In 2000, Robert Putnam published "Bowling Alone," a book that documented something most Americans could feel but hadn't named: we stopped connecting with each other.
The title comes from a simple observation. More Americans were bowling than ever before — but bowling leagues had collapsed. People were still doing activities. They were just doing them alone.
Putnam showed that this wasn't just about bowling. Civic participation had cratered. Church attendance, PTA involvement, community volunteering, club memberships — all declining for decades. Americans had fewer close friends, less trust in their neighbors, and weaker connections to their communities.
Twenty-six years later, the problem is worse. Remote work, social media, and the pandemic accelerated every trend Putnam warned about.
What does this have to do with your employees?
Disconnected employees are expensive
Putnam introduced the concept of "social capital" — the value created by relationships, trust, and community networks. His research showed that less social capital leads to:
- Lower happiness and wellbeing
- Worse physical and mental health
- Less trust between people
- Weaker civic engagement
Translate that to the workplace:
- Employees with no work friends are 7x more likely to disengage (Gallup)
- Lonely employees take twice as many sick days (Cigna)
- Teams with strong social connections are 25% more productive (MIT)
- Employees who feel connected to their community are more likely to stay at their current employer
Your turnover problem might not be about compensation, career paths, or workload. It might be about connection — or the lack of it.
The workplace used to provide community
Think about what a job used to mean:
- You worked in the same building as your colleagues. You ate lunch together.
- The company softball league was a real thing. So was the holiday party.
- You knew your coworkers' families. You went to their kids' birthday parties.
- The local business was part of the local community. The owner knew your name.
Remote work, distributed teams, and the gig economy changed all of that. Many employees' only connection to their workplace is a Zoom camera they sometimes turn off.
This isn't a criticism of remote work — it's an observation about what we lost. And employee benefits haven't adapted to address it.
Rebuilding the bowling league
Putnam's thesis wasn't that people stopped wanting connection. They stopped having structures that made connection easy. Bowling leagues, Rotary clubs, church groups — these were frameworks that brought people together around shared activities with low friction.
What if an employer could provide that framework?
Not forced fun. Not mandatory team building. Not another pizza party.
Real, voluntary community — clubs people actually want to join, built around interests they already have.
That's what we built with ShopGiv Community Clubs.
An employee opens the ShopGiv app and sees:
- "Colorado Springs Hiking Club" — meets Saturday mornings, 12 members
- "Downtown Book Club" — meets at Pikes Peak Roasting Co, biweekly
- "Your company's Walking Group" — lunchtime walk, started by a coworker
They tap "Join." They show up Saturday. They meet people from their company and from other companies in their city. They're no longer bowling alone.
Why clubs in a wellness platform?
Because social connection IS wellness.
Tom Rath's research on the five elements of wellbeing identifies "Social Wellbeing" as one of the five essential elements — alongside career, financial, physical, and community. You can't be well without connection.
When an employee joins a hiking club through ShopGiv:
- Their Physical Wellbeing improves (they're exercising)
- Their Social Wellbeing improves (they made new friends)
- Their Community Wellbeing improves (they're part of something)
- Their Mental Wellness improves (social connection reduces stress and anxiety)
- Their Financial Wellbeing isn't affected — because the hiking club is free
One activity, four elements improved. No EAP does this.
The donation flywheel
Here's where it gets interesting for the ShopGiv model.
The hiking club decides to grab coffee after their Saturday hike. They go to Pikes Peak Roasting Co — a ShopGiv vendor that donates 5% of every purchase to charity.
Twelve hikers buy coffee. $60 in purchases. $3 in donations — directed to charities the hikers chose individually.
That's $156/year in donations from one club meeting at one vendor once a week. Multiply by 50 clubs across a city and you have a meaningful charitable impact — generated entirely by people doing activities they were going to do anyway.
The employer didn't fund this. The employees didn't pay extra. The vendor didn't lose money (they gained 12 regular customers). The nonprofits received donations they wouldn't have gotten.
Everyone wins. And the community gets a little more connected.
What this means for your company
If you're an employer wondering why your engagement scores are flat, why your culture feels thin, or why employees seem disconnected — consider that the problem might not be inside your walls.
Your employees might be bowling alone.
The solution isn't another team-building exercise. It's giving them a low-friction way to connect — with each other and with their community — around things they actually enjoy.
Community Clubs. Wellness partners. Charitable giving through everyday shopping. A coaching relationship that remembers their life and supports all five elements of their wellbeing.
That's what ShopGiv Wellbeing is. The anti-Bowling Alone platform.
[Learn more: shopgiv.com/employee-benefits →]
Dan Adam started ShopGiv because he believed everyday shopping could rebuild community connection — one transaction, one donation, one relationship at a time. Community Clubs is the latest evolution of that vision: giving people a reason to show up, together.