Arrow Electronics pushes employee volunteerism efforts

The importance of an organization’s purpose has been on the rise for several years. Millennial employees (and prospects) in particular want to work for organizations that have a higher calling. Arrow Electronics recognizes this trend and believes that purposeful community engagement makes employees more engaged and the company stronger. Its efforts have earned Arrow Electronics first place in the “Stakeholder/Employee Engagement” category of PR Daily’s Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.

Each year, Arrow employees partner with local nonprofits around the world. In 2017, the company launched the Arrow Charitable platform, making it easy for employees to donate time and money. The platform was expanded to employees across the Americas, supporting a host of laudable goals, including growing the collaborative and innovative culture at Arrow, attracting and retaining top talent and matching employees with local volunteer activities—all in a single, centralized location.

Among the features employees find on the platform are team and individual volunteering opportunities through the company’s Dollars for Doers program, in which the company donates cash when employees donate their time; charity walks and races (with Arrow donating money in honor of a team’s participation); and Cause Cards—gift cards employees can use to support nonprofits. Employees can also use the platform to find employee-driven initiatives (like a scholar’s fund supporting children in Tanzania).

Building the platform involved a collaborative effort by the CSR team, IT, compliance, HR, finance, corporate communications and others within Arrow. It paid off, with 24% of the company’s employees using the platform to support 165 charities in 2018. These employees participated in 747 volunteer events, logging nearly 6,000 volunteer hours worth nearly $125,000.

Congratulations to Alex West, Sierra Fowler and John Watters.