Familiarity matters: corporate philanthropy and employee workplace giving and volunteering

Abstract

Employees create and enact corporate philanthropy (CP) programmes, which are a central strategy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Employers rely on employees to donate and volunteer through the workplace. From a survey of more than 500 employees at a large corporation based in the United States, we determined that employees’ likelihood of participating in CP is affected by their length of job tenure, managerial responsibilities and work location (on- or off-site). Using structural equation modelling, we found that employee familiarity with the company’s CP programmes mediates the relationship between giving and volunteering with management positions and working on-site. Employee perception also matters. Employees who think highly of CP programmes’ community impact and workplace environment outcomes (CP ‘walk’) are more likely to give and volunteer. Conversely, perceptions of the company ‘standing out’ (CP ‘talk’) in its industry are negatively related to volunteering with the company. Findings contribute to the development of meso-level dynamics in workplace giving.