TEAMWORK & PUBLICITY THROUGH COMMUNITY SERVICE

Voluntourism provides the very essence of the ideal scenario that you have sought when soliciting the support of your employees through team building initiatives to work towards a common purpose in your business environment. Introducing and engaging your team in an international volunteer programme provides a guaranteed shift in perspective that occurs swiftly, automatically and without the intervention used by more traditional team building facilitation approaches. Introducing staff to projects unrelated to their daily purpose of fulfilling the business objectives of the organisation that employs them and engaging them in work that has long-term benefits for impoverished communities is proven to awaken a natural desire in teams to work together to fulfil a common objective. Serving others is an unconventional way to appeal to a common value system in members of corporate groups and garners an incredible bottoms-up emotional commitment that cannot be achieved by other means.

Employees will find themselves in an environment very different to what they are used to. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the comfort and safety of employees, the socio-economic status of volunteer locations are usually very different to the levels experienced in their daily lives. Experience has shown that this only develops the genuine affinity that staff create with one another through their work and transforms the way that they interact with one another. This bonding is transferred back to the companies in which people work through shared experience not only with each other but also with other staff members and even clients on their return home. Many companies choose to post the experiences of those who participated in the experience on internal messaging systems in real time so that other employees can share in the achievement of their colleagues.

Individual employee confidence is awakened as people realise that they can have a positive impact through their actions, no matter how previously insignificant those may have seemed. Sending employees on a team building experience of this nature provides multi-nationals and smaller corporates alike with an opportunity to consolidate staff loyalty with proven commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Funding options for these programmes vary with some companies choosing to fit the bill entirely. Other companies embark on a more extensive leveraging programme whereby employee commitment and excitement is generated through partial sponsorship initiatives that are the responsibility of those who will eventually participate as volunteers.

We encourage businesses to incorporate the communication of their participation in international volunteer programmes into their internal and external public relations strategies as an important marketing and communications tool. Taking part as a business in activities that support community initiatives and the local environment is a great way to communicate your commitment to the global need for sustainable reinvestment into people and the planet.

We would be delighted to discuss how these programmes could work for you as well as how best to prepare your employees for maximum long-term benefit!

Corporates based in the United Kingdom:
Please contact our agents Charity Challenge

Charity Challenge
Rufus Bullough
Email: makeadifference@charitychallenge.com
+Tel: 44 (0)20 85570000

Corporates based in any other international location are welcome to contact us direct.


"Going was no less than life changing."
Kati Holloway, Marketing Director


"I was extremely impressed by the organisation."
David Harvey, Marketing Director


"I can undoubtedly say that nothing comes close to the value this programme provides to the individual, the team and the firm. The powerful experience that our people have had will never be forgotten."
Tim Cole, Head of Human Resources


"It is thoroughly worthwhile as part of a corporate responsibility programme and second to none in terms of team building. It's a great way to get your staff motivated, hands on and has a great impact. It works."
Michelle Milnes, Community Affairs


"The network building was the best I have seen during my 18 years at Reuters. No other challenge provides such powerful results - real life problem solving whilst making a positive difference."
Sally Field, Head of Global Finance


"The programme took a group of individuals, some of whom had never met before, and turned them into a really strong team with a common goal of making a difference to communities in need."
Carol Key, Corporate Communication