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Templates you can copy today

Starting points for the policies and checklists a community program needs. Adapt them to your company and have your legal team review them before use.

Community investment and giving policy

A short policy outline for a company that volunteers and gives to nonprofits and community organizations. Adapt it with your legal, tax and HR teams.

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT AND GIVING POLICY — [Company name]
Approved by the Board on: [date]   Review: yearly

1. Purpose
We support the communities where we work through employee volunteering and giving to nonprofits and community organizations.

2. Focus areas
Our programs focus on: [e.g. food security, education and youth, health], in [states or cities].

3. How we give
All donations go from the company directly to the nonprofit or government body, against a receipt. Before funding an organization we check it in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and record its EIN and 501(c)(3) status, and its state charity registration where it has one. We get a written acknowledgment for every gift of $250 or more, and an appraisal where a non-cash gift needs one. We record whether each payment is a donation or sponsorship. Employees never collect or transfer money on the company's behalf.

4. Volunteering
Each employee may take [number] paid volunteer days a year, agreed with their manager. Hours are approved before they count in any report.

5. Reporting
We report community activity in our annual impact report, and our charitable contributions in our federal income tax return. Figures come from approved records; estimated values are labeled as estimates.

6. Dignity and consent
We do not publish images of beneficiaries without recorded consent, and we get a parent's or guardian's consent for images of children.

Volunteer leave policy

Paid time off for volunteering, with a simple approval route.

VOLUNTEER LEAVE POLICY — [Company name]

1. Entitlement
Each employee may take up to [2] paid days per calendar year to volunteer in company-organized activities or with a registered charity. Leave can be taken in full or half days.

2. Requesting leave
Requests are made in CorpHands at least [5] working days in advance and approved by the employee's line manager, taking business needs into account.

3. Eligible activities
Company-organized activities, activities with a registered charity partner, and skills-based (pro bono) projects approved by the CSR team. Political or religious campaigning is not eligible.

4. Recording
Hours volunteered during volunteer leave are recorded in CorpHands by QR check-in or with evidence.

5. Unused days
Unused days do not carry over to the next year and are not paid out.

Sponsorship request evaluation criteria

A fair, explainable scoring guide that matches how CorpHands scores requests.

SPONSORSHIP REQUEST EVALUATION CRITERIA

Each request is scored 0–100 on four criteria, then weighted:

1. Fit with our focus areas (weight [35]%)
   100 = within our focus areas · 30 = outside them

2. Registration (weight [25]%)
   100 = verified nonprofit, with its EIN and 501(c)(3) status recorded, or a government body
   50 = details submitted, verification pending
   0 = unverified or not provided

3. Expected impact (weight [25]%)
   Based on the number of people helped per $1,000 requested. If unknown, scored 50.

4. Budget (weight [15]%)
   100 = enough budget left in the matching program · partial = proportional · 0 = none left

Rules
- No request is approved without a registered partner or government body.
- Declined applicants receive a written reason.
- Conflicts of interest are declared and the person concerned does not decide.

Community indicators checklist

What to prepare for the community part of a sustainability report.

COMMUNITY INDICATORS — CHECKLIST

Volunteering
□ Total employee volunteering hours (approved only)
□ Number and % of employees who volunteered
□ Hours by department and by category
□ Volunteer leave days used

Activities and partners
□ Number of community activities held
□ Number of registered charity partners
□ People helped (confirmed by partners), with method noted

Investment
□ Cash community investment ($)
□ In-kind support ($), with valuation method
□ Estimated value of volunteer time (hours × value per hour), labeled as an estimate

Quality and governance
□ Community investment policy in place and approved
□ Every nonprofit checked, with its EIN and 501(c)(3) status recorded
□ A written acknowledgment on file for every gift of $250 or more
□ An appraisal for non-cash gifts over $5,000 where one is needed
□ Each payment marked as a donation or sponsorship
□ Receipts held for all donations
□ Photo consent recorded for published images
□ Year-on-year comparison and commentary

Note: map each indicator to your reporting framework (e.g. GRI) with your sustainability adviser.

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