There’s a revolution underway in corporate America.

For decades, companies have prided themselves on giving back to their communities. Those charitable gifts often consist of cash, personnel or time — such as when firms organize volunteer days in underserved communities.

But increasingly, companies are getting creative — and donating their expertise.

This “skilled volunteering” enables companies to have a real impact on their communities while boosting employee morale and retention. It’s a powerful alternative to traditional charitable giving.

I’ve seen the potential of skilled volunteering firsthand. The Children’s Tumor Foundation, where I serve as president, recently partnered with American Airlines for a charity day project. More than 135 data analysts and engineers gathered for a one-day “hackathon-style” event to help us analyze and aggregate our donor data.

Modern airlines employ some of the most brilliant data scientists in the world, capable of coding algorithms that dynamically price tickets and predict consumer behavior to ensure flights are full. Airlines also use data to improve customer service — and increase the likelihood that people will fly with them again in the future.

American Airlines’ whizzes were able to analyze our raw data and turn it into usable, insightful information. We’re using their findings to craft targeted donor outreach strategies, which help us to raise more funds to advance research on neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves and cause major disabilities, cancer and chronic pain.

Such skilled volunteering obviously helps nonprofits, which get products and services that would otherwise be out of reach. But it also benefits the volunteers — and the companies that support them.

Americans are currently leaving their jobs at the quickest pace in decades — about 4 million are quitting each month. This ongoing “Great Resignation” is happening, at least in part, because many workers don’t feel they’re getting meaningful opportunities to make a difference at their current jobs.

Skilled volunteering gives workers those opportunities. Partnering with nonprofits boosts their morale — the American Airlines data analysts and engineers, for instance, got the satisfaction of helping fight against childhood cancer.

This isn’t mere conjecture or wishful projection. There’s plenty of evidence that volunteering makes employees happier — and that it also makes them better workers. According to a survey conducted by consulting giant Accenture, 89% of employees who participate in company-sponsored volunteering report increased job satisfaction, 87% felt greater pride in their firm and 76% believe they developed core work skills.

It’s a win-win relationship. By creating an outlet for employees’ altruistic desires, companies can better retain top talent. And by tapping into the talents of corporate America, nonprofits can advance their important work.

Many firms are already establishing these types of partnerships. “More than 50% of companies (are) now channeling the talents of their employees to nonprofit organizations,” according to an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. IBM, for example, pairs employees with public and nonprofit organizations to work on a range of initiatives — from improving disaster preparedness in North Carolina to expanding health care access to women in remote areas of Peru.

Companies that want to strike up these skilled volunteering partnerships don’t necessarily have to start from scratch. Engineers Without Borders, for instance, is a great resource for companies looking to give their employees a chance to design infrastructure solutions for communities in the developing world.

Skilled volunteering can tackle all sorts of societal challenges. That’s why it should extend across corporate America — including in the pharmaceutical sector.

Imagine, for instance, the good press that pharmaceutical companies could garner from partnering with research nonprofits and donating their scientists’ time and know-how — or, even better, giving research nonprofits access to the compounds and discoveries they have shelved for one reason or another.

There will always be a need for generous companies to write a check or organize a community cleanup. But skilled volunteering increasingly allows firms to have a far greater impact on the world while investing in their own company at the same time.

In our knowledge-based economy, being able to tap into corporate America’s brainpower is no doubt a gift.

Annette Bakker is president of the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

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