🔒COVID-19 makes corporate volunteerism a virtual experience

Before their team meeting last year, workers in Cigna Corp.’s operations group built planter boxes for the Keney Park Sustainability Project, literally getting their hands dirty to help provide produce for Hartford’s urban neighborhoods.

That same group of insurance professionals this year was forced by the coronavirus to put down their hammers and pick up computer mice, using virtual platforms to create a business plan for the Keney Park Sustainability Project’s new park wellness center.

The COVID-19 lockdown and ongoing safety concerns have amplified ongoing trends in corporate volunteerism toward leveraging business expertise in the service of nonprofits. The widespread use of virtual meeting technology jump-started by the crisis has also opened up new opportunities for companies to intensify their involvement in nonprofit work at the leadership level.

“Nonprofits have been very creative in shifting to more online and virtual ways to volunteer,” said Judy Hartling, who supports volunteerism at Bloomfield-based health insurer Cigna in her role as civic affairs lead analyst. “There has been a shift to virtual volunteering that I’m hoping catches on in the long term.”

Among other efforts, Cigna has encouraged employees in recent months to use online platforms to record stories for kids in the hospital, Hartling said. With traditional volunteering projects at a standstill, many Cigna employees are looking to the company to link them to online volunteering projects; the company in turn is seeking out creative nonprofits that could use some help from its skilled and motivated workforce.

“While nothing can replace hands-on help, I think that organizations that are pivoting to really capture the value of people’s volunteerism virtually are definitely going to benefit in the long run,” Hartling said.

For some employees, “days of service” have been replaced by hours online helping with fundraising and organizing nonprofit events.

Amanda Smith, an associate human resources business partner in Webster Bank’s New Britain offices, took several workday afternoons recently to help rally her team for the Cheshire Multiple Sclerosis Society walk, which became virtual after the crisis hit. She was able to use online resources and speak to her coworkers to help boost her fundraising total, and was also helped by a $500 grant from Webster recognizing her efforts.

“I think it’s great that Webster is willing to support the bankers on issues that are important to them specifically,” Smith said. “You know that the company really backs you up and supports you.”

Impactful volunteering

Kathryn Luria, Webster’s senior vice president for community affairs, has seen the move to online volunteering both in her corporate role and former post as board chairperson of the Connecticut Council of Philanthropy. The virus crisis may lead to more impactful volunteering over time as companies utilize their best talent to help nonprofits via online platforms, Luria said.

“It’s going to be opening doors in ways that we have yet to even see,” Luria said. “There are going to be a lot more opportunities for bankers to be involved.”

In the first weeks of the crisis, Webster redirected its philanthropic funding to help agencies offer virtual services. Nonprofits like the Governor’s Prevention Partnership, which matches corporate mentors to young people, were assisted in shifting their focus online. Within three weeks, the hundred or so young people paired with Webster employees had virtual links to their mentors, a program that the bank hopes to extend through the summer, Luria said.

Volunteer training in financial literacy offered through statewide Junior Achievement chapters was also quickly shifted to accommodate the new reality.

“We directed funding toward helping them create virtual opportunities,” Luria said. “Employees can continue to sign up for financial literacy training in a virtual environment.”

Easier to engage

Gearing up early to connect employees with online volunteering opportunities was also key to the response at insurance giant Travelers Cos., said Rita Ortiz, director of community relations.

“We felt that there was a feeling of isolation at the beginning; it was very important to us to start coming up with some creative ways to keep our employees engaged,” Ortiz said.

Mentoring provided by Travelers employees to returning veterans through a popular internal program has been shifted online, along with new efforts to write letters to housebound seniors and kids forced to stay home this summer from the Hole in the Wall Gang camp.

Ortiz sees a silver lining in the shift to virtual meetings in that it allows workers to more easily schedule volunteer time.

“In some ways it’s a little bit easier to engage because you have the option to do it virtually — you don’t have to go somewhere, you don’t have to make plans and incorporate travel time,” Ortiz said.

One Travelers employee was able to log more than 200 hours in volunteer time as she helped a youth nonprofit revamp its operations in the wake of the crisis. As a board member of the nonprofit, the employee was able to take a leadership role in shifting classes and summer programs online. Travelers offered additional financial support in the effort.

Smart nonprofits should take note of the advantages of “virtual volunteering” and expand opportunities to more deeply engage their corporate partners from a distance, Ortiz said.

“It sometimes becomes even more of a personal experience — you feel almost closer although you’re farther away,” Ortiz said. “It allows us to engage even more to a certain degree because we have the flexibility of just jumping online.”

This story was done with support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.