Empowering Communities through Corporate Skilled Volunteering

Reflections on Link UP London’s Corporate Impact Report

By Kate Connolly, Corporate Programme Manager | Dec 2025

Link UP London’s recently published Corporate Impact Report, based on several years of Social Impact Solutions, offers a powerful snapshot of what happens when corporates and charities collaborate through skilled volunteering – the lessons are worth exploring.

The Power of Connection

The report underscores a simple truth: great things happen when we work together. Charities gain much needed professional support; companies see productivity gains worth over £4,500 per employee each year. Volunteers feel more positive about their workplace, rediscover purpose and sharpen soft skills. Communities, in turn, benefit from stronger and more resilient organisations.

Learning: Skilled volunteering isn’t just about giving time, it creates a triple win by building capacity of charities, strengthening employees and companies, and driving positive change in communities.

Untapped Potential

Corporate volunteering has enormous promise, yet much of its potential goes untapped. By 2026, 80% of companies will offer volunteering days, yet only one third of these are used. That’s 140 million hours of missed support each year.

• For charities: Lost opportunities to access expertise that could accelerate growth and resilience.
• For corporates: A missed chance to boost employee engagement, skills development, retention, and reputation.

Learning: Companies must go beyond offering volunteer days – they need to actively encourage and enable participation.

Why Companies Invest

Companies don’t invest in volunteering for just one reason – the benefits touch every corner of the organisation:

• 36% aim to improve employee wellbeing and reduce burnout
• 25% focus on productivity and skills development
• 30% want to build more connected teams
• 23% are driven by ESG goals

Learning: Corporates invest in skilled volunteering for different reasons – from wellbeing and productivity to team building and ESG goals. The model is flexible enough to deliver against each of these priorities while creating wider social impact.

Matching Matters

When skilled volunteers are thoughtfully matched with charities, the results speak for themselves. 97% of Link UP corporate volunteers said their skills were well used, and every participating charity reported learning something they could apply straight away.

• Corporate benefit: Employees feel their expertise is valued, boosting morale and engagement.
• Charity benefit: Organisations gain practical insights they can implement straight away.

Learning: Thoughtful matching is the cornerstone of successful skilled volunteering.

Every day professional skills can lead to extraordinary impact

We often underestimate the value of the skills we use every day at work. Volunteers often discover that skills they take for granted – strategy, marketing, operations – can be transformative for charities.

• For volunteers: Builds confidence, purpose, and fresh perspective; over 82% of Link UP corporate volunteers saw renewed value in their professional skills.
• For charities: Unlocks expertise they could never afford to buy; 98% said the volunteer had the skills they needed.

Learning: Skilled volunteering reveals that everyday professional expertise, often taken for granted by employees, can be transformative for charities. It builds confidence and purpose for volunteers while unlocking critical support charities could never afford to buy.

The Bigger Picture

Behind every volunteering day lies a much larger story: the collective power of skills to transform charities, companies, and communities alike.

Skilled volunteering injects £17 billion worth of support into UK charities. Maximising take-up of employee volunteer days represents a multibillion – pound investment into the sector. It’s an investment in the future of charities and communities – but also in companies and their employees. For every £1 spent on workplace volunteering schemes, companies see between £1.50 and £3.60 in benefits.

Learning: Skilled volunteering helps charities get the expertise they need to grow, while companies build stronger teams, healthier workplaces, and a better reputation. When businesses and charities work together, they don’t just fix immediate issues – they create lasting change for both sides and for communities.

At Link UP London, we act as a matchmaker – connecting skilled employee volunteers with charities and social causes for the benefit of all involved. If this blog has sparked ideas for your organisation, whether you’re a small charity or a corporate in London, we’d love to continue the conversation and explore how skilled volunteering could work for you.

Read our 2025 corporate report: Empowering communities through Skilled Volunteering 

Reach out to learn more about our corporate programme: https://linkuplondon.org/corporates/