Embracing the Promise of Technology for Social Progress
By Ryan Scott, Co-Founder, NetCreations As global leaders prepare to gather at the 46th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, I’ve been musing on the topic of their forthcoming discussion: Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The premise of this anointed age is that human progress is now fully oriented around science […]
Do Companies Have Obligation to Help Syrian Refugees?
“When we can’t afford both medicine and food, I tie scarves around my boys’ bellies at night so they don’t wake up crying from stomach aches because they are hungry.” —Fatmeh, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon The Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East is a daily heartbreak that eludes simple solutions. Thousands are dying […]
How Will You Celebrate National Volunteering Week?
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy’s inaugural words will never ring as true than during National Volunteer Week, which this year falls on April 21-27. First instituted in 1974 by President Nixon, National Volunteer Week is a time to celebrate […]
Your Volunteer Program Won’t Survive on Twigs and Berries
Most companies recognize that investing in employee engagement and development are vital to remaining competitive in a constantly evolving business world. When companies spend time and money improving the skills of their employees, they send a message to workers that they want to invest in their future. And in return, companies expect to see increases […]
Recycling Computers and Electronics Sustainably on Earth Day
As evolving technologies keep us hooked to new and updated gadgets, and Americans now own (according to the Environmental Protection Agency) an estimated three billion electronic products, one inconvenient question lurks constantly in the shadows: What are we supposed to do with all of our old gizmos? While responsible businesses and consumers want to recycle […]
Priceless: Volunteers Bring Financial Literacy to the Masses
To help combat this critical social gap, corporate philanthropy initiatives of all shapes and sizes have been created. Leading companies are working to empower people across the country (and world, in some instances) by putting their core financial literacy competencies to work. For example, PwC is mobilizing its most important asset — its 35,000 people […]
The Virtues of Virtual Volunteering and Online Fundraising
Your employees want to perform community service; they really, really do…but amidst their busy schedules they just can’t seem to find the time. So how about making volunteering easier than ever by offering virtual volunteer opportunities? It’s just one more tool that savvy companies are using to sharpen their employee volunteer programs, and by extension, […]
Professionalizing Pro Bono Volunteering
I’ll volunteer that I’m a big fan of the Taproot Foundation, an organization that’s been an instrumental player in the pro bono movement in 2001 and has been steering the way ever since (matter of fact, I’m a new board member of the organization). Through award-winning programs, groundbreaking thought leadership and partnerships with companies to […]
Waste Is Wanted: Feeding the Hungry Instead of Landfills
The need for proper nutrition is among the most primal. Yet in our own country, one in seven homes and one in five children in the United States are labeled as food At the same time, food waste is also epidemic. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States throws out 40 percent […]
Stepping Away From the Rat Race to Give Back… for a Year
Employee volunteer programsare one thing, but what about centering your entire enterprise around service? It might sound like a pipe dream, but San Francisco-based Fuse Corps is making it happen. Fuse Corps is dedicated to helping entrepreneurial professionals spend a year supporting governors, mayors and community leaders across the country to drive meaningful social change. […]
Crowding to a Cause
Crowdfunding is generally defined as an internet-based collective effort between people who pool money to help fund an activity or an entrepreneurial endeavor. Also called crowdsourcing, crowdfunding is used to underwrite a variety of activities, including new products, artistic efforts, political campaigns or scientific research, just to name a few. In return, if a product […]
Is Your Company Doubling Down on its Employee Volunteers?
No matter how much a company praises the corporate volunteering efforts of its employees, it can seem like so much hot air without making a commitment of its own. A photo-op or feature in a company newsletter is one thing, but with the growing importance and visibility of corporate social responsibilityefforts globally, smart companies are […]
Quid Pro Bono: Very Nice and the Business of Volunteering
All too often, corporate citizenship is an afterthought. Sure, Fortune 500 companies frequently offer employee volunteer programs and matching gifts, and contribute pro bono work on a massive scale. However, incorporating corporate social responsibility as a way of life rather than just treating it as an extracurricular activity is more often the exception rather than […]
The New Volunteering Legacy of September 11th
This past September 11th, representatives of MyGoodDeed rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks 11 years ago. The literal ringing in of the day by this nonprofit served as a clarion call for community service, putting the world on notice that September 11th […]
Businesses Backing Vets: Skills-Based Volunteering Helps Wounded Warriors
Part of Causecast’s Memorial Day series examining how Corporate America is finding innovative ways to help veterans through its employee engagement programs. This blog originally appeared in The Huffington Post. If you want to get your blood boiling, consider this: many of our country’s servicemen and women who have bravely fought for us in Iraq […]
When Volunteers Become Voluntold
This blog originally appeared in The Huffington Post. Corporate volunteer programs offer such a multitude of benefits that they sometimes seem beyond reproach. When these programs are executed well, employees get to participate in meaningful work outside of the office that is recognized and supported by their employers; companies earn the appreciation of their employees […]
The 3 C’s of Successful Non-Profit Relationships
Like any healthy coupling, the recipe to a happy, long term business relationship between a non-profit organization and its corporate volunteers and donorsis commitment, communication and compromise, with a large dose of appreciation sprinkled on top. As the Manager of Volunteer Services at Family Centers, Jennifer Flatow has discovered that applying these ingredients to her […]
5 Tips for Creating Corporate Volunteer Programs
Corporate volunteer programs provide excellent opportunities for businesses to create a positive corporate image, establish friendly relations among staff members and, most importantly, do something good for the community. In a corporate volunteer program, a company partners with a nonprofit organization, encouraging its staff to become advocates of a cause. The program can range from […]
Employee Retention and Corporate Volunteering: 5 Facts For Human Resources Professionals
For those searching for employee engagement ideas, corporate volunteering has become an extremely hot topic. The Volunteer IMPACT Survey that Deloitte released last year further validated what had been increasingly acknowledged amongst corporate social responsibilityexperts for some time; employees who participate in corporate volunteering are more strongly engaged with their companies…and more likely to stay […]
A Skills-Based Revolutionary: Taproot’s Aaron Hurst
A taproot is the core root of a plant that gathers nutrients from lateral roots and delivers them to the plant so it can flourish. Which makes it the perfect name for an organization that sees itself as a taproot for the nonprofit sector, drawing nutrients from the business community and delivering them to nonprofits […]