This story was submitted by Spaulding Ridge. 

At Spaulding Ridge, giving back is in our DNA. We volunteer our time, expertise, and resources to benefit communities where we work and support partner organizations that are making the world a better place. Through community service events across the globe, our employees create impactful and meaningful change in their communities. We’re incredibly proud to say our employees have volunteered over 3,000 hours year-to-date, and we hope to continue this trend as we wrap up the year. Every member of the Spaulding Ridge band contributes in their own way—but one member of our team, Ember Parr, went above and beyond. Here’s her story:

Innov8 Africa

Innov8 Africa is a non-profit organization that partners with schools and communities in Kenya. The organization ensures communities have access to eight modules: clean water, food security, reforestation, beekeeping, poultry farming, livestock banking, solar power, and computer technology. The organization’s founders, Lisa Palet and Ernie Williams, are family friends of mine, and earlier this year, my son Aiden, other family members, and I flew to Narok County in Kenya to volunteer. We worked with teachers, local leaders, and the Innov8 Africa team at local schools and neighboring communities. In partnership with Innov8 Africa and other community partners, we helped provide millions of liters of clean water, educational opportunities, and much more.

Oloisiyio Arid Zone Primary School

The group’s first school visit was with the students at Oloisiyio School in Narok County, one of the first schools to get sponsorship from Innov8 Africa. Since the sponsorship began, the school has seen profound improvements; the implementation of reliable food & water sources and the installation of computer labs gave the school access to all eight modules. Students acquired access to everything they needed to thrive, and Oloisiyio is now one of only three schools in Narok with a functional computer lab!
  
Oloamiana Primary School

Next, our group visited Oloamiana Primary, where students and staff were preparing a celebration before a three-month break from school. The students taught us about their own cooking techniques, including how to make a type of flatbread popular in Kenya called Chapati, and we taught the kids how Americans make mashed potatoes! In preparation for our visit, the children made chef’s hats to wear! As the day went on, students even taught us some of the traditional Maasai dances, though none of us were very good!

Oloamiana was struggling to capture water from a nearby well, resulting in diminished crop production. During our visit, the Innov8 Africa team was able to provide a new water tank which will give the students and staff necessary food security for the coming years. 
  
Beekeeping with the Maasai Women

On our next adventure, we spent a full day with a group of women who run a co-op beekeeping operation. Innov8 Africa empowers these women to purchase beehives and provide educational resources on different beekeeping practices. Through this operation, the women can earn money to support their communities.

During the day, we spent time with the women, getting to know them on a personal level and understanding their way of life. I learned about the 32-mile round trip these women make each week to visit the market, sell honey, and buy necessities. In the evening, they taught us how to make a traditional Maasai dinner in their homes and shared a meal with us. When the sun set, the bees became docile enough to collect honey.

Women’s Issues and Providing Educational Resources

During one of our dinners in Narok, we had the opportunity to meet with Anne Mootian. Anne is a women’s advocate in Kenya and has traveled internationally spreading awareness of the issues women face. The group and I had an informative and meaningful conversation with Anne, and I was especially grateful to have my son there to learn about the positive work being done for women.

Education leaders in Narok take time with female students to educate them on safe practices and offer resources to aid in their success as young leaders. Learning the importance of female empowerment in Narok was an experience I’ll take with me in everything I do.

My Takeaway

My time with Innov8 Africa and the communities they support was life changing. Despite the issues they face daily, the people I met were eager to improve their communities and provide their children with more resources. Experiencing the trip with my son, I thought about how lucky we both were that I could give him food, water, and an education—and how grateful I was Innov8 Africa is there for the communities who need it.

This story was submitted by SalesCraft. 

This year, we committed to the 1% Pledge Program, galvanizing our efforts to combat climate change and promote safe environmental practices at the grassroots level. The prospect of making a meaningful impact as an individual can seem daunting, yet at SalesCraft, our Salesforce consultancy based in New York, we are dedicated to finding ways to collectively forge a more sustainable future.

Our initiatives range from exclusive use of biodegradable and recyclable materials to company-wide volunteer programs. Our recent engagement with the Billion Oyster Project was particularly inspiring, with their dedication to revitalizing the health of New York Harbor. We are captivated by their mission “to restore the harbor to its former status as an ecological gem” and are committed to contributing to a cleaner New York.

This story was submitted by Phin. 

The vision for Phin has remained unchanged since we founded the company in 2019: to be an exponential force for good and compassion. Full stop. 

If we unpack that vision, the one word that stands out is ‘exponential.’ How do we achieve a far greater impact with the resources we can deploy to solve the world’s unending challenges?

In short, we believe in the power of business. Creating a values-based company culture built on a foundation of trust isn’t just aspirational, it’s good business. Phin helps companies understand their purpose beyond profit and multiply their impact, every day. By delivering real business value to company leaders, we incentivize investment in philanthropy. In short, we exponentially generate donations for charitable organizations, where none existed before.

So why are we excited by simple punctuation?  

Because we just added a comma to our total donations generated through Phin…$1,000,000!

In fact, the total as of today is over $1,250,000 with two commas instead of one, a highly exponential piece of punctuation.

There are a few reasons why this is such a major milestone.

First, let’s be honest, it’s just a darn fine looking number.

Secondly, It took us three years to go from zero to $10,000 to $500,000. Then just one year to double it to over $1,000,000 dollars. That’s a lovely curve on a chart.

The main reason it is so gratifying is the good work we have done!

It is the equivalent of 1,000,000 million trees through One Tree Planted or 2,000,000 meals through Island Harvest. 

It’s the equivalent of 77,000 people being provided with drinkable water through Saha Global.

It’s 50 companies funding donations to 330 charities, each charity receiving on average a total of $3,500.

It’s 15,000 empowered employees and customers, donating company philanthropic funds 23,000 times with an average of $50 per donation.

For this, we thank the team at Phin and the company leaders, our customers, who said ‘yes’ and funded this remarkable, collective impact. Of course, the reason these funds have this impact is the wonderful charities that have both the vision and determination to effect genuine change in the world.

With the depth of the Phin community, we are now on our way. And we better be, we have a few more commas to add to that beautiful number representing so much impact, $100,000,000.

This story was submitted by SPZ Legal.

SPZ Legal is a boutique law firm that provides outside general counsel legal services to startup companies and venture capital funds. For the past few years, SPZ has served as the supervising law firm to the University of California Berkeley’s Startup Law Initiative (SLI) where attorneys and students work together to complete the incorporation process and certain post-incorporation legal tasks for underrepresented startup founders on a pro bono basis.

In 2023, SPZ dedicated 2.0% of its collective attorney time towards supporting the SLI program. The legal landscape for startups can be a daunting terrain, especially for those who may face additional barriers due to their backgrounds. SPZ aims to level the playing field, ensuring that aspiring entrepreneurs from diverse communities have equal access to the legal resources necessary for establishing their businesses. The program includes the following features:

• Legal training and experiential learning for approximately 20 participating students in the SLI clinic every fall and spring semester


• Incorporation as a Delaware corporation for solo and co-founded startups led by women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and veteran owned founders


• Post-incorporation support with services agreements


• Virtual workshop led by the student teams in which they present on common legal issues for early stage businesses

This philanthropic endeavor goes beyond traditional corporate social responsibility, demonstrating a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the entrepreneurial space. Additionally, aspiring lawyers at Berkeley Law receive training and real world experience working with the talent SPZ Legal team. During the course of the year, SPZ Legal, in partnership with SLI, has provided pro bono legal support to twelve startup companies in various industries, some of which have gone on to raise angel financings and venture capital. 

Startups play a vital role in driving innovation and economic growth. By extending pro bono legal services to underrepresented founders, SPZ Legal is not only assisting individual entrepreneurs but also fostering a more inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. SPZ Legal believes that as these startups thrive, so too does the overall diversity and vibrancy of the business world. 

This initiative serves as an inspiration for other legal institutions to explore ways they can contribute to a more equitable future for entrepreneurs from all walks of life.

This story was submitted by Gentrop.

Our project called #EuroJunto was started with the objective to include and develop people with Disabilities (PwD). This way the project provided access to Digital tools for this part of the employees also making possible remote work and collaborative integration for all.

This story was submitted by Zuora. 

At Zuora, our purpose is to help people subscribe to modern ways of doing business – ways that are better for people, companies and the planet. Subscribing to this philosophy encourages new mindsets that put people first (instead of products) and focus on sustainable growth. 

Igniting an entrepreneurial mindset

Putting people first applies to our employees (we call them ZEOs), customers, and the broader community. One of the ways we put people first is by partnering with the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) to ignite an entrepreneurial mindset and build a more equitable future for the youth of underserved communities. NFTE is an international nonprofit organization providing entrepreneurship training and education programs. 

Through our partnership, ZEOs have volunteered over 690 hours over two years helping NFTE students activate their entrepreneurial thinking through a variety of activities, including college/career mentoring, innovation field trips where students learned about how modern businesses are subscribing to recurring revenue models, and volunteers partnered with students to craft business ideas and hone their pitches. 

A student participant shared the value of the innovation field trips by explaining: “​​Volunteers knew what they were doing and provided great feedback on pitches. They pointed out different aspects of the product we hadn’t even thought of and assisted us on how to deliver it as well. I was able to learn how to produce a good pitch that was quick but still informative.” 

Tackling sustainability through innovation 

Zuora also participates in NFTE’s World Series of Innovation, which invites young people to solve some of the biggest challenges facing humanity by advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and, more specifically, fighting climate change and preserving the planet through subscription-based innovations. In 2022, 40 ZEOs evaluated nearly 100 submissions, ultimately selecting three finalists whose innovative ideas showcased how recurring revenue models can support a more sustainable world. 

ZEOs have also served as local, regional, national, and international judges for pitch competitions where students presented their business ideas. 

The importance of an entrepreneurial mindset 

In today’s innovation economy, where needs and opportunities are evolving faster and more fluidly than ever before, our youth need a mindset that equips them to recognize opportunity, take initiative, and innovate in the face of challenges. In two years, Zuora’s support of NFTE has helped impact the lives of almost 58,000 youth annually, including about 700 students, through the support of volunteers who have served over 690 hours, and we’re just getting started.

This story was submitted by Ostendio. 

Ostendio helps La Clinica Del Pueblo meet security and compliance needs

In-kind platform donation helps busy community healthcare organization fill a funding gap

La Clínica del Pueblo (https://www.lcdp.org/) is a community-based health center committed to delivering the highest quality, culturally appropriate, and patient-centered health services. La Clínica is a non-profit organization and Federally Qualified Health Center founded in 1983 to meet the emergent health needs of the Latinx immigrant community in the DC, VA, and MD area.

“Grants our organization receives don’t typically fund the administrative costs associated with my role.” – Divya Moolchandani, Compliance Officer at LCDP.

Divya Moolchandani, Compliance Officer at LCDP, explained that grants their organization receives don’t typically fund the administrative costs associated with their role, so LCDP relies on community partners like Ostendio for assistance. Ostendio offers the platform to registered charities either free or at a reduced cost as part of its Pledge 1% commitment to give back to the community.

The Challenge

Just like any for-profit clinic, La Clinica Del Pueblo needs to work in line with several healthcare frameworks including HIPAA. However, as a non-profit, their funding would not typically allow them to afford a complex compliance and risk management tool such as Ostendio. Moolchandani explains, “When we understood the Ostendio mission it was a gift that fell in our laps. We have seen our workforce change. Ostendio has freed up their time to give back to the patients because Ostendio has made our processes more efficient.”

LCDP needed to move away from spreadsheets and internal document sharing to a more robust method of security and compliance management.

The Solution

LCDP is using the Ostendio platform to meet HIPAA guidelines that apply to all healthcare organizations and LCDP also uses the risk management and compliance features. Moolchandani explains that LCDP most frequently uses the risk module, audit module, and ticketing feature.

Features most used:

Ticketing – report and track incidents and process improvements within the organization
Audit – used for internal audits and automates workflows
Assets – – used to keep track of documents such as contracts, certificates, and agreements
Security Risk Assessment – used for internal assessments as well as HIPAA compliance
Training – cybersecurity training, HIPAA compliance training, patient safety, and risk management compliance.

As with many smaller organizations, Moolchandani said that before using Ostendio, LCDP managed their processes internally with spreadsheets and document sharing. By moving to the Ostendio platform they have now formalized those processes and become more efficient in their data security and compliance.

The best feature of the platform for Moolchandani is the assets module which allows LCDP to manage and track user access to assets and set data policies within assets, set and track asset risk and manage remediation, and track change requests and schedule data access audits.

“I appreciate using the assets model to track our contracts. For us, many contracts outline the relationships we have with providers. We use the Ostendio platform to upload our contracts and assign them to a relationship manager within the organization. We can send some of our patients to certain hospitals without charge. Using the Ostendio platform we can track that information. This has helped us with our overall mission by helping us gather valuable data that we can then take to other hospitals and explain how they could also be involved with helping our clients,” said Moolchandani. This is essential work as two-thirds of LCDP patients are underinsured or uninsured.

The results

When choosing to work with Ostendio, Moolchandani explains that it was all about finding the right partnership. She adds that of course procurement, cost, and quality of service are important but the partnership was key. “We don’t want to be treated as a charity just because we are one,” Moolchandani explained. “We are looking for a partnership. We are a pro bono client for Ostendio but we have never felt like we are treated as one. I’m an Ostendio super-fan.”

Moolchandani added that the benefits of using the platform directly impact the patients that they care for at LCDP, “It is a game changer for us at LCDP. We are beyond grateful. If we were using spreadsheets I would need to employ six full-time employees instead of your platform. The cost savings of that goes directly back to helping our patients.”

As a compliance officer, Moolchandani says she loves the forced audit trail that is provided by Ostendio. “If I am to make a change I have to say why. I know at the back end I can print a report about why I made a change and this is essential when you are working with auditors.”

Working with the experts at Ostendio in the customer success team was also a bonus for LCDP. Moolchandani says “The platform is generally intuitive” but if she needs help there is information easily available that experience is different from other platforms she has used. She also emphasized that “the customer success team feels like I have an expert partner and that is what I needed in terms of service from a vendor.” Working for a non-profit, Moolchandani could also resonate with the Ostendio values, adding, “You can tell they have a set of core values and they identify with the values of your company and that comes across.”

Corporate Social Responsibility at Ostendio

Ostendio is proud to be a Pledge 1% member and in addition to direct donations, we provide the Ostendio platform for free or at a reduced price to qualifying non-profits and give our employees paid time off to volunteer. Pledge 1% is a global movement that encourages and empowers companies of all sizes and stages to donate 1% of their staff time, product, profit, and/or equity to any charity of their choosing.
Learn more about our Corporate Social Responsibility program here https://www.ostendio.com/corporate-social-responsibility.

This story was submitted by HIKE2. 

As the season of giving approaches, HIKE2 leads with an impactful initiative, notably our Birthday Donation program. This isn’t just about celebrating another trip around the sun; it’s about creating a movement for social good that extends far beyond individual birthdays.

At the heart of this initiative lies a simple yet powerful concept: every HIKE2 employee gets the opportunity to pay it forward on their special day. For each birthday, HIKE2 donates $25 to a charity of the employee’s choice, transforming personal celebrations into impact!

Employees are encouraged to select an organization that resonates with and aligns with their passions and values. The chosen charity is then announced to everyone at HIKE2, which not only amplifies the impact of donations, but also fosters a culture of empathy, diversity, and awareness of a wide range of charities with different causes within HIKE2.

From supporting local charities such as the Pittsburgh Food Bank to aiding Childhood Education International’s global endeavors, and contributing to the cause of mental health awareness through the Asian Mental Health Collective, HIKE2’s impact spans continents and causes.

So far, we have donated $975 to a wide variety of charities. However, it’s not merely about the monetary value – it’s about the stories and connections behind each chosen charity and the act of giving back.

In a world where impact speaks volumes, HIKE2’s Birthday Donation program rings loudly—a testament to our commitment to empowering change, one simple birthday wish at a time.

This story was submitted by the CRM Firm.

The CRM Firm is a Salesforce Consulting Firm that provides custom Salesforce implementations for businesses in need of a powerful CRM solution. Our industry specialties include nonprofits, financial services, insurance, and executive search.

When The CRM Firm’s Founder and CEO, Stephanie Hagan, first met Sahra Cahoon, Love for Lily’s founder, Sahra was looking for assistance leveraging their existing Salesforce database to create operational efficiency as a growing organization. Stephanie knew this was an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of parents and families that truly need it.

Love for Lily is a nonprofit organization that provides ongoing support to parents and families of babies in the NICU to help them thrive during their hospital stay and at home through facilitated support groups, Essentials Bags, grants,  NICU programs and resources, bereavement programs and resources, and more.

Understanding the importance of Love For Lily’s mission, constituents the organization supported, their programs, and desired operational support, The CRM Firm invested 300+ hours configuring and leveraging their existing Salesforce database, as well as a variety of customizations, to help optimize Essentials Bags inventory tracking and distribution, grant process efficiency, and ensure these parents are getting the support they so richly deserve. In addition to The CRM Firm’s technical expertise and acumen, during their 2023 annual team summit, The CRM Firm staff helped assemble over 200 Essentials Bags, which are reusable branded totes containing the bare minimum essentials that a parent might need during a longer-than-expected hospital stay, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, snacks, ChapStick, and a journal to document a particularly difficult time.

Over the last decade, Love For Lily has supported 2500+ families, distributed more than 9,000 Essentials Bags, and aided in 143+ grants totaling over $105,000. It is our honor and privilege to Pledge 1% and continue to support Love For Lily and the thousands of lives and families they impact each day.