6 ways to turn your corporate philanthropy into a Long-Term Relationship

Single days of volunteer service are exciting, impactful, and inspiring. Painting a school, building a playground, or reading with children are all wonderful ways for companies to support work/life balance and give back to the communities in which their employees work and live. But after a year or two of the 'one and done' volunteer events, many corporate employees hunger for more. To develop an enduring relationship, multiple points of connection are needed.

Here are six ways to create more meaningful bonds between employees and the nonprofits your company supports:

1. Find the right partner:. Your employees want to help solve societal problems, but may differ on which to prioritize. Survey your employees to find out what impact they most want to make on the community. If there's a broad spectrum of interests, find a nonprofit that serves many different needs. Employee input into the partnership begets ownership, which ultimately begets connection.

2. Variety is the spice of life:. Offer your employees an a la carte menu of ways to engage with your community partners. Providing multiple options will increase the likelihood everyone in the office will find something that suits their interest, availability, and style. Participating in a bake sale, planning a fundraiser, committing to an ongoing volunteer program, offering a specific skill set to solve one specific problem - these all are great opportunities to engage and should all be offered when possible.

3. Calendar it in: Just like Date Night, connecting with a nonprofit and its mission takes deliberate planning. Brainstorm at the beginning of your partnership, and then create a calendar of events to share with your employees. You may even want to target different departments at different times based on when their workload is light. But remember, if it isn't on their calendars, you can't assume they'll be there.

4. Ask!: It's flattering to be personally requested to attend an event, and it's hard to turn someone down when they're asking in person. Email is perfect for sharing information about a volunteer or fundraising opportunity, but it's also easy to ignore. Assemble a team of enthusiastic staff members who can go from desk to desk to get people engaged.

5. Communicate: If your employees volunteer or fundraise, but never hear the impact of their work, they will lose interest. Convey how your work made a difference. A few years back, someone shared a heartfelt thank you note with me from a 2nd grader whose school our team gave a nice facelift - we painted classrooms, added line games outdoors, landscaped the exterior, and painted hall murals. She drew before and after pictures of her school and added, "Our school was a hot mess until you came here. Thank you for making it look like new! <3 <3 <3 Angie" I'm definitely going back …

6. Motivate yourselves and one another:. As a parent, I was once told, "Find a way to get your kids to want to help you." If you add an element of fun to work, kids are all in. As adults, it's still true. Provide an incentive, add music or costumes, or make it a competition (our personal favorite here at the Chicago Charity Challenge!)

At the Chicago Charity Challenge, we support companies interested in entering into a long-term philanthropic relationship by building yearlong partnerships with nonprofits. We want employees to know that a sustained association deepens their impact and connects them personally to the recipients of service. These relationships are deeply fulfilling and help companies retain talented employees who care about others.

• Stacey Rago is executive director of the Chicago Charity Challenge, the "People's Choice" of the 2016 Chicago Innovation Awards and the only philanthropically-motivated competition that inspires businesses and their employees to give back to the community. Email her at Stacey@Chicagochacha.org.