enter the next four years when we anticipate ongoing polarization and division.
It’s a shift that takes all of us — eight billion armies of one working together to create a better society.
