The shift towards more strategic and participatory corporate volunteering centered on social impact

A tectonic shift is happening in corporate volunteering and social activism ventures undertaken by businesses. New expectations of giving back to society, particularly amongst the younger generations, together with the blossoming of alliances between companies, NGOs and third-sector entities, are giving rise to more mature, participatory forms of collaboration designed to make an impact.

With a view to examining this shift, the SERES Foundation and Esade held a conference entitled “Social activism and corporate volunteering: lessons learnt and future outlook” in the Esade – SERES Foundation lecture series with the participation of Ignasi Carreras, professor and director of NGO management training programs at the Esade Institute for Social Innovation; Ana Sainz, director general of the SERES Foundation; Sonia Alfonso, manager of Social Impact at Iberia; Emma Marín, Head of Communications and CSR at Grupo Santalucía, and Nacho Sequeira, director of Fundación Exit.

During the conference, the participants addressed how corporate volunteering and social activism ventures have evolved in recent years, their impact on society, and the factors enabling them to respond better to the expectations of volunteers, companies and third-sector entities. They also examined the part played by the younger generations and the need for alliances of a more strategic nature in order to increase the scope and effectiveness of such ventures.

In the words of Ana Sainz, director general of the SERES Foundation, “a company’s ability to bring about real change depends not on its size but on its links to society and its capacity to generate shared value. In an era of massive challenges, we must get back to basics. Corporate volunteering allows us to take action and demonstrate that collaborations between companies and third-sector entities now constitute a key competitive edge that can have a lasting impact on society.”

Ignasi Carreras, professor and director of NGO management training programs at the Esade Institute for Social Innovation, highlighted the evolution of corporate volunteering in recent years driven by a desire to have a greater social impact and the shift in the expectations of volunteers, particularly amongst young people. “Corporate volunteering has evolved from more specific actions to more strategic ventures in which companies place their talent, professional experience and specific skills at the service of society,” he said.

He also outlined the difference between corporate volunteering and social activism: two concepts increasingly present in companies. Whereas corporate volunteering arises in response to ventures promoted and organized by the company itself, social activism happens when the company enables its executives to develop their own ways of engaging with society. “The company no longer only promotes and organizes, but also enables people to channel their concerns about society from within the corporate framework – an approach closely linked to the expectations of the younger generations,” he explained.

Business lessons about high-impact corporate volunteering

Iberia and Grupo Santalucía shared their views from a business standpoint about how corporate volunteering models are evolving from occasional projects and ventures connected to social engagement towards more organized programs related to corporate strategies able to make a social impact and foster an in-house culture in this sphere.

Sonia Alfonso, manager of Social Impact at Iberia, outlined the evolution of her company’s volunteer program and its ever-closer links to employees and the regions in which it operates. “Up to 2024, we encouraged Iberia employees to volunteer in the NGOs we were closest to. But in 2024, we bolstered the team to give it the necessary impetus: we drew up an in-house communication plan, we increased our presence in all channels of communication with employees, and we gave the initiative a name: Iberia Volunteers. Today we have almost 600 volunteers.”

Alfonso then underlined the value of collaboration for increasing a company’s social impact. “We learned that making an impact is not something we can do by ourselves, we need other organizations. This means that we need local support from other organizations, and from our colleagues in those destinations... It’s a social undertaking in every sense of the word. Our work is 100% collaboration.”

Emma Marín, director of Communication and CSR at Grupo Santalucía, focused on the transformative dimension of volunteering for the people taking part in these ventures. “Taking part in corporate volunteering is in itself a transformative experience. But then, when you see how much you can contribute and make an impact, you want to do it again because, as our volunteers say, “You feel that you get more out of it than what you put in.”

During her speech, she also mentioned several trends expected to shape the future of corporate volunteering: increased professionalization, more focus on measuring social impact, long-term ventures, skill-based volunteering, hybrid and digital models, and greater involvement by the families of volunteers.

From the standpoint of third-sector entities, Nacho Sequeira, director of Fundación Exit, highlighted the importance of adopting corporate volunteering models focused more on remedying specific social challenges and bringing about structural changes. Against this backdrop, Sequeira explained that “the companies that commit to corporate volunteering as an outlet for their social activism can be pinpointed by four main factors: they conduct an in-depth analysis of the social challenge they face, they co-design the project together with third-sector entities, they forge medium- and long-term relationships with them, and they showcase and provide resources for the measurement of the social impact achieved.”

Since 2011, the Esade - SERES Foundation Lecture Series has hosted 150 speakers at more than 50 conferences to address trends, experiences and good business practices in the field of social issues whilst bolstering the role of the company as a key agent of economic and social progress.