As we dive into the start of 2025, many businesses are defining their internal goals for the year. At the top of many of those lists are initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Even though it’s common for business to have a DEI strategy, finding a way to implement it into the day-to-day activities of the team is a challenge. However, there’s a natural tie between volunteering and DEI that businesses need to be aware of.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits volunteering offers DEI strategies, how their connection should be leveraged, and examples of how these ideas come to life from the volunteering efforts of Team True.
Even though the exact goals of volunteering efforts—like assisting a Habitat for Humanity project, for example—and a corporate DEI strategy aren’t identical, they still share a connecting thread. At their core, volunteering opportunities offer meaningful experiences for team members.
Aspects of these experiences, like collaborating with new people or overcoming a social barrier to achieve a goal, help a business’s DEI strategy. The hands-on nature of volunteering is often more valuable for advancing these goals compared to more formal training presentations or handouts.
For some businesses, DEI has become a topic that only comes up in team meetings and emails. The act of volunteering makes the idea much more approachable for team members. It gets them out of their usual routine to broaden their horizons.
When a team is volunteering, this is a discussion that is more likely to happen naturally, becoming more engrained in company culture. The new outlooks and insights from volunteering can help team members to start thinking about how their actions factor into their company’s DEI strategy.
One of the main benefits of volunteering is that it gives team members exposure to different people, cultures and ideas they might not see otherwise. When people share these experiences with other team members, it strengthens their professional relationship. The new perspectives gained from volunteering often lead to new ways for team members to solve problems and work through interpersonal roadblocks.
It’s also important to recognize how volunteering gives team members the opportunity to learn new skills. Let’s say a member of your digital advertising team volunteers to help local animal shelter with an adoption event. It could give them exposure to skills like project management that they don’t have opportunities to practice in their professional role. Many skills developed through volunteering actively translate to the professional world. These new skills make team members more valuable to the business and often help them become qualified for promotions.
Volunteering can help strengthen the corporate culture of a business as well. When team members help their community, it helps them value the concept of inclusiveness. The exposure to new people, cultures and ideas carries over to when they’re at work. When a company offers the chance to volunteer for a cause, it reinforces that team members are trusted and valued.
What does this look like in practice? At True Digital Communications, the whole team was given the opportunity to help on a Habitat for Humanity home building project.
At True, volunteering is part of our culture. From offering team charitable work experiences to sharing individual opportunities in weekly meetings, volunteerism is an essential part of True’s DEI goals.
This focus on giving back to the community began with True’s Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, Chris Baldwin, serving on the board for Cleveland’s Ronald McDonald House for years. That inspired our Content Marketing Manager, Vanessa Brown, to join their Emerging Leaders Program.
But the spirit of volunteerism at True doesn’t stop there. There are many members of Team True who have worked hard to give back and expand their horizons.
If you’re looking for inspiration on how your business can incorporate more volunteering in your culture, be sure to follow True on social media. Everyone on our team is excited to share their volunteer experiences.
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