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 […]
Girls’ Education: Can the global business community rise to the challenge?
Thirty-two million girls across the world have never been to school. A much larger number are dropping out and/or leaving school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. There are numerous reasons why girls are missing out. Education is expensive – girls and their families simply may not be able to afford uniforms, textbooks and travel. […]
The key to inclusive business- Getting better at partnering
“Partnering with other sectors is a bit like being a parent. Until you’ve experienced it for yourself, you really can’t appreciate what it’s like” – head of education partnerships of a multinational bank. Inclusive business (IB) projects, by definition, tend to sit in areas outside of companies’ traditional comfort zones. Whether providing incomes to disadvantaged […]
Interview: Chantal Sheehan, President, iOnPoverty
What compelled you to start iOnPoverty? I didn’t actually start it – Jonathan Lewis did. (But I’ve been around virtually since day 1.) I immediately could see the genius in it when Jonathan first told me about the idea. He was searching for a way to fill the knowledge gap that college students have about […]
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 […]
The Business Case for Employee Volunteering – Case #2
Many companies have employee volunteer programs, but for many companies in Europe, Canada and the US these programs are underfunded, underdeveloped and underutilized. This blog series is meant to offer a number of compelling reasons why your business needs to invest (a bit more) in employee volunteering. Finding New Talent “Firms are also facing strong […]
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 […]
How To Get Your Employees To Stop Job Hunting
Studies show that engaged employees generate an average of between a quarter to a third more profitsfor their companies. Fantastic, right? But here’s the question: do you think that most of your employees are engaged? If you answered yes, chances are you’re dead wrong. According to one eye-opening study, fewer than a third of all […]
Kickstarting Youth Entrepreneurship: an answer to youth unemployment?
Youth unemployment is a global problem. A recent OECD report reveals that the average rate of youth unemployment in OECD countries is 16% while the troubled economies of Greece and Spain are struggling with youth jobless rates above 50 per cent. In Africa, an increasingly youthful population needs more opportunities to make a living, an […]
3 Ways For Non-Profits to Get the Most from Corporate Volunteer Programs
Sometimes they’re a true blessing. Other times, well, not so much. Hopefully your non-profit’s experience with corporate volunteer programs has been nothing but positive. The program was organized, the volunteer team was filled with eager and genuinely engaged employees, the team took their work seriously, stayed on task, accepted direction, and the day was a […]
Sharing Lessons on Inclusive Business – The Practitioner Hub
“Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes.” Peter Senge, Center for Organizational Learning, MIT Sloan School of Management Collaborating, […]
10 Employee Engagement Ideas for Skills Based Volunteering
Charities rely on charity, and most nonprofits will take whatever volunteer help they can get. But what if you’re a busy professional with more useful skills than dumping this week’s lasagna on plastic plates? Time to start looking at your job as the best way to give back. These days, many companies offer corporate volunteer […]
Satisfied Employees Vs. Engaged Employees
The news about the employee mood in this country appears, at first glance, to be positive. According to the 2011 Job Satisfaction and Engagement Research Report released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 83 percent of U.S. employees are satisfied employees, reporting overall satisfaction with their current jobs. “In general, people find ways […]
Employee Engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility for Generation Twitter
At a time when attention spans are shrinking against the exponential growth of new technology applications and digital tools, maintaining employee engagement is a hard-won commodity, and the notion of uniting employees for a collective activity or cause can seem daunting. With so much information available at any given moment, reaching employees might be easier […]
Corporate Volunteerism for Incurable Cynics
There’s one in every crowd and at least one at every workplace; the cynic. She might be highly motivated and intensely career minded, but your garden variety cynic tends to be skeptical of corporate volunteer programs. And yet with a bit of attention, cynics can be transformed into your most passionate volunteers. Don’t try winning […]
4 Ways To Use Pinterest To Encourage Corporate Volunteerism
This blog originally apeared in Mashable. Lets face it; it’s hard to look away from Pinterest. The hottest new social media site has become a go-to source for the latest shopping tips, design advice and funny dog pictures. Who wouldn’t want to sit there all day and stare? As Pinterest fans are discovering through the […]