Being a good company in Singapore also means being a good neighbour. In an era when organisational stakeholders are increasingly invested in stability, positive values, and staff welfare, businesses that volunteer stand out for their care for the community—and their commitment to long-term impact.
Corporate volunteering is a way to encourage employees to be part of something bigger, convey your company’s values through practice, and attract new employees who share your values and passion for purpose.
Table of Contents
- What is corporate volunteering?
- What forms can corporate volunteering take in Singapore?
- How can Singapore companies benefit from embarking on corporate volunteerism?
- What corporate volunteering programmes are available in Singapore?
- Tips and lessons from Project V
- What companies participating in Project V can expect
- Start a corporate volunteering programme in Singapore
What is corporate volunteering?
Corporate volunteering involves companies enabling their employees to contribute to the local community through partnerships with non-profits. This encompasses a range of volunteering activities from service-based to skills-based contributions.
Such employee volunteering initiatives foster sustained community support and greater social cohesion, while also cultivating stronger employee engagement and building goodwill and a positive presence in Singapore.
What forms can corporate volunteering take in Singapore?
Your company’s volunteering activities in Singapore can take many meaningful forms—from befriending seniors in a neighbourhood centre, to creating a marketing strategy and materials for a charity’s fundraising drives, or diagnosing a charity’s business challenges in areas such as fundraising and talent retention.
Most importantly, Singapore charities are increasingly open to companies willing to co-create volunteering activities tailored to their teams’ capacity and interests that also meet social needs. This helps build long-term commitment and lasting connections between your colleagues and the communities they will serve.
How can Singapore companies benefit from embarking on corporate volunteerism?
Companies in Singapore that engage in corporate volunteerism often do so because they believe in giving back and uplifting the communities around them. As a way to support these efforts, the government introduced the Corporate Volunteer Scheme (CVS) in 2016.
Through CVS, businesses that volunteer with registered Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) can receive tax deductions of 250% on qualifying expenses—such as wages for time spent volunteering, and transport and materials incurred solely for volunteering work.
To make things simpler, companies can also claim based on a standard hourly rate—$10/hour for general volunteering, and $20/hour for skills-based support. The scheme even covers virtual activities and activities outside IPCs’ premises. Such measures acknowledge the time and care companies are already contributing to the social good.
Learn more at IRAS’ website.
What corporate volunteering programmes are available in Singapore?
If your organisation in Singapore wants to do good and could use some know-how on doing so sustainably, Project V might be just what you’re looking for. Piloted in 2023, Project V is a structured programme co-led by NVPC, NCSS, and the SG Cares Office, with EY Singapore as a knowledge partner, to encourage regular, meaningful corporate giving.
Additionally, the Flexi Volunteering programme coordinated by NVPC supports organisations offering service- and skills-based volunteering to non-profits who can commit to a fixed frequency of volunteering. Interested organisations may sign up on our web form.
NVPC’s Giving Circles benefiting families are also available to interested organisations and their staff.
Tips and lessons from Project V
On 28th March 2025, we proudly honoured 26 corporate-community partnerships that have made a lasting difference through…
Posted by National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre on Sunday, April 13, 2025
The Project V Appreciation Ceremony took place on 28 March 2025 as part of the Singapore Volunteer Management Conference 2025.
Project V’s first run saw over 1,900 employees from 14 organisations giving more than 6,100 hours of their time to benefit 17 Singapore social service agencies. The findings in the Project V Pilot 2023 report highlight what it really takes to do this well. Do have a read to learn more about the four key pillars for sustainable corporate volunteerism:
- Building a solid foundation to meet volunteering goals
- Identifying the right partner and volunteering programme
- Unleashing a dynamic volunteer force
- Elevating impact through evaluations
After a successful pilot, Project V returned in 2024, with 26 corporate-community partner pairs coming on board. Some companies deepened their involvement in volunteerism by expanding existing partnerships or taking on multiple ones.
A highlight of this second run was Learning Circles, through which staff volunteers exchanged real experiences and sharpened their strategies, learning what works: such as aligning partnerships to companies’ purpose, strategy, and values, to amplify internal and external communication channels to engage employees with staff volunteer stories, to call for volunteer participation through multiple channels, and rallying leadership support.
Learn more from the Project V 2024 report.
What companies participating in Project V can expect
Project V companies will get to make volunteering a regular, meaningful part of their corporate life through structured support and partnerships with community organisations. Staff gain shared learning experiences through peer exchanges and reflection sessions, while contributing to real needs on the ground.
Whether you’re new to volunteering or ready to scale up, Project V tailors volunteering models to your readiness level—drawing on insights from past corporate participants to embed giving in a practical, sustained, and community-first way.
Start a corporate volunteering programme in Singapore
Whether you’re aiming to boost employee engagement, foster a purpose-driven culture, or simply step up your company’s volunteering game, NVPC could be your next partner in supporting you in embedding giving into the workplace to build a more connected, committed team.
As Kristen Koh, Head, Impact and Development at NVPC, shares, “Corporate volunteering is one of the most impactful ways organisations can demonstrate their values. We’ve seen how initial conversations can grow into collaborations that drive real, long-term impact with the right commitment. It’s our hope that as we enable companies to expand their view of ‘giving’, more of them will show up for our communities.”
Explore how a collaboration with NVPC’s programmes can strengthen your team. Connect with us at [email protected] to learn more.
