Employee Volunteering
Encouraging employees to volunteer can be difficult if it isn’t done hand-in-hand with a small business volunteering its own time and supplies. Employees who are happy with the charitable giving by their company may be more likely to remain there as workers, creating less turnover and expenses for the business.
Some employees may already volunteer during weekends or their free time without their employer knowing it. If they aren’t, it can be worthwhile to ask them which specific organizations in the community they’d like to volunteer with.
Activities Can Vary Widely
Including training guide dogs for the blind, repainting a local playground, cleaning up highway litter, walking dogs at the local animal shelter, serving the homeless at a soup kitchen, building a house for Habitat for Humanity, or doing home repairs for people in the community who can’t do them.
Small businesses can help by organizing a company community day of service. Employees would be paid on this day of volunteer work, just as they would at the workplace, possibly boosting employee morale and overall employee camaraderie.
Employers can also give employees a specific amount of time each month, quarter or year to volunteer.
As far as tax implications of this type of giving,
The value of volunteered service can’t be deducted, but expenses such as supplies can be. The Internal Revenue Service details charitable contributions on its website.
You can’t deduct the value of your time or services, including the value of income lost while you work as an unpaid volunteer for a qualified organization, according to IRS Publication 526 on charitable donations.
Offer Expertise
A business owner can help a local charity with their knowledge and experience by sharing it as a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors or a committee that the group relies on.
Such work is a contribution of time after work hours and not money. Again, the value of your time isn’t an allowed tax deduction.
Employee Contests
Creating employee contests is a way to raise money for a charity without using a lot of money.
For example, you can pick a charity to provide donations, then offer a prize to the employee who raises the most money. The reward could be a paid day off from work.
Holiday Food Drives
Encourage employees to bring in unopened non-perishable canned and boxed foods that can be donated to local food banks. Your business can donate food also, and can deliver the food to the food bank.
Youth Sports Team
It isn’t exactly a charity, but sponsoring a local youth sports team can be a way to show your support and give back to your community. It helps give local children a way to afford uniforms so they can play a sport and have fun.
However your small business plans on giving back to the community, try to make it a fun event that many employees will want to be part of, and one that they’ll be proud to say came from their employer.
