Wednesday 25 March 2026 | 9.30am to 12pm | Online via Zoom
Members £27 | Non-members £43
Are you looking to strengthen corporate relationships and unlock greater value from Employee Supported Volunteering (ESV) schemes?
Through practical insights, real-world examples, and interactive group activities, you will learn how ESV programmes operate within companies, what drives employee engagement, and how to design volunteering opportunities that align with corporate priorities.
We will look at how to shape compelling offers, communicate impact effectively, and build long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships. We’ll also analyse a case study that illustrates how charities can position themselves strategically, respond to corporate needs, and move beyond one-off activities to create sustained value.
We’ll explore why many employer-supported volunteering offers are one-off, narrow, or difficult to sustain – and how volunteer-involving organisations can make better decisions about employer-supported volunteering while holding gratitude and staying open to partnership.
Motivations for employer-supported volunteering are varied, and we’ll look at insights from volunteer-involving organisations, employers, and employee volunteers. Rather than promoting a single model, the session will introduce the idea of employer-supported volunteering as part of a wider partnership “portfolio”, offering practical questions and approaches that help organisations protect capacity, shape offers more effectively, and design for longer-term value.
The session will also briefly look at how a small, carefully scoped employer-supported volunteering offer operates in practice within volunteering infrastructure, and how additional capacity has enabled more forward-looking and ambitious thinking about employer-supported volunteering as a gateway into deeper business partnerships, including advocacy, skills-sharing, and trusteeship.
You will leave with actionable strategies, shared learning from peers, and a clear next step for enhancing your organisation’s corporate volunteering approach.
This session will cover:
- How ESV schemes function inside companies and what motivates employee participation.
- Aligning your charity’s volunteering opportunities with corporate priorities and organisational goals.
- Practical insights and real-world examples for creating volunteering offers that energise employees and fit into existing ESV frameworks.
About the speakers
Kishma Smithurst
Kishma is an experienced volunteer engagement and community partnerships professional with nearly a decade of experience specialising in the design and delivery of inclusive, impact-driven volunteering programmes across the charity sector. She combines strategic leadership with strong operational insight to grow participation, strengthen partnerships, and deliver meaningful social outcomes, creating opportunities that align organisational goals with community needs.
At the Wellcome Trust, she led the development of an employer-supported volunteering programme, delivering up to thirty corporate volunteering events each year in partnership with community organisations across the country, and gaining deep insight into what makes corporate volunteering effective, inclusive, and genuinely beneficial for all involved.
Jack Puller (he/him) – Volunteering and Active Communities Manager, Manchester Community Central
Jack leads on volunteering and active communities at Manchester Community Central, providing strategic oversight for Volunteer Centre Manchester and developing the organisation’s understanding and approach to how individuals and local groups are involved in shaping their environment, influencing public policy, and tackling local or shared issues.
Working across volunteer-involving organisations, businesses, employers and public partners, Jack brings a systems-level perspective on employer-supported volunteering — seeing how offers land in practice across organisations with very different capacities, needs, and constraints.
Jack is particularly interested in how employer-supported volunteering can act as a gateway into deeper, more sustainable business-VCSE relationships, rather than existing as a one-off transactional activity.
AVM Members’ discount
AVM members are eligible for a discount on the event ticket price. Please login to your account so that your discount can be automatically applied.
If you’re not an AVM member, you can join AVM today to gain access to this event, as well as receiving lots of other benefits, including access to free member-only events, discounts for all public events and the annual AVM conference.
You will also have access to the AVM BiteSize webcasts and AVM Replay videos of previous events, including our annual conference. Members also have the opportunity to join our Mentoring Scheme and build their professional network through AVM Connect.
Join AVM today to access your discount for this event.