The focus of the January Learning@Lunch was on Employee Volunteerism and Workplace Giving during Covid-19 with guest speaker Junelle Kroontje, Employee Giving Manager for King County (KC). 

King County (KC) is one of the largest employers in the county with 15,000 employees. This local branch of government oversees diverse service areas such as public transportation (King County Metro), public health, adult detention, parks, waste management and so much more.

Ms. Kroontje’s department began with one annual giving campaign and has now become “a robust, employee-centered” community-centric entity where she connects KC employees with volunteer and giving opportunities. Although Ms. Kroontje’s office is not involved with grants, she regularly discusses trends and funding opportunities with her colleagues.  

To get a sense of how the pandemic has affected volunteerism, a poll was taken: ‘How has your need for volunteers changed during COVID’?  Sixty two percent (62%) of the nonprofit attendees indicated that their need has been reduced or greatly reduced.

This is in line with what Ms. Kroontje is seeing at KC. Her figures show a 75% decrease in employees using their volunteer benefit of three days per year. 

The attendees were asked for the reason their nonprofits’ volunteering opportunities decreased.  Responses included school closures, canceled events, events going virtual, and adherence to lockdowns and social distancing guidelines.

There are challenges continuing or starting a volunteering program during Covid but it is understood that attempts must be made to try. During the breakout session following the formal discussion, The Sophia Way   shared how they used volunteers to call donors to say thank you for their year-end gift and to write thank you cards. Ms Kroontje commented that this was a great way to keep volunteers engaged and when asked how best to engage KC employees she suggested posting on Benevity, VolunteerMatch and the United Way of King County websites.

Join the conversation and learn about strategies in corporate giving from peers and guest speakers at Corporate Giving Network’s Learning@Lunches.

About Corporate Giving Network

The Corporate Giving Network (CGN) serves nonprofits and companies that focus on corporate philanthropy (grants), cause sponsorships, employee volunteerism, workplace giving and cause marketing all in one space.

The CGN will be hosting many events in 2021 including monthly Learning@Lunch sessions on the second Thursday of each month, an annual conference on June 10th and 11th, Board MatchMatching, a Corporate Funders Book Club, and a Roundtable Discussion six times a year.