International Day of Charity: why giving back is good for people and business

This article looks at how volunteering, fundraising and other forms of charitable activity can benefit employees as well as the wider community. It covers the impact on engagement, teamwork, skills and workplace culture, along with practical ways employers can support people to get involved.

Charity Day 2026

International Day of Charity takes place on 5th September each year. It was established by the United Nations to encourage charitable activity, volunteering and support for good causes around the world.

For employers, it is also a useful prompt to think about the part that giving back can play in working life.

That might mean giving employees time to volunteer. It could mean getting behind a colleague who is running a marathon for a cause close to them, sponsoring a team taking on a charity challenge or choosing a charity for the whole organisation to support.

Whatever form it takes, charitable activity can have benefits well beyond the money raised or the hours volunteered. It can bring colleagues together, give people a sense of purpose outside their day-to-day work and contribute to stronger employee engagement and workplace culture

Volunteering and charitable activity is becoming part of the people agenda

Employee volunteering is increasingly being seen as more than a CSR initiative.

In July 2026, People Management reported on the launch of the Royal Voluntary Service’s 100 Million Hour Movement, which aims to increase employee volunteering across the UK to 100 million hours by the end of 2028.

The campaign is backed by employers including Centrica, Mitie and Coventry Building Society. HR leaders involved in the initiative talked about the effect volunteering can have on engagement, wellbeing, retention, productivity and skills development.

One of the more interesting points in the article is that many employers are already offering volunteering time. Royal Voluntary Service says 62% of businesses do so, but much of that time goes unused.

That suggests the issue is not always whether a volunteering policy exists, but whether employees know about it, understand how to use it and feel able to take advantage of it. They may not know how to find a suitable volunteering opportunity, feel they are too busy to take the time away from work, or worry about the impact their absence could have on colleagues.The CIPD also recognises employer-supported volunteering as a way for organisations to enable employees to give their time and skills to charities and community organisations.

Why volunteering can be valuable for employers too

Volunteering gives people the chance to step outside their usual role and working environment.

Someone helping at a food bank, mentoring a young person or taking part in a community project may find themselves using skills they rarely call on during a normal working day.

There can be opportunities to lead, organise, communicate with different groups or solve unfamiliar problems. For some employees, volunteering also gives them the chance to use existing professional skills in a completely different setting.

Those experiences come back into the workplace.

Group volunteering can be particularly useful for building relationships. Colleagues who do not normally work closely together get to spend time alongside one another without the usual pressures of meetings, deadlines or job titles.

NCVO identifies a number of potential benefits of employer-supported volunteering, including improved employee engagement and wellbeing, professional development, stronger workplace relationships and better connections with local communities.

There is a human side to it as well. People often enjoy seeing colleagues in a different context. The person you normally speak to about budgets or client work may turn out to be brilliant at organising a group of volunteers or keeping everyone going when a task gets difficult.

Those shared experiences can make a difference back at work.

Giving back doesn’t have to mean volunteering

Not everyone wants to volunteer and not every organisation is in a position to organise group volunteering days.

Fundraising can be just as worthwhile.

It may start with one person. A colleague could be taking part in a sponsored run, bike ride or other challenge because a charity has supported them or someone close to them.

An employer choosing to support that person can make a surprisingly big difference. Sharing their fundraising page, making a company donation, offering matched funding or simply showing an interest gives colleagues a reason to support something together.

Sometimes a team decides to take on a challenge. That can create a very different sort of team experience from the usual away day. People train together, encourage one another and work towards an objective that has nothing to do with their jobs.

At other organisations, employees choose a charity or cause to support over a longer period. Fundraising activities then become something that runs throughout the year rather than being a one-off event.

Research from the Charities Aid Foundation suggests employees notice this kind of support. Its research found that 54% of employees said working for an employer that supports charities increased their pride in where they worked. Just over half said it encouraged loyalty, while 47% said it made them more willing to go the extra mile.

Charitable activity on its own won’t create an engaged workforce, of course. But it can contribute to how people feel about the organisation they work for and whether its stated values feel genuine.

Choosing a cause people care about

One of the simplest ways to encourage involvement is to give employees some say in what the organisation supports.

A leadership team can choose a worthy cause, but that does not necessarily mean it will resonate with everyone.

Inviting employees to nominate charities, explain why they matter to them and then vote on which organisation to support can create much greater involvement.

It may also highlight causes and organisations that already matter to people across the business. Some employees may have a personal connection to a particular charity, while others may already volunteer for a local organisation or support a cause outside work. Giving people the opportunity to share these interests, if they wish to, can be a great way to identify volunteering opportunities that resonate with the wider team. Giving people the opportunity to share those connections can make workplace fundraising much more personal.

Employers with the budget to do so can add matched funding. Some match a proportion of money raised, others contribute up to an agreed annual limit or make a donation when an employee reaches a particular fundraising target.

The Charities Aid Foundation also highlights workplace giving and collective fundraising as ways for organisations to support the causes that matter to their employees.

Make it easy for people to take part

A volunteering policy is useful, but it needs to work in practice. If you’re considering introducing one, getting the right HR support and advice can help ensure the policy is clear, practical and appropriate for your organisation.

If an employee is entitled to a paid volunteering day but knows that taking it will leave them with a backlog of work the next morning, they may decide it isn’t worth it.

This was picked up in the recent People Management article. HR leaders talked about the importance of offering flexible volunteering opportunities rather than assuming that everyone needs to take a full day away from work.

They also highlighted the part managers play. Workloads need to be planned around volunteering in much the same way as they would be around annual leave or training.

There are plenty of ways employers can make charitable activity easier without creating a complicated programme.

They might offer paid volunteering leave, build relationships with a small number of local charities or occasionally arrange a team volunteering opportunity.

They could support employees who are already fundraising, offer matched funding where budgets allow or give people some time to organise a workplace event.

And when people do get involved, share what happened.

Recognition does not need to involve awards or big announcements. A short update explaining what colleagues did, how much was raised or what difference their time made is often enough.

Keep participation voluntary

There is one thing worth watching: Giving back should not turn into another workplace expectation.

Not everybody has spare money to donate. Some employees have caring responsibilities or commitments that make volunteering outside their normal working hours difficult. Others may already support charities privately and prefer to keep it that way.

There can also be causes that some employees feel strongly about and others do not.

A good approach gives people different ways to be involved, but also makes it perfectly acceptable not to take part.

That is particularly important with fundraising. A constant stream of sponsorship requests, dress-down days and collections can become uncomfortable for employees who are watching their finances. The aim should be to create opportunities, not obligations.

How we support charitable activity at People Business

At People Business, giving back happens in different ways.

Our team has volunteered at food banks, helped to maintain local footpaths and supported secondary school students with mock interviews, CV advice and GCSE French speaking practice. Members of the team have also given their time as charity trustees.

We have raised money for organisations including Macmillan Cancer Support and worked with Blueprint for All, an organisation focused on creating opportunities for young people and building more inclusive communities.

These activities are quite different from one another, and that’s part of the point. Supporting charity at work does not need to follow one particular model.

A good time to start the conversation

International Day of Charity offers a reason to talk about giving back, but it does not need to become another date in the corporate calendar that comes and goes.

It could simply be the point at which you ask employees which causes matter to them.

You might discover that people would value a volunteering day but don’t know your policy exists. There may already be employees quietly raising money or volunteering outside work who would welcome some support. Or there might be enthusiasm for doing something together as a team.

Small actions can have a worthwhile impact.

They can help charities and communities, but they can also create connections between colleagues, give people opportunities to develop and make an organisation’s values more visible in everyday working life.

If you’re thinking about introducing a volunteering policy or reviewing how your organisation supports employee volunteering and charitable activity, the People Business team can help. Get in touch at info@peoplebusiness.co.uk