By Elizabeth Myatt, executive director,Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Northeastdivision

The insurance world revolves around the business value chaininvolving marketing, sales, underwriting, investment and claims.But insurance has always been a business driven by the creativityand productivity of its people and the relationships theybuild.

Today, many people in the insurance industry are motivated toget involved in their communities in a range of efforts, large andsmall. They want to help their communities, and they want theirorganizations to support philanthropic efforts.

Read related: “Insurance Volunteers Make a Difference.”

Here are three business benefits of volunteerism, a key elementof philanthropy in today's insurance industry:

An employee from Sullivan Group works with children at aclassroom as part of 2011's IICF's volunteerism event. Education isa key area for both funding and volunteerism in the insuranceindustry.

1. Employees' Gifts of Talent and Time Redouble theIndustry's Donations

The watershed 2011 report “Charitable Giving in the Property-Casualty Insurance Industry”from the financial services practice of McKinsey & Co. showed that this sector providedapproximately $500 million in charitable funding in 2010. (Othersectors of the industry, including life and health insurance andbenefits, also make significant charitable contributions, althoughMcKinsey's study did not include them.)

Charitable giving includes volunteerism, employee matching giftprograms, and corporate grant programs from companyfoundations.

The McKinsey study found most P/C industry charitable giving wasdirected to four areas:

• Education (34 percent of the funding)

• Health and social services (20 percent)

• Community and economic development (18 percent)

• Culture and arts (7 percent)

These areas match up with the charitable interests of insuranceemployees. Employees who volunteer often choose to work inclassrooms, parks, and food banks. They look to their localneighborhoods and regions to try to make adifference.

Read related: “WhyCharitable Giving is Your Business' BestInvestment.”

From 1998-2011, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation(IICF) has hosted Volunteer Week, the largest ongoing volunteerinitiative in the insurance industry. Initially based in Californiawhere IICF started, Volunteer Week grew into a broader annualinitiative held each October. To date, Volunteer Week has providedover 155,000 hours of volunteer community service. Most recently,in 2011, 3,627 IICF volunteers from more than 100 companies logged14,241.5 hours in 18 states on more than 400 projects.

Volunteer Week has been expanded in 2012 into “IICF Week ofGiving,” which will be held Oct. 13-20. Volunteer teams can sign upto volunteer at http://volunteer.iicf.org/. Theweeklong industry-wide event includes a new donation component:Employees can donate $5 by texting INSURANCE to 50555. Givers alsomay donate online at www.IICF.org. Text donations will bedivided among four nonprofit organizations: Feeding America, St.Baldrick's Foundation, Starlight Children's Foundation, and theWounded Warrior Project.

Workers from the Arch Insurance Grouppitched in at a southern California food bank in 2011.

2. Volunteerism Builds Leadership andTeamwork

Companies and employees that have taken part in volunteerefforts report several benefits, including leadership developmentand improved morale in the workplace.

Some employers believe so strongly in volunteerism that theytake a formal company-wide approach to support it. For example, XLGroup holds a “Global Day of Giving” — a business day set asidewhere thousands of XL workers around the world roll up theirsleeves and work in their local areas. Chubb, a multilineproperty-casualty carrier, has an organization-wide initiativeduring IICF Week of Giving, while other organizations make similarefforts.

Teamwork extends across company borders, as trade associationsare fostering volunteer efforts and also raising charitable funds.For example, the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of LosAngeles in 2012 will once again make a $5,000 directed grantcoupled with volunteerism at the Los Angeles Regional FoodBank.

Trade associations, law firms, actuarial consultants, brokers –many different types of insurance employers are getting involved.Twenty-four independent agents, insurance carrier representativesand employees of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers ofNew York are volunteering at the Rescue Mission in downtownSyracuse during the Week of Giving.

Read related: “Insurancecharitable foundation highlights industry's goodside.”

Even after an initial volunteer project comes and goes, someemployees carry on. This is a goal of IICF Week of Giving. Oneexample is a team from Travelers that started volunteering in 2010at The Interfaith Nutrition Network (“The INN”), a charity based inLong Island, New York. With more volunteers than couldcontribute in the first week, employees organized a second week –then made a long-term commitment to provide volunteers for thesecond Tuesday of each month. Commented one of the Travelersemployees about the ongoing effort: “I am tired physically, butpumped mentally, when I leave there after a volunteer shift.”

The Long Island team was part of an effort led by Lisa Tepper,Travelers regional president, who encouraged every office in theregion to get involved. More than 1,000 Travelers employeesparticipated in the New York tri-state in the first IICF NortheastDivision Week of Giving.

New York City employees of Travelers pitched in at a CityKids charity volunteer effort in 2011.

3. Volunteerism Attracts and MotivatesEmployees

The millennial generation values volunteerism, and many youngeremployees expect their employer to be involved in the community.For some, it's a “must-have” when they look for their first job orthe next step in their career.

It's not just younger and new employees in the workplace thatwant to get involved in volunteerism. Many employees tie togethertheir perceptions of their employer not just with the job,workplace, salary and benefits but also with the company's brand inthe community. The word “community,” by the way, can mean anythingfrom the global community for a large employer to the localneighborhood for an independent insurance agency.

Read related: “Charitable Giving is Good Corporate Policy.”

Other benefits of volunteer projects for the company andemployees include expanded networking opportunities both within andoutside the walls of the organization, as well as enhanced brandrecognition.