Employee volunteerism

Celebrating the spirit of volunteerism.

At Momentum Metropolitan, we recognise that we are inescapably tied to the welfare of communities around us and need to work for their betterment as an organisation. The establishment of a group-wide Momentum Metropolitan staff volunteers programme aligns with our business philosophy, which states that we take responsibility for our people, performance, community and environment. We hold the power to effect positive change.

We recognise the meaningful, transformative impact that volunteering can have in our communities; that is why we have high expectations and strive to do volunteer work that is impactful and sustainable, as opposed to being incidental. Therefore, our volunteer work extends beyond the corporate volunteer calendar to include an online capability that allows volunteers and causes to connect and find solutions to social challenges together. The volunteers programme firmly supports Momentum Metropolitan Foundation’s youth employment focus. Volunteers are supported and enabled to contribute their skills, time, and money towards causes that are close to their hearts, such as animal welfare, advocacy for people with disabilities, environmental conservation and the protection of women and children.

We have five categories of volunteering for our employees to choose from:

• Give as you earn – Staff contributing to accredited NGOs through a payroll-giving scheme, the company then matches all contributions made by staff.
• Volunteering from your desk – staff assisting accredited NGOs with skills transfer and expertise through telephone, computer networks and the internet.
• Once off event volunteering – staff becoming involved in once-off annual events such as Christmas parties, World Aids Day etc.
• Matching Fund Programmes – where staff volunteer in their own time at accredited NGOs, or causes the company accepts as legitimate, and receive matched funding at an hourly rate, which is then directed to the NGO/cause.
• Volunteering during working hours – where staff are permitted time off during working hours, to work in accredited NGOs with the specific objective of building sustainability and ensuring skills transfer.

All these employee volunteering activities are a culmination of the annual staff recognition programme, where we celebrate and recognise our staff for being agents of change in their communities.

Thought leadership

01 February 2022

Three tips to make micro-volunteering easier

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world,” Archbishop Desmond Tutu said. His words emphasise that good deeds – no matter how small they may seem – can combine to create a powerful wave of positive change. Now there’s even a name for it: micro-volunteering.

01 December 2021

The power of corporate communities can change the world

On Monday 11 October, the world recognised International Day of the Girl Child commemorating the Generation Equality Forum (GEF), and launching 5-year commitments from civil society leaders, governments, corporations and change makers from around the world for bold gender equality impacts.

01 December 2021

Mentoring the next generation for a GBV-free future

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women begins 16 Days of Activism, a time of year where the world must reflect on the egregious levels of violence endured by women. Although we must aid the victims of abuse, it is also a time to deeply consider ways of fixing the problem and do so at a grassroots level.

15 November 2021

Give a little, get a lot: Volunteering as a mental health panacea

Have you ever commended someone who regularly volunteers for charitable causes, only to be met with a suspiciously humble response such as, “Oh no, I get far more out of it than the cause I support!” The implication is that their actions – while perceived by others as selfless – are, in fact, self-motivated.

15 November 2021

Spinach and skills-based volunteerism - what a leafy green veg can teach us about the power of the collective

Pivot. Adapt. Agility. Arguably this past year’s three most overused buzzwords - and, if the countless pandemicera think pieces are to be believed, the key to flourishing in the ‘new normal’ (another COVID catchphrase.) Yet the truth is, we’re dizzy from all this pivoting.

15 November 2021

Fighting hunger the Lesedi way

Momentum Metropolitan CSI Manager Charlene Lackay outlines the importance of giving back as individuals and how corporates like Momentum Metropolitan empower their employees to make it happen. In the initial stages of the lockdown in April 2020, 28% of South Africans were going to bed hungry.