KPMG employees donated their time to over 475 nonprofits for the firm's second Community Impact Day, an annual volunteer day of community service.
On August 1, over 21,000 people volunteered with a wide range of organizations including Boys and Girls Scouts, American Heart, Junior Achievement, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, which already collaborate with KPMG all year long. According to Jennifer Flynn Dear, Community Impact Day managing director, it's all about finding what issues are important to employees and putting their skills in the service of others.
"What really sticks with me always, as it did last year, is the pride that our people feel after Community Impact Day," she said. "It really just gives everyone a lift at the firm, to work side by side and understand the impact that we're making together. It aligns with our values, it aligns with our culture, and our people really enjoy living by it."
As a "purpose-driven organization," Flynn Dear said that celebrating this milestone through a day of service was considered a perfect representation of the firm, which is what KPMG did last year for its 125th anniversary. Following the success of the first Community Impact Day with both community partners and employees, the firm then decided to make it an annual event.
To recreate last year's excitement, Flynn Dear said the key to success was to provide employees a choice: They could pick between in-person, hybrid and remote volunteering within a list of activities lasting from a few hours to the entire day. For example, KPMG CEO Paul Knopp volunteered to help clean up Hudson River Park's Habitat Garden in New York City and visited Pier 59 for an event with the Special Olympics as well as the Boys and Girls Club.
"Our leaders, professionals and interns were able to go out into their communities and work with folks they may not see often because they work in other areas of the firm," said Flynn Dear. "It gives our people a chance to make an impact together, and building those relationships when people haven't been in the office these last few years is really powerful."
Furthermore, it raises awareness about volunteering opportunities across the firm and seems to be a strong attraction and retention tool. According to an internal survey, 98% of employees found last year's KPMG Community Impact Day to be a meaningful experience, and 92% said they felt proud to work for KPMG. Additionally, volunteer hours increased 69% by mid-year, following KPMG's first Community Impact Day.
However, Flynn Dear said that organizing an event of that scale takes a lot of preparation across the firm, which is why instilling a culture of cooperation is critical.
"One of the unintended outcomes of Community Impact Day is that it really increased awareness across our firm about how you can work in your communities, how KPMG supports that, how we provide volunteer hours to our people every year," she said. "You have to really make sure that you're collaborating across your organization to get that buy-in from the top of the house, which is why our leaders feel very strongly about this day and encourage others to participate."
