No One Likes Logging Volunteer Hours. NV Energy Changed That.

What if in one day, you could get employees to log 1,000 of their previously unrecorded hours?

By increasing the number of volunteer hours logged by 14% in 2017, that’s exactly what our client NV Energy did.

It’s no secret employee volunteer program managers struggle to increase participation. It’s even worse when employees participate in your volunteer program, but don’t record their efforts in your reporting.

(Side note: We all know that volunteering is about much more than numbers, and that it’s key to focus on impact rather than hours served. But let’s be honest, those numbers are still nice to have!)

“How did NV Energy inspire employees to log their hours,” you ask? They launched what they call their Volunteer Incentive Plan.

NV Energy has always encouraged their employees to volunteer in the community. They inaugurated an internal, customized YourMatch™ dashboard in 2009 so employees could begin tracking volunteer hours, searching for volunteer opportunities, and taking full advantage of their company’s generous Dollars for Doers program.

Learn how YourMatch™ can power your employee volunteer program.

Ever since and each year, NV Energy sets a volunteer goal. To encourage employees to log their hours — and, in turn, help employees reach that goal — they came up with the idea for tiered level incentives (AKA their Volunteer Incentive Plan).

They officially announced the plan on May 2, 2017, and within 24 hours, saw an increase in 1,000 volunteer hours logged through YourMatch.

Here are the incentives:

• 10 – 25 hours per year: NV Energy mouse pad
• 26 – 75 hours per year: NV Energy polo shirt
• 76 – 125 hours per year: NV Energy duffle bag
• 126+ hours per year: NV Energy jacket

An employee’s cumulative number of volunteer hours logged at the end of each quarter determines his or her prize. If an employee continues to volunteer and record hours all year long, he or she could earn prizes at every level!

NV Energy employees continually demonstrate passion and commitment to many organizations through their volunteer efforts year after year. And this year is no different. They hope that the Volunteer Incentive Plan increases not only employee volunteer hours logged, but overall participation in their volunteer program.

We applaud NV Energy on their original and creative method!