KPMG ties Community Impact Day to AI learning and nonprofit support

KPMG used its fifth annual Community Impact Day to do more than stage a volunteer push. The firm tied the May 12 event to AI learning, literacy work and colleague connection, signaling that it sees community service as part of the employee experience, not a side project.

The company said partners and employees across the U.S. volunteered nationwide, with seven learning sessions for more than 40 nonprofits in New York, Dallas, Atlanta, Denver, Washington, D.C., Boston and Los Angeles. KPMG also said it convened AI-forward nonprofits with Salesforce for a strategic discussion on how to move their AI work forward. For people inside a firm where promotion cycles, utilization and busy season already shape the calendar, the pitch is clear: volunteer time should also help build skills and professional relationships.

That logic runs through KPMG’s AI Impact Initiative, which launched June 10, 2024. The initiative’s first major grant was a $500,000 KPMG U.S. Foundation donation to First Book, and in September 2025 the foundation said it would award $6 million in grants to nonprofits to integrate AI into operations. On Community Impact Day, KPMG said its AI work included a free, hands-on bootcamp for Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago run with the Mark Cuban Foundation, aimed at teaching high school students basics such as prompting and introducing future work opportunities.

KPMG also pushed the effort inward. The firm said it deployed an internal AI-prompted app to help employees find causes, locate volunteer opportunities and connect with colleagues who share similar interests. That matters in a workforce where KPMG’s own 2024 Friends at Work survey found 81% of professionals considered work friends highly important, 78% said those friendships provide positive mental health benefits and 79% said they have at least one work friend. In other words, the company is trying to make volunteering double as a retention and morale tool.

The literacy side of the day underscored how long KPMG has been trying to turn philanthropy into a durable culture marker. KPMG said it and First Book have worked together for nearly 20 years and have delivered nearly 8 million books and resources. The firm said employees now have 93 KFFL events across 63 offices, while earlier literacy efforts included a 2018 campaign marking KFFL’s 10th anniversary and aiming to distribute more than 100,000 books. First Book says the partnership has delivered more than 3 million books to children in need.

KPMG said national volunteerism has rebounded since the pandemic, but now requires more creative ways to tap passions and build lasting connection. The firm’s latest effort suggests it sees AI upskilling, nonprofit support and workplace bonding as one package. For employees, the question is whether that package translates into real development and stronger ties, or mainly a polished story about culture.