Posts Tagged ‘CSR’

Twelve Tips for Planning an Employee Volunteer Event

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Employee volunteer programs are starting to become important parts of companies’ business plans instead of just an afterthought in corporate planning.

Starting an employee volunteer program shouldn’t happen on whim. While it may seem easy enough to get a group of employees together for a volunteer event, some planning needs to go into your employee volunteer program or it won’t be as successful as it could be.

Try building a relationship with a local nonprofit and partner with them on planning your employee volunteer events. Work together with them to plan volunteer events where employees can have fun and can see that they’ve had an impact.

Make sure that resources are in place to support an employee volunteer program. Having a staff member whose responsibility it is to work with a nonprofit partner to ensure successful volunteer events is essential to the program’s acceptance and growth.

Here are a few more things to keep in mind when planning an employee volunteer event.

Planning

  • Verify all of the logistical information before sharing the information
  • Be sure to choose a task that doesn’t require any special skills, or plan time to train the employees before the event
  • Communicating with the partner agency is essential to a successful and enjoyable event

Project Design

  • Work with organizations that have projects where employees and their families can see and experience the impact of their work
  • Make sure the project meets a real community need and is seen as a benefit to the community
  • Don’t simply have the employees and their families do a task, turn the project into a learning experience

Management

  • Provide an orientation to the families prior to the project
  • Provide opportunities for the families to interact with one another
  • Explain to your volunteers the mission and goals for the organization and what is hoped to be accomplished as a result of the project

Risk Management

  • Assess the project site before the event for safety
  • Identify any equipment or areas of the project site that may be unsafe or a liability concern
  • Inform family members that they must report any accident or injury and to whom they should report

 

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7 Basic Steps to Create a Corporate Volunteer Council (CVC)

Monday, November 8th, 2010

1.  Obtain Leadership and Form a Planning Task Force.

Regardless of who takes the initiative (a Volunteer Center, another nonprofit organization or a business), the first step or idea for forming may come from a couple or a group of people who decided that they want to pool their efforts when responding to a specific community need.

2.  Identify Goals and Strategies.

The magic ingredient for success is to identify goals and strategies and integrate the desired benefits of all (business, employee, and community) into the CVC’s strategic plan, thus creating a win-win-win.

3.  Develop the Structure.

The structure of a CVC depends on how the council itself defines its overall mission, purpose and objectives. Much like its purpose, the structure is dependent upon the local community and the composition of the council’s membership.

4.  Develop the Programs.

Ask yourself, what types of programs and services should the CVC sponsor (ongoing, one-time, joint etc)? Should the CVC focus on one or several issues throughout the year? Should the CVC provide professional development opportunities to its members?

5.  Develop Partnerships with Community Organizations.

Community organizations know the community’s needs and have specific skills or experience in helping to organize others. The selection of the council’s nonprofit partners should be based largely on the mission and purpose of the CVC.

6.  Develop an Evaluation System.

The most important thing when planning for the evaluation process is to do it! Plan for the processes to be in place during the first stages of development, decide when and how it should be done and who will administer the evaluations process. Lastly, report the findings and use the data throughout the planning cycle.

7.  Join the CVC Network!

For more information or for assistance in developing and strengthening a Corporate Volunteer Council, contact the CVC Manager at .

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Get HandsOn Tag Challenge Update!

Yesterday’s Get HandsOn Tag Master was Dana Friedman!  Dana has won a pair of round trip tickets on JetBlue, $25 for herself, and $100 for his favorite charity!

Today’s Celebrity Tag is Sir Elton John!  Tag Elton for swag!

Sir Elton John

Are YOU up to the challenge?

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Posted in Equip, Mobilize, Service, Tools You Can Use, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

C&S Wholesale Grocers Makes A Difference

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

Gina Goff, C&S Wholesale GroceryToday’s post about a Make A Difference Day project comes from , Director of Community Involvement – C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.

With so many pressing needs in our communities, can one day of volunteering really make a difference? You bet it can. And C&S volunteers are living proof. Each year, hundreds of our employees take action on “Make a Difference Day.” They pack groceries at food banks, clean up parks, paint recreation centers, stock shelves at a community kitchen, and more. And at the end of the day, the world is a just a little better.

C&S Wholesale Grocery Volunteers in Hawaii, 2010I’ve rolled up my sleeves alongside my colleagues on Make A Difference Day since 2003 and have seen the connections and have felt the celebration that happens when neighbors help neighbors.  Some of our projects have been small, some of them have been transformative.  All of them have brought us closer as a team, and given us the sense of accomplishment that comes when a group of people lend a hand together and get things done.  Our projects have involved sweat, concentration, laughter and purpose.

This year we tackled 19 different projects at community-based organizations where we do business.  To name a few of the organizations we partnered with:  Habitat for Humanity in New York, a homeless shelter in Hawaii, a children’s hospital in Alabama, food banks in Maryland, Pennsylvania and California, and a Ronald McDonald House in South Carolina.

C&S Newburgh, NY and Habitat for HumanityAnother wonderful aspect of our participation in Make A Difference Day is that our company covers the cost of all supplies needed to accomplish projects….it wouldn’t be right if the nonprofit groups were impacted financially, now would it?  So we reimburse for items like paint and rollers, bushes and flowers, lumber or whatever was needed to make the project happen.

While it means a lot to me to give back on this special day of service I know we are also having a business impact.  Our volunteerism initiatives like Make A Difference Day and Dollars for Doers offer the following business benefits:

  • Create healthier communities
  • Attract talented employees to C&S
  • Strengthen relationships with regulatory officials
  • Improve employee morale and satisfaction level
  • Enhance pubic image of C&S
  • Provide training and teamwork opportunities for employees
  • Align with C&S brand and values
  • Establish community networks

C&S Grocery, Maudlin, South Carolina Make A Difference DayWe all have talents, skills and time to give. I believe we have the opportunity to make a difference by volunteering and getting involved whether in groups, as families or as individuals.  Let’s keep the momentum going to make a difference, to serve, and to be hands on!

Gina Goff has the wonderful job of creating the vision, strategic direction and alignment of community involvement initiatives across C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest wholesale food distributor in the United States. She leads pro-active philanthropic investments including financial, in-kind and service-based in four core focus areas: HUNGER, Children & Community, Environment, and Volunteerism-Civic Action.

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Posted in Volunteering, Volunteerism | 2 Comments »

Change Notes: HandsOn Network and Education Nation

Friday, October 1st, 2010

"Volunteer"

Friends,

With education at the forefront of NBC News programming this week and online at  www.educationnation.com, and with the release of Waiting for Superman, a documentary that follows a handful of promising kids through the education system, millions of individuals are asking themselves, what is their role in supporting reform and change in our public schools?

During the education plenary at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in June, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, paraphrasing Horace Mann from a century ago,

“Education is the great equalizer, no matter your race, creed, or zip code.”  He added, “Education is not just a pathway to success; it is a prerequisite to success.”

Here at Points of Light Institute, our HandsOn Network affiliates are creating innovative in-school and after-school programming for volunteers. We are partnering with companies to help them mobilize their talent and assets to create educational change, and our newest enterprise, generationOn, is infusing service learning into the schools and inspiring young people to make their mark in the world.

I would like to highlight just a few examples that demonstrate the power of citizens making a difference in powerful ways to create stronger schools and successful students.

HandsOn Network

HandsOn Atlanta is partnering with the public school “Success for All” program, sending AmeriCorps members to tutor elementary students in reading and math, and to help high school students with  college readiness, both during and after school.  Since 1994, more than 1,600 AmeriCorps members and volunteers have directly served more than 115,000 students in school-focused programs in Atlanta.

An innovative program at our affiliate, New York Cares, pairs volunteers and students ages 5-12 to read and write together on weekday evenings. The goal is to encourage a love of reading outside of school. In another NY Cares program, volunteers work with tweens and teens who develop personal memoirs and other writing, which is published at the end of the semester.

The story of Tonya Ingram exemplifies the power of such programs. For the first 12 years of her life, Tonya rarely left her apartment in a violent neighborhood. When she was 12, a neighbor told her about the Read to Me program at NY Cares, where volunteers take kids to the library to read. She joined them. That program was Tonya’s gateway to the world, not just to reading, but also eventually to museums and parks, with volunteers by her side. Today, Tonya is a freshman at New York University, and a volunteer herself with NY Cares.

generationOn and Hasbro

generationOn, our newest division which officially launches on Make a Difference Day, October 23, will be a powerful resource for children and their families. It will provide service learning tools, curricula, and programs to enable young people to make their mark using their energy, creativity, and compassion.  The Hasbro Children’s Fund has generously made a large financial commitment to allow generationOn to realize its potential, including creating an upcoming interactive and innovative website for kids, teachers, nonprofits and communities.

Key initiatives include:

- A national youth leadership program– Hasbro Community Action Heroes.

- An expanded Kids Care Club model that will allow kids to participate in service around the globe.

- Significant support for the nonprofit and education field to ensure that all youth have the opportunity to discover their potential through service.

Corporate Partners Making a Difference in Education

American Express

In conjunction with NBC Universal’s weeklong series “Education Nation,” American Express has announced the week-long Action for Education Challenge, inviting the public to make a pledge to take action to help local schools. In addition, HandsOn Network will partner with American Express to engage 2,000 volunteers across five cities to help improve the quality of classroom education. Those cities are New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tampa, and Cleveland.

From now through October 1, Members Project® from American Express and TakePart are encouraging people to help improve education within their communities by making a pledge to take action — from volunteering at a local library to donating supplies to a local school and more. If 100,000 people make the pledge, American Express will donate $1 million to DonorsChoose.org, an organization that empowers people to help students in need. American Express will donate $10 per pledge if the challenge does not receive the full 100,000 pledges. Pledges can be made online at MembersProject.com/Pledge.

Fidelity

HandsOn Network and Fidelity Investments have partnered to revitalize the learning environments in 11 middle schools across the nation. In locations ranging from Nashua, NH, to Albuquerque, NM, Fidelity employees have worked with HandsOn affiliates and partners on local Transformation Days, executing projects chosen with each school’s teachers, students, parents, and community.

Projects have ranged from launching Career and College Resource Centers, to building outdoor science classrooms and labs.  Beyond this one day, Fidelity employees will act as mentors throughout the school year and bring tangible resources into the school, such as new and gently used books.

This effort will be Fidelity’s largest employee volunteer project and will total more than 30,000 hours of community service donated by 3,000 of its employees.

Education as the Gateway to Civic Engagement

Education is key to a vibrant economy, personal and individual fulfillment, and our civic health. The recently released report on the civic health of America, from the National Conference on Citizenship and the Corporation for National & Community Service, found that the higher the level of people’s education, the more likely they are to participate in civic activities, such as voting, volunteering, and working with their neighbors to fix a community problem.

Just as it takes an entire village to raise a child, it will take corporations, individuals, and nonprofits partnering in innovative ways to create an education system where every child has access to a quality education, the ultimate goal of school reform.  As part of that effort, HandsOn Network, generationOn, and our corporate partners are supporting meaningful projects to assure student success and, in the process, creating engaged citizens for the future.

In Service,


Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

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Posted in Change Notes, Education, Impact, Michelle Nunn, News & Links, Service, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

Change Points: Fidelity Investments and HandsOn Network Team Up to Transform Schools

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Friends,

As some of you may know, HandsOn Network and Fidelity Investments are partnering in an amazing effort that is revitalizing the learning environments in 11 middle schools across the nation. In locations ranging from Nashua, NH, to Albuquerque, NM, Fidelity employees are working with HandsOn action centers and partners on local Transformation Days, executing projects chosen with each school’s teachers, students, parents, and community.

This is Fidelity’s largest employee volunteer effort and will total more than 30,000 hours of community service donated by 3,000 of its employees.

This past Saturday, Senator Orrin Hatch lent a hand to Fidelity employees and our affiliate The Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City. At Bryant Middle School, volunteers including Fidelity employees, students, parents and teachers created a new college-themed classroom with computers, printers, and desks, renovated a greenhouse area, and restored the school soccer field.

The senator’s presence had particular resonance, since he and the late Senator Ted Kennedy were instrumental in passing the bipartisan Serve America Act last year. The Act is the greatest expansion of national service in many decades.  Last year Points of Light Institute honored both senators with the Points of Light Lifetime of Leadership Award for Volunteerism and Service, recognizing their commitment and leadership in creating civic change through service.   “Seeing individuals like you, working hard in the community…is what we thought  would happen when we passed the Serve America Act,” said Senator Hatch to the volunteers.

“Together, we will continue to inspire many others to volunteer in their community.”

Yours in service,

Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute

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Posted in Change Notes, Michelle Nunn, News & Links | 2 Comments »

2010 Corporate Engagement Awards of Excellence

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

by Neil Mallon Bush, Chairman, Points of Light Institute Board of Directors

We are at a critical moment of need and opportunity for service in our communities.

While the economy has started to grow again, the downturn has caused hardship for millions of Americans.

Yet in these tough times, the momentum for service has never been stronger.

Volunteering is on the rise and organizations and corporations are redefining service and embracing social responsibility.

Given our economic climate, the Points of Light Institute is very excited to honor companies that represent best-in-class employee volunteer and engagement programs, who are redefining service and embracing social responsibility.

Since its inception in 1993, the Points of Light Corporate Engagement Award of Excellence has been recognized as one of the most prestigious awards programs honoring outstanding employee volunteer programs.

More than 60 companies have been honored for their overall employee volunteer efforts.

I’d like to share a bit about this year’s Corporate Engagement Award of Excellence honorees.

AT&T

AT&T’s commitment to volunteerism dates back over 100 years to Alexander Graham Bell.

Bell was the first member of the Telephone Pioneers of America, which was formed to give employees a way to unite and support the community.

Since then, the AT&T Pioneers has grown into one of the largest industry-sponsored volunteer organizations, with nearly 325,000 members.

Last year, the company launched “AT&T Cares” – a company-wide volunteer initiative designed to encourage employees to engage in community service that is meaningful to them and their communities.

In 2009, AT&T Pioneers and employees donated more than 8.5 million hours to community outreach activities – worth over $176 million.

Campbell’s Soup

Campbell’s Soup has a long-standing commitment communities in which they live and work.

They are committed to nourishing neighbors by providing volunteers to nonprofit organizations and leveraging the unique skills of employees through the Nourishing Our Neighbors program.

Campbell’s strives to couple skills-based volunteering, financial contributions and in-kind giving to provide well-rounded support and impact with local nonprofit organizations and residents of these communities.

In the year since the launch of the Nourishing Our Neighbors initiative, U.S. employees logged more than 18,000 volunteer hours, benefiting over 200 organizations.

Dollars for Doers grants quadrupled since the change was implemented.

Participation in the company’s annual week of service, Make a Difference Week, increased 40% in 2009.

Intel

Intel strives to operate with uncompromising integrity and believes that their business success depends on their continuing ability to be a trusted, responsible, open and engaged corporate citizen. Intel employees engage with communities through the Intel Involved volunteer program and community leadership activities.

The “Intel Involved” program encourages employees to share their expertise and enthusiasm with communities through volunteerism and Intel employees spend thousands of hours mentoring young people, providing technical expertise, serving on task forces, and participating in community service projects.

Through the company’s skills-based volunteering initiative, employees apply their specialized skills in law, marketing, IT and lean manufacturing practices to benefit schools and non-profit organizations.

The Intel Education Service Corps program sends small teams of high-performing employees to developing countries to collaborate with a NGO to deploy the Intel®-powered classmate PCs.  To date, this program has reached more than 15,000 students in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Egypt, India, Kenya, and Vietnam.

Old National Bank

From humble beginnings,  Old National Bank has grown to its current position with more than 160 banking centers and 2,800 associates.

Despite their growth, they have never wavered from their original focus on community.

Old National Bank’s commitment begins with President & CEO Bob Jones and the Old National leadership team, who empower associates to donate up to two paid volunteer hours a month through the company’s “ONe Community” program.

Last year, Old National associates donated nearly 80,000 total hours in support of more than 2,000 organizations. Associate volunteers are recognized for their efforts on the company Intranet site, and those with 25 hours or more of service each year join the “Volunteer Honor Roll” in Old National’s annual Community Investment Report.

In addition, a ONe Community Team Award is given each quarter to the associate team that best exemplifies the meaning of community care and involvement. Quarterly winners receive a $500 donation to the non-profit organization of their team’s choice, and an overall annual team award winner receives a $1,000 donation.

I hope you’ll join me in congratulating all of our Corporate Engagement Award of Excellence honorees.

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Posted in Inspire, News & Links, Service, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Recognition, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 4 Comments »

U.S. Corporations Learn Charity is Good Business

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Originally written by Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute, as an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and republished here with their permission.

Most of the last year’s business headlines have featured financial bailouts, ethical lapses, Ponzi schemes, executive bonuses and a general erosion of confidence in corporate America.
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Yet at the same time, corporations have shown extraordinary innovation in how they are leveraging their unique assets to generate positive change in communities.

Increasingly, corporations are seeing not only the philanthropic value of giving back, but also the business value of integrating their community investment into their business practices.

A new generation of employees is demanding that their workplaces include meaningful programs that allow them to contribute their skills and passions to nonprofits.

Businesses are competing to attract these talented newcomers to the work force by offering employees meaningful ways to use their skills and talents for social good —at the beginning, middle and end of their careers.

Last year, HandsOn New Orleans and PricewaterhouseCoopers brought 150 college students, partners and high-performing staff to volunteer, side by side, in rebuilding projects in New Orleans. The PwC offered this to high prospect recruits as both an incentive and a way to orient potential new employees to their organizational culture. Through the project work, the PwC staff learned a lot about how these students might succeed as employees, and the recruits learned about the company, its values and the transformative experience of service.

Hewlett-Packard, through a pilot program by Civic Ventures, is exploring how to create a scalable process to transition experienced employees into nonprofits that could use their expertise and enthusiasm.

In this program, retired or soon-to-be retired corporate employees are recruited to do “social purpose internships” with top-notch nonprofits in need of marketing, financial, management, technical and other skills.

Hewlett-Packard finds that the internships create greater retiree participation in the company’s philanthropic causes and community programs.

In turn, the healthier the community becomes, the healthier the company will be.

We also know that consumers are more likely to support businesses that they believe are socially responsible. And corporations are increasingly invested in tackling such community and national challenges as the high school dropout rate and environmental degradation.

They know that these issues, if unresolved, will affect their own capacity and success over time. Corporations are going beyond financial contributions and are using their unique and core assets to make a difference.

We are now seeing corporations develop new initiatives that involve their customers in volunteer and philanthropic mobilization that can create new scale and impact.

On Jan. 1, Disney and HandsOn Network launched “Give A Day. Get A Day.” The premise was simple: An individual completing an eligible volunteer project received free, one-day admission to a Disney theme park in Florida or California. HandsOn Network, the largest volunteer network in the U.S., provided the opportunities and the verification of participation.

There was no precedent for this partnership, and nobody had any idea what the response would be.

Within less than 12 weeks,
1 million people had completed or committed to a service project. Many of the program’s volunteers were serving for the first time. They flooded nonprofits like HandsOn Jacksonville, which engaged twice the number of volunteers in the first three months of the year than in the entire previous year.

Another example of a corporation using its unique assets to extend its philanthropic and customer reach was the Starbucks’ “I’m In” campaign, which offered customers a free, tall, brewed coffee drink if they pledged at least five hours of volunteer time. It raised 1.2 million committed hours in less than five days.

EBay has partnered with Points of Light’s MissionFish to enable its customers to contribute a part or all of their purchase or sale to charities. Since 2003, this effort has generated $167 million for 22,000 nonprofits.

The level of trust in corporate America is at an all-time low. According to a 2009 poll by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, a majority of Americans gives corporate America a D or F for honesty and ethical conduct.

Yet businesses play a vital role, and, as these few examples demonstrate, they can play an increasingly important role in community problem solving.

Powerful change is possible when corporate America engages its skills, creative thinking and customer relationships, and finds nonprofit partners with shared goals and synergy.

At a time of economic dislocation and declining trust in many of our institutions, there are hopeful signs of creative new alignments, higher yield and possibilities for impact.

Let’s hope that the headlines increasingly tell us the story of how businesses are realigning to a new set of expectations from their customers, employees, and creating a double bottom line of business and social good.

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Posted in Michelle Nunn, News & Links, Service, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »