Individuals working at a firm that’s charitable-oriented tended to feel better about their company and their job, especially if they were given opportunities to volunteer with company-supported charities. Interestingly, employees felt good about the charitable involvement whether or not the particular cause mattered to them personally. Employees seemed to care more about “making a difference” than about having “skin in the game.”
Employees also felt happier when their organizations gave to larger charities than to local causes.
Emily Block, an assistant professor at Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, led the research. According to Block, this was the first study of its kind to examine the internal impact of an organization’s philanthropic efforts, as opposed to well-documented external effects.