Give & Take: Corporate View on Philanthropic Efforts Shift as More Employees Seek Purpose
Prosek's Month of Giving Yields Top Results for Employee Engagement
As people spend more time at work, what they look for in the workplace is evolving. Employees are seeking more than just a paycheck, they want a connection. Many times, this means a commitment to helping others.
A PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey found that 88% of millennials seek employers whose Corporate Social Responsibility values match with theirs and that 86% would consider leaving their employers if they lacked the right CSR and philanthropic values.
Fortune highlights that many of the companies on its 100 Best Companies to Work For list have invested resources into ensuring employees have paid time off to volunteer and weaving community service components into their staff activities.
As corporate giving and volunteer initiatives become more prominent, companies are approaching philanthropy in different ways. Sometimes they choose charities that align with their business, but many times these initiatives stem from the interests of employees.
Last month, Prosek Partners launched its inaugural Month of Giving with a focus on volunteering and fundraising for organizations selected by the firm's employees. The firm chose to make things interesting by adding a competitive edge. Throughout October, employees broke out into teams and competed to rack up the most volunteer hours. Together, the teams totaled nearly 200 volunteer hours serving over 20 organizations in just one month.
Additionally, the teams competed to raise funds for the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in New York City, raising a combined $3,600. Prosek's Employees walked as a team in honor of loved ones who have battled breast cancer.
The Month of Giving's success highlighted Prosek's passion and dedication to supporting the causes employees care about most. As CSR and philanthropic initiatives progress from a "nice to have" to a "need to have," we expect to see more companies putting an emphasis on workplace initiatives like this one. 
Give & Take is a monthly column that takes a look at the intersection of the for-profit and non-profit worlds and the overall role philanthropy plays in connecting people.