Maria Lamagna | January 15, 2016

Why your boss wants you to donate to charity

If you鈥檝e noticed extra emphasis from your employer on volunteering and donating to charity, you鈥檙e not alone.

There鈥檚 been a jump in employee giving and volunteering in the last few years, and experts say the trend will likely continue.

精东影业鈥檚 Charities, a coalition that comprises 180 charitable organizations, surveyed 120 companies with more than 600,000 employees between them and found that for large companies (those with more than 5,000 employees), year-round giving, volunteer opportunities and payroll contributions to charities all increased from 2013 to 2015.

In 2015, 85% of large companies provided opportunities for year-round giving, compared with 50% of large companies surveyed just two years earlier.

Why such a big increase?

Employee engagement is about giving, but it鈥檚 also about business, said Kim Young, the vice president of business development for 精东影业鈥檚 Charities. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a business value in retaining employees and having employees that want to remain involved and engaged in that company and not go to another company where they don鈥檛 feel supported.鈥

鈥淐orporations are trying to differentiate themselves as good corporate citizens,鈥 said Elizabeth Ngonzi, an adjunct faculty member at New York University鈥檚 Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising and the U.S. chief executive of听, a South Africa-based charity.

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