The truth behind corporate volunteering: It's not performance enhancement, it's a penny drop
On meaningful CSR, employee purpose, and why genuine impact starts without expecting anything back.
By Simon Doble
I’m a firm believer in the power of purpose. Getting in touch with my deeper purpose and acting on my why has probably been one of the most consequential things in my life. After discovering energy poverty, I have devoted most of my time to solving it, a wonderful journey that led to the founding of SolarBuddy, a charity impacting millions.
Since then, I have made it my mission to speak about this incredible path. It's something I believe in, but also because the issues we face cannot be solved by one person, not even a few. We need as many people as possible to recognize what really matters and to act.
SolarBuddy couldn’t accomplish anything without people like that, volunteers, donors, and partners. Their decision to make a difference is what allows us to fight energy poverty. Our impact is their impact, first and foremost.
But what’s the role of deeper purpose in this? Is their commitment as transformational, as if they were confronted with their own emptiness, their own values, and what makes sense for them?
The short answer is no.
When someone donates or takes part in corporate volunteering, it will not have the same effect as acting on their deeper purpose. But it’s a gateway, a penny drop. It can become the knock on the door that someone was waiting for.
If that activity – whether it’s a one-off, once a month or a deeper commitment – opens the door to one person and they go: “I felt good doing that. This gave me an endorphin hit,” then I know we accomplished something.
Because that person will go away and help other people.
If they recognize that, which is what we’re trying to give them, and then go volunteering, that’s the path to purpose. Whether it is volunteering for a charity, an activity, or perhaps a sports club.
And if they never think about SolarBuddy again, I’m okay with that. Volunteering is an act of kindness. It’s a transaction of the human spirit. Nobody wants anything in return.
“We don’t work with teams so they can be better performers, hit their KPIs, and make more money. We work with teams, so they become better teams.”
This Earth Day, a record number of people are volunteering through their employer. 2026 is the UN International Volunteer Year and while the number of individual volunteers has been steady in recent years, we’re experiencing a big surge in corporate volunteering.
That means that for many, it might be their first time in a professional life when they are out of a metrics-driven frame. My hope is that when they get this chance to zoom out and find themselves in a situation where they're helping people, it becomes something more tangible and meaningful.
Because that’s when purpose starts translating into impact.
Too often companies think about CSR or volunteering only in terms of its potential to boost performance. The truth is that it can have a positive impact only if it’s done without expecting anything in return. Only when it’s genuinely selfless.
That’s what we’re trying to do.
We don’t work with teams so they can be better performers, hit their KPIs, and make more money. We work with teams, so they become better teams. We work with them to support each other and the world around them better. That’s a team.
Rather than using KPIs as key performance indicators, I like to use KPIs as key purpose indicators. Because purpose is what motivates people deep down. These people then build better communities and change the world. That’s the power of purpose; increased productivity is a nice bonus.
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