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Home Blog How Volunteering Can Underpin Your ESG and CSR Strategy
Did you know that 66% of executives consider employee morale as the top benefit of CSR initiatives? – Boston College Study
August 27, 2025
Companies are under more pressure than ever to demonstrate not only financial returns for their shareholders but also to do so responsibly. The shift from traditional corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs to more integrated Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies reflects this reality.
Within this shift, employee volunteering is proving to be one of the most effective (and too often overlooked) levers for creating measurable impact.
Corporate volunteering, done strategically, becomes a driver of employee engagement, community well-being, brand trust, and even investor confidence.
Companies that focus on ESG initiatives outperform their competitors by 4.8% annually (Zipdo)
Volunteering is often categorized as a CSR activity — an initiative designed to give back without necessarily being tied to strategic goals.
But in the ESG era, that framing undersells its true potential. Volunteering contributes across all three ESG pillars:
Critically, volunteering supports material ESG topics such as human capital development, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, and stakeholder relationships. It is not ancillary but central to how companies demonstrate responsible practices.
Employees who participate in company-sponsored volunteer programs report higher retention and are five times more engaged than those who don’t. That’s not just a social impact win — it’s a business imperative.
96% of employees report having a positive company culture due to volunteering (Double The Donation)
To make volunteering a true ESG asset, companies should align programs with their broader strategic pillars. Three areas in particular stand out:
Volunteering offers a direct way to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These global targets provide a framework for companies to demonstrate impact in ways that resonate with investors, regulators, and the public. For Be My Eyes and many of our partners, volunteering connects most strongly to:
By aligning volunteer programs with specific SDGs, companies can both demonstrate accountability and contribute to progress on issues that matter globally.
Volunteering also builds your workforce. Skills-based volunteering, where employees apply their professional expertise to nonprofit challenges, creates a dynamic learning environment. Participants gain leadership experience, project management skills, cross-cultural competency, and adaptability, all while making a social impact.
When volunteering is woven into your corporate identity, the reputational benefits are significant. Employees become brand ambassadors, communities view your company as a trusted partner, and customers associate your brand with authenticity and care. In heavily regulated industries, demonstrating a meaningful community contribution can also support your “license to operate” by strengthening relationships with regulators and local stakeholders.
Volunteering is not one-size-fits-all. Companies should tailor their approach to align with workforce realities and strategic objectives.
Some common approaches include:
A mix of these models ensures broader participation and aligns with varied employee interests.
The most impactful volunteer programs prioritize equity. That means considering barriers related to race, ability, location, and job function, and designing programs that are inclusive by default.
A staggering 76% of consumers would cease buying from firms that neglect environmental, employee, or community well-being, highlighting the direct impact of ESG practices on consumer behaviour. (PWC)
To deliver real ESG value, volunteering must be managed with the same rigor as other strategic initiatives.
That means embedding clear governance structures, supportive policies, and measurable outcomes.
Strong policies help normalize participation and signal leadership commitment. Key elements include:
Partnerships should reflect your company’s values. Conduct due diligence to ensure nonprofit partners uphold standards around diversity, equity, inclusion, and data privacy. A strong alignment between corporate values and partner practices prevents reputational risk and ensures authenticity.
Volunteering programs thrive when they are championed by leadership. Executive sponsorship, combined with a cross-functional working group spanning HR, DEI, and ESG, ensures alignment and scalability.
What gets measured gets managed. Volunteer impacts can and should be tracked with both quantitative and qualitative metrics:
Reporting frameworks such as GRI (401 & 413), SASB human capital disclosures, and CSRD qualitative narratives provide pathways to incorporate volunteer metrics into broader ESG reporting.
“When a company empowers its employees to give their time and talents through Be My Eyes, it’s more than volunteering — it’s an act of shared humanity. Every call is a moment of connection that changes two lives: the blind user receiving support, and the volunteer realizing the power of small actions to make the world more inclusive.” — Hans Jørgen Wiberg, Founder, Be My Eyes
At Be My Eyes, we’ve seen the transformative power of purpose-driven corporate volunteering, and we’re ready to help organizations take the next step.
We’ve partnered with businesses such as Salesforce and Zain Group to deliver flexible volunteering programs that drive impact.
For example, during our partnership with Salesforce over the last 2 years, they have hosted 15 dedicated volunteering days in which calls from Be My Eyes users were prioritized for their employees.
During these volunteering days, a total of 587 volunteers participated, offering support in 15 languages including English, Spanish, French, Japanese, and Hindi.
Additionally, throughout our partnership so far they have:
If you’d like to experience corporate volunteering that is flexible and drive results like this then get in touch with our team today.
