How to Budget for ERGs

Employee resource groups (ERGs) can play a pivotal role in helping an organization successfully build relationships that support their employees'’ well-being and ultimately, the organization as well. But ERGs should not set-up to be free labor to help an organization do better. They need to receive financial support.

This post can serve as a resource to help an organization think through how much to set aside when planning for the upcoming year of ERGs. 

First things first, it’s sometimes hard to figure out the right way to compensate leaders for their role in leading an ERG. To start,think through how your organization currently rewards leadership roles.  Build this into the structure of the organization so that anyone who takes on a leadership role that is going to take time and energy is receiving compensation for supporting the organization in this way.

Three ways ERG leaders could be compensated:

1. Annual stipend 

2. Additional funds for professional development like conferences or classes that will support ERG advancement, covering the costs of registration and travel, etc. 

3. Non-monetary gifts (e.g., gift boxes, gift certificates, books, journals, supplies, etc.). Try to source these from the affinity groups that the ERG is supporting. (e.g., catering food from a Black-owned business for the Black ERG or buying gifts from minority-owned businesses).

The budget for each ERG:

Second think through the budget each ERG may need. What might an ERG need funding to support? Here’s a short starter list to get you started:  

• Supplies needed for meetings and workshops 

• Food for bringing the community together 

• Recruitment materials/swag specific to the group

• Community service opportunities 

• Outreach and retention event supplies 

• Speakers for identity-based programming 

• Professional development

Building in the practice of centering historically excluded voices in every aspect of professional development:

Third, remember ERG funding doesn’t always have to be a completely separate line item. Many organizations pull from multiple budget streams to fund this type of work. It could be a combination of human resources, business-specific units, and diversity/equity funds. Think about what is specific to the ERGs and what could be a good business practice for everyone. For  example, ensuring that everyone at the organization has access to a budget they can apply for professional development that is going to support the work they are doing within the organization , or help them move forward professionally. Consider how invited speakers and presenters could speak on a topic not related directly to their race, sexuality, or gender identity but could be both Latine and identify as LGBTQ and teach a course on giving/receiving feedback that could fall in Hispanic Heritage Month or LGBTQ History Month or any time of year that it works for your organization.  

It’s always important to consider the following what and how for invited speakers:

• What are some of the social identities they hold (do any align with historically or systematically excluded groups?); and

• How are they prepared to deliver materials that are culturally competent that meet the staff where they are at and work from an asset-based approach to learning (rather than deficit mindset!).

It may sound like I'm digressing from ERGs, but the truth is there is a lot of overlap between how ERGs are supported and how an organization overall supports the employees of a company. 

I hope this helps you think through what could be needed to fund ERGs in the coming year. Reach out if this sparks questions and rememberI created an entire toolkit that helps you think through these very pieces with more in-depth knowledge and provides many more resources and examples of different ways organizations budget for ERGs. Consider purchasing a copy of the Transformative ERG toolkit to support the work you are doing.