Companies that foster a culture of employee passion and purpose can unlock a powerful competitive advantage. By empowering employees to pursue their passions inside and outside the organization, businesses can not only boost employee engagement and retention but also create a positive ripple effect that benefits society as a whole.

In addition to helping you attract and retain employees, integrating an effective social impact strategy can help you nurture a culture of social responsibility that can distinguish your company and add an even greater sense of fulfillment to your purpose. It can do so while inspiring employees, partners, peers, and customers to amplify and expand on the good you’re doing with their own efforts.

Here are seven simple steps to make doing good part of who you are as a company. These steps can help transform your charitable initiatives into a deeper part of your company identity and help actualize your commitment to making a positive impact.

1. Convert part of your rewards and recognition budget: Consider allocating a portion of your rewards and recognition budget to social impact initiatives. For example, at Humble Bundle we provide employees with a charitable-giving component—such as a donation to a cause of their choice—as part of their service anniversaries.
2. Paid volunteer days: Consider offering paid volunteer days for employees to support causes they’re passionate about. Giving employees a couple extra days off each year for volunteering can be a huge morale booster while also being a great way to give back to your employees’ communities.
3. Partner with vendors that align with your values: When choosing vendors, consider their social impact initiatives and values. Two we directly work with at Humble are Garden Streets, a woman-and-minority-owned business that runs creative team-building events, and Maya’s Cookies, a prominent Black-owned gourmet vegan cookie company, whom we’ve worked with to send out employee cookie collections during Black History Month. We also work with OnGoody, a gift vendor that enables us to customize gift options for our employees, to include products created by businesses whose identity and/or charitable initiatives align with our mission and values. These are just some of the many fun ways you can demonstrate your own company values while supporting diverse businesses.
4. Donation matching: If you already have annual budget for charitable donations, use some of it to engage employees in supporting the company-identified charities through employee gift matching. For example, if your company is planning to donate to The Trevor Project in support of LGBTQ+ youth or to JDRF in support of juvenile diabetes research (or to one of thousands of other fantastic charities), consider matching employee donations up to a certain amount, and/or during a specific time period, to that same charity.
5. Put your mouth where your money is: Identifying causes your customers and employees are passionate about, and then making corporate contributions, is of course a great way to lean in and make a difference. Sometimes it also pays to lean in on leaning in. You can amplify your charitable efforts by communicating across your channels about the causes you support, and encourage your employees to spread that awareness on their own, if they’re so inclined.
6. Gamify your external giving strategies with employees: If you have a charitable fundraising campaign with your audience or customers, find ways to engage employees beyond simply announcing the activation. Internally celebrate employees who publicly share their positive personal perspectives on the initiative. This can be in the company newsletter, all-hands meeting, or other communication channel. Create a quiz or poll for employees to vote on how much the campaign will raise and reward the winner with a donation to a charity of their choice. Or create a fun internal competitive event, such as a trivia competition, and reward the winner(s) with a donation to the designated charity in their name.
7. Make a positive impact: Find relevant opportunities to make a positive impact on any cause or issue your employees care about. For example, if your employees have shown concern or taken independent initiative around global warming, then for Earth Month, consider offsetting your employees’ carbon footprint with a donation to an environmental charity—or plant a tree in recognition of each employee, as we did at Humble.

There are limitless ways to support employees in pursuing their charitable passions while reflecting the humanity at the heart of your company. By dedicating resources and attention to causes that resonate with your employees and customers, you’ll not only forge meaningful connections, but also elevate your company’s identity and make a tangible impact on the world. You’ll do a lot of good and also reap the rewards of a more engaged, motivated, and purpose-driven workforce. 

Kamini Tiwari is the vice president of social impact at Humble Bundle.