Corporate Volunteering

Corporate volunteering brings businesses and charities together by giving employees the opportunity to contribute their time, expertise or experience to support VCFSE groups. This might involve team days, skilled volunteering in areas such as marketing, finance or IT, mentoring, or developing longer-term partnerships. For VCFSE organisations, these partnerships can provide valuable extra capacity, specialist knowledge and practical support that may otherwise be difficult to access. They can also strengthen links with local employers, increase community awareness of your work, and open the door to future collaboration. However, successful corporate volunteering requires planning. Hosting volunteers takes staff time, coordination and resources, and not every opportunity will be the right fit. Activities that are poorly planned or don't meet your organisation's needs can create additional pressure rather than providing meaningful support. By being clear about your requirements, setting realistic expectations and designing volunteering opportunities that genuinely benefit your organisation, corporate volunteering can become a rewarding partnership for everyone involved. Is Corporate volunteering right for your organisation? Before accepting a corporate volunteering offer, take a moment to consider whether it's the right opportunity for your organisation. Organisational need ☐ Does this opportunity address a genuine need or priority? ☐ Will it contribute to your strategic goals or day-to-day work? ☐ Do you have the capacity to host volunteers at this time? ☐ Can you offer meaningful tasks without creating unnecessary work? Capacity and support ☐ Do you have staff or volunteers available to plan, supervise and support the activity? ☐ Can you provide volunteers with a worthwhile experience during the time available? ☐ Do you have enough time to organise the activity effectively? Practical Considerations ☐ Have health and safety, safeguarding and insurance requirements been considered? ☐ Is the activity suitable for the number of volunteers expected? ☐ Do you have the space, equipment and materials needed? ☐ If existing volunteer roles require recruitment checks, could you instead create project-based opportunities such as marketing support, fundraising, communications, administration or environmental projects? Setting expectations ☐ Have both parties agreed clear objectives and responsibilities? ☐ Have you explained any limitations or activities you cannot accommodate? ☐ Could this opportunity lead to an ongoing relationship with the business? Promoting your opportunities If you've decided that corporate volunteering is a good fit for your organisation, the next step is making sure the right businesses can find your opportunities. Spark a Change allows you to tag volunteer roles as suitable for corporate groups. These opportunities can then be promoted directly to businesses looking for volunteering projects and included in targeted communications to corporate partners. Whether you're offering a one-off team volunteering day or looking to build a longer-term partnership, using the correct tags helps ensure your opportunities reach the right audience. If you'd like advice on creating corporate-friendly volunteering opportunities or support using the Spark a Change platform, our team is here to help. Simply get in touch using the button below.

"By encouraging corporate volunteer groups to explore nature restoration, we are setting a powerful example about how we can care for our planet and the impact people can make in just one day!’

"On the volunteering day, we got to meet new people and work together as a team towards a great outcome."

"It was wonderful to be out of the office for the day in the fresh air and surrounded by nature on the Quantock Hills"

Earlier this year, a team of volunteers from Novanta Technologies braved the cold to enjoy a day of tree planting at local charity, The Geranium Trust . The Novanta Technologies team was delighted to spend the day helping fellow volunteers from Able2Achieve , a charity which supports people with learning disabilities to develop their skills and confidence through learning, living and working. The Geranium Trust, a charity which offers support and friendship to people in their community, are currently planting 600 metres of new hedgerow to encourage local wildlife and this provided a wonderful project for the Novanta team to get involved in! Charlotte Fursdon, Operations Administrator at Novanta Technologies, told us about the day: “Our team went along to help plant trees, which involved a lot of digging, planting and lots of work pushing the wheelbarrow about! The team loved being outdoors and helping with such a worthwhile project. The group who organised it were from all backgrounds, and it was such a good chance to all muck in together.  “Aside from helping the community, the volunteering team day gave us such a sense of wellbeing, working together, team building and a good dose of reality. “It was such a wonderful experience, and everyone was welcoming and brilliant from the outset. I have forged strong links with other groups, so we are all able to work together on future projects. “We are very lucky to work for a company that encourages community volunteering and Spark a Change is now our go-to platform for organising future activities." Joe Knights, Able2achieve’s Learning Facilitator said: “With the help of the volunteers, we have been able to plant hundreds of trees hedges, which has helped speed up our timescales, and that’s fantastic. “Our project is aimed at our community, and it is a great morale boost to the project team when we receive interest and help from organisations, like Novanta. “By working alongside other groups of volunteers, we are also able to increase awareness of our work, learn about the work of others and create lasting relationships that will benefit everyone going forward. “We’d like to say a huge thankyou to the team from Novanta for being a fantastic tree planting workforce and helping our community and wildlife!” Terence Palfrey, Founder of the Geranium Trust said: "Volunteer team days are so valuable in helping The Geranium Trust to thrive. Volunteering is good for the charity that you are helping, but better still, it's really good for you and your team. You can make friends, learn new skills and it may lead you on to something that you never dreamed would ever happen."

Lendology is a not for profit organisation working in partnership with local councils to provide affordable loans to homeowners in Somerset. The Lendology team approached us as they were looking for a volunteering activity that would offer a meaningful team building experience and the chance to make a lasting impact in one day. So, we put them in touch with ARK at Egwood , a land-based day service which offers a safe, outdoor place where people of all ages and abilities can relax, engage with others and improve their health and wellbeing. We caught up with Lendology’s Operations Director, Ellie Lister, to find out what they got up to and how the day went. “With the pandemic having hit many social events over the last two years, we wanted our team to have time out from the day-to-day and enjoy connecting with each other in a different format, seeing as we have all spent so long in our homes. “At Lendology, many of us love being outdoors and so we were clear that our volunteer day should be somewhere really special. We were also inspired by the ethos of ARK and were very lucky that their CEO, Nigel, gave us a tour of the site before we set to work. “The day involved lots of coffee and cake, we felt very spoilt! The team at ARK had formulated a clear plan of action – to clear an area of woodland and relay a path with woodchip. The best thing was that we could see the project through in the day, so we left with a real sense of achievement. “We were very fortunate that the sun was shining, and just being in nature as a team, everyone picking out the roles they wanted to play and delivering the project outcome in a day. It was a great way to end the week together and wind down! “We all left feeling relaxed and closer as a team, and it was great to see everyone working together in a new way. “I am not sure any of us knew what to expect as it’s the first time we have completed a volunteer day and none of us had ever been to ARK. I think we were a bit worried about having lots of heavy lifting or starting something that we wouldn’t get to see finished, so as it turned out, the day was perfect! “We are already thinking of when we can get over to ARK again and have asked Nigel to let us know when they have a specific project that we can help with.” Nigel Bell, ARK's CEO and Director of Business Development said: “The volunteering team from Lendology were an amazing asset to ARK for the day. Having a group of energised people supporting with practical tasks means we can undertake the larger jobs on site that have a tendency to keep getting put off due to the other priorities. These groups also enjoy working alongside people that attend ARK, who in return enjoy working alongside them. So it’s a win all round!” To find out more about volunteering with ARK, or hosting a team volunteering activity, click on the link below.

“We contacted Spark Somerset as we were looking for a volunteering opportunity that would help us get outside together as a team and meet our aim of limiting our environmental impact. They suggested tree planting at Carymoor, which was perfect for us and the project."

"It was hugely beneficial for the team’s wellbeing. There's lot to be said for being outside in fresh air just enjoying nature."

Now that her team can meet in person again, Sarah wanted to ensure that their first get together in 16 months was meaningful.