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| Corporate Responsibility Update
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FOUR QUESTIONS—SETTING UP AN EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
By Jack Kosakowski, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Junior Achievement USA.
Corporate philanthropy and employee volunteer programs often go hand in hand. At our organization, most of the 237,000 volunteers we work with come through employee volunteer programs, and we have seen interest in corporate giving and employee engagement grow exponentially over the years as companies seek ways to involve their associates in their community-focused initiatives.
There are many reasons for the growing popularity of employee volunteer programs. First, employers often want their employees to feel vested in the mission of the company. Second, there can be a personnel development benefit to these efforts. Finally, linking employee volunteer programs to corporate giving is seen as a way to attract and retain valued associates.
Despite these good intentions, however, employee volunteer programs don’t always achieve their intended purpose. If this is where you are with your program, there are four questions you need to ask yourself. Read more here.
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SHARE THE AMERICAN DREAM CAMPAIGN KEEPS JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT RELEVANT Jim Gallogly, retired CEO of LyondellBasell and current Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas (Houston) Board Member, has been committed to Junior Achievement (JA) for as long as he can remember. Through the years, Jim has become more and more involved, as he is a firm believer that "a good education is about as fundamental a thing as there is." It wasn't long ago that Jim's granddaughter and her use of technology inspired him to go one step further and support JA's Share the American Dream Campaign, which is helping to transform the organization's delivery of programs through the use of blended learning. Read more here.
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SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM CHALLENGESMeasurable impact, scalability and finding skills-based volunteering opportunities are among the biggest challenges facing managers of Employee Volunteer Programs (EVP), according to new research from Junior Achievement USA and the Corporate Responsibility Association. The study, which involves a survey of corporate responsibility professionals, shows that one-third (33.8%) of respondents say that “measuring impact” of EVP efforts is their top challenge, while nearly as many (29.5%) say that finding opportunities that are “scalable to include most or all interested employees” is their biggest challenge.
“It’s hard to find a ‘one-size fits all’ solution for Employee Volunteer Programs,” said Laura Goodman, Vice President of Volunteer Engagement at Junior Achievement USA. “At the same time, demand for these opportunities is only going to grow. Nonprofits that work in this space need to help their corporate partners overcome these challenges, and that’s certainly something we are working to do at JA.”
Interested in learning how JA might help your Employee Volunteer Program? Contact Laura Goodman.
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REMEMBERING MR. PEDIGO
Original Story from Junior Achievement of Southwest Virginia
During JA Alumni Month in January, WFXR-TV in Roanoke, Virginia, featured a story about Dr. Jim Sears. Dr. Sears, who is the President and CEO of the city’s Center in the Square, a regional cultural and arts center, discussed how Junior Achievement impacted his life in the 1950s when he participated in the JA Company Program.
“You got your product materials, you made your product, you sold your product, you accounted for it and then you closed it out at the end of the term. It was a fantastic experience. It taught us all about business," said Sears.
Dr. Sears then went on to talk about his JA volunteer and the strong impression he made during the news segment. Read more here.
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Junior Achievement USA
1 Education Way, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 | 719.540.8000
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