September 5th is the International Day of Charity, an opportunity for organizations worldwide to reflect on their charitable contributions. Employers and employees alike should ask themselves whether they make a positive impact on the world and community. Those who feel unsure should investigate charity challenge events and employee resource groups (ERGs) to achieve these ends. Specifically, they can examine how charity challenges work alongside employee resource groups to increase their social impacts.
Below, we define and connect charity challenges and employee resource groups:
What Is a Charity Challenge?
A charity challenge is any initiative—such as a wellness event, race, 5k, or undertaking—organized for a humanitarian cause. Charity challenges are ideal opportunities for fulfilling experiences, supporting well-being, personal achievements, and civic accomplishments while raising money for charity. In other words, facilitating a charity challenge is a collectively beneficial endeavor.
Moreover, a wide range of events—from step competitions, volunteering hours, and community clean-ups to triathlons—can be charity challenges. This flexibility allows diverse employee resource groups with various interests to work toward shared outcomes and benefits.
What Is an Employee Resource Group?
Employee resource groups (ERGs)—also called affinity groups, community groups, employee service groups, or employee interest groups—are voluntary, employee-led groups that shed light on specific social interests. ERGs are an effective means of fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Moreover, they align with organizational visions, values, goals, and objectives, often developing future leaders and increasing employee engagement.
ERGs have become a popular trend among large organizations, coinciding with the growing popularity of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, workplace philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Some ERGs even make logos, establishing their identities within larger organizations.
ERGs empower often-marginalized employee communities, providing a collective vehicle to voice their opinions, needs, concerns, and more. ERGs can boost inclusivity, teamwork, and communication within their host organization and its social initiatives.
How Charity Challenges Strengthen ERGs
Among all ERG-endorsed events, charity challenges can make the greatest impact inside and outside an organization. Such events offer an excellent opportunity to rally the group’s efforts around an objective and contribute to a great cause. Charitable giving provides incentives for wellness, including a goal-oriented focus, a sense of community, and employee participation.
ERGs should seek to make philanthropy a defining pillar. They may even consider establishing a community or social mission. By incorporating Givhero’s social wellness app, ERGs can streamline their philanthropic activities; our platform lists over 2 million charities to which they can contribute, including local and subject-focused causes.
Structure Your Next Charity Challenge with Givhero
Use Givhero to structure your next great charity challenge. Align participant incentives with fitness tracker and health device integrations, challenge details, competitive leaderboards, custom reports, and charitable donations. Givhero provides all you need to harness intrinsic motivation and ensure employee engagement in your next charity challenge or philanthropic endeavor. For more information on charity challenges, contact us online or at (240) 801-5927.
