Hi!

Employee giving and volunteer programs can deliver value well beyond employee engagement. Done thoughtfully, they can strengthen company culture and employer brand, deepen community relationships, and create authentic stories that support corporate reputation.

At our recent SF Bay Area T2Bmeet, hosted by Exelixis, we explored how the company is realizing these benefits through Exelixis CARES, from making participation easier and empowering employee ambassadors to creating content that resonates with internal and external audiences.

Here are our top 10 takeaways on building and sustaining successful employee giveback programs:

1. Launch at a level you can sustain. Whether the first benefit is a dollar-for-dollar match or company volunteer hours, a starting point with room to grow gives leadership a credible foundation and avoids scaling back later.

2. Amplify the causes employees already care about. Exelixis includes schools and education nonprofits, a category many companies exclude, and it has remained the top giving category since the program launched.

3. Remove friction before employees encounter it. Exelixis moved volunteer waivers into the new-hire package and published clear guidelines; whether a program runs on dedicated software or simpler tools, ease of use drives participation.

4. Ask partners what they need before offering help. Asking "What can we do for you?" led Oakland nonprofit Safe Passages to name diapers as an unmet need in the community, and an Amazon gift list let employees nationwide contribute more than 100 boxes within weeks.

5. Design participation in select initiatives for employees outside the office. Exelixis encourages its national sales force to volunteer in their own communities or while gathered at team meetings or conferences, where building bikes or packing bags can replace another happy hour.

6. Recruit ambassadors who already actively support the program. Exelixis grew its network from more than a dozen champions spanning levels, tenure, departments, and work locations, choosing natural cheerleaders whose peer credibility reaches colleagues that official channels may miss.

7. Give the program an identity that means something. Renaming the "Employee Giving and Volunteer Program" as Exelixis CARES (Collaboration. Action. Resilience. Empowerment. Service), then launching it with a video at an all-hands meeting plus signage and swag, gave employees a visible sense of pride and belonging.

8. Reach employees where they spend their day. With many colleagues in the lab and away from email, Exelixis uses break room screens, cafe tabling, and intranet photo recaps, because "you can't get people to go anywhere if you don't tell them where to go."

9. Fill a regulated content calendar with employee stories. Exelixis found community posts featuring employees often outperform its disease awareness content, adding consistency and video to feeds limited by industry regulatory constraints.

10. Connect the program to your employer brand and culture. Exelixis is working with its Human Resources team to showcase its culture and highlight what working on campus feels like, and new hires point to 25 Volunteer Time Off hours as a draw.

Many of these best practices can be applied beyond employee giving programs. Making participation easy, meeting employees where they are, and finding credible internal advocates are all things communicators think about daily.

Thank you again to the Exelixis team for hosting us and for sharing their insights, and to everyone who joined us in the Bay Area!

Lynnea

P.S. - Attending Jefferies in London? We are too! RSVP for our networking reception on Tuesday, November 17th.

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