Changes in the country’s workforce and new attitudes toward work are affecting workplace giving, even as philanthropy is becoming increasingly important to employees, employers, and nonprofits, a report from the Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy finds.
Funded by Deloitte, the report, Giving USA Special Report on the Evolution of Workplace Giving, found that employees increasingly want a say in how they give time and money through the workplace, as well as how their employer gives back and which charities it supports. According to the report, employees also want to use their talents, skills, and time in support of causes that they find personally meaningful and respond well when employers are willing to match their contributions of time, cash, or other assets to a cause they care about.
Previous studies have found that among millennials, who are a third of the current U.S. workforce, 79 percent want to work for an employer who cares about how it contributes to society, 76 percent factor in “a company’s social and environmental commitments” in their employment decisions, and 64 percent would refuse a job offer if a potential employer did not take its social responsibilities seriously.