Historically, companies have engaged their employees through volunteering – often considered the cornerstone of corporate giving strategies. Mostly done as part of CSR initiatives, these volunteering events used to be mostly physical and structured around defined VTO policies.
With the pandemic, employees found themselves confined to their homes – but their desire to give back to their communities only grew. This desire was soon supplemented by virtual volunteering – which enabled corporates to engage their employees in remote volunteering opportunities that complemented the new model of working.
Spurred on by the social justice issues in recent years, people around the world are more open than ever to doing good. This trend is supplemented by the growing workforce proportion of millennials and Gen Zs – who are evidently very passionate about giving back. Corporate volunteering leaders such as CSR and HR managers are now looking for ways to engage this workforce.
Goodera x Pledge 1% – A collaboration for good:
Within Goodera too, we’ve worked on multiple volunteering events featuring our own employees (Gooders as we like to call ourselves):
As a part of our promise with Pledge 1% to donate time, Goodera employees volunteered virtually for a group Mapathon to map the most vulnerable places in the developing world so that local and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) can use these maps and data to better respond to the crisis affecting these areas.
The Pledge initiative helped us do our own part for the cause, with multiple other events organized, supporting organizations like Save the Children.
A few snaps of our Gooders taking part in various virtual volunteering activities across the country. Gooders devote ~500 hours to volunteer, contributing to at least 4 key social events a month in their own capacity.
For the last two months of 2021, our focus is on events surrounding Thanksgiving, Christmas, as well as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Throughout the year, Gooders devote ~500 hours to volunteer, contributing to at least 4 key social events a month in their own capacity.
Planning ahead for 2022, our primary focus area for January and February would be Martin Luther King (MLK) day and Black History Month.
Goodera’s role in giving back:
We curate opportunities specific to each campaign, each month, so that our corporate clients have plenty of volunteering opportunities to choose from. Our most notable campaigns in 2021 included our campaigns on racial equality, Women’s History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, and Literacy month.
We are currently running campaigns around GivingTuesday, by offering a suite of 30 diverse, globally-distributed volunteering opportunities. Assembling cookie kits for children in crisis, creating educational flashcards, attending a dance workshop run by persons with (dis)abilities, and audio recording books for children under medical care are some of them.
About Goodera:
At Goodera, we’ve been working for the past 7 years to ensure that we connect this generation of purpose-driven employees with global nonprofits in need of their skills.
Today, the total number of eligible users (employee volunteers) of our virtual volunteering platform stands at a little over 5M. Team-based volunteering events that build cross-team collaboration have emerged in popularity (96% of total events) over individual employee volunteering.
We will continue to curate and execute powerful volunteering experiences as a proud Pledge 1% member.
We are now hosting free, exclusive GivingTuesday-themed volunteering activities for corporations.
You can register here with 5-20 members of your team. Happy volunteering from Goodera!
SeeBeyondBorders is a UNESCO award-winning non-government organisation operating in Cambodia. The organisation works in primary schools in partnership with local communities to sustainably improve education standards by training teachers, getting children to school and developing better learning environments. Salesforce has enabled them to have greater visibility and management over the complex nature of operations including the lengthy application process for grants for much needed funds and a geographically diverse volunteer and part-time workforce.
From the outset, FullCRM worked closely with SeeBeyondBorders to understand its business imperatives. They provided mentorship and training including one-on-one visits to assess needs, current competency and how to make Salesforce work in a way that was practical, manageable and sustainable.
“FullCRM’s unfailing willingness to be there for us is by far a stand out,” said Kate Shuttleworth, Director, SeeBeyondBorders. “They have taken the time to familiarise themselves with our programmes, understand the unusual nature of our geographic spread and the different needs of each office. We have such diverse reporting and data collection requirements, so their ability to listen and understand us has been invaluable.”
Like many NGOs, SeeBeyondBorders operates on a tight budget and is reliant on their valuable, yet transient volunteers. With the introduction of Salesforce it has meant that valuable knowledge stays within the organisation. However, they needed someone who could manage the ongoing optimisation of the system. FullCRM offered to meet this need by providing ongoing, pro-bono administration and configuration of Salesforce for the NGO.
“It would be impossible to overstate the role FullCRM have played in making Salesforce work for us and as a result making us a much more efficient organisation,” said Shuttleworth.
Each of SeeBeyondBorders’ offices have different functions; where Cambodia is focused on planning, program implementation and communications with government and other NGOs, the UK and Australia have fundraising, communications and marketing responsibility. With Salesforce they now have a central repository of information, which is critical for direct collaboration between teams and countries. By working together, the various functions of the organisation are able to operate more effectively with efficient and correct task allocation and reporting. On the reporting front, access to data of programming is paramount and is used in generating reports to incorporate in communications with donors and other stakeholders, including the board, advisory board and trustees.
Pacific Channel has joined Pledge 1%, committing to donate 1% of our revenues and 5% of our team’s time to support nonprofits in our community.
We’ve helped the Talalelei Life Futures Fund (Talalelei) since its inception in 2018. It began when Talalelei (Tala) died saving a Chinese New Zealander, caught in a rip on the south coast of Samoa.
To honour Tala’s memory and his life-giving spirit, the fund offers scholarships to young Samoans into tertiary education, an otherwise unattainable path to a better life.
Talalelei is now raising funds to support students into 2022, targeting $30,000.
We encourage you to give alongside us. Pacific Channel will match any donation that you make $1 for $1.
Robbie, Fale, Jane, Su’e, Catherine, Isa and Gogo are working hard at their studies and achieving fantastic grades, and this year Talalelei will have their first student graduate.
The Talalelei trustees, our Pacific Channel team and our key suppliers MinterEllisonRuddWatts and VCFO generously assist Talalelei without charge, so 100% of funds raised pays for the scholarships. From our team, Lachlan Nixon contributed significantly as founding trustee; and Emerald Scofield and Traci Sietu are now trustees.
Here is the link to the Give a little page.
Please give generously – Talalelei has Overseas Donee Status, which makes your donation tax deductible in New Zealand.
Recruiting and retention look a lot different in 2021 than they did twenty years ago. In addition to an increased focus on company purpose & mission and the ability to work a flexible schedule from home (or anywhere), many employers are also offering an increasing amount of Volunteer Time Off (VTO).
Since our founding in 2014, Ad Victoriam Solutions, a Salesforce implementation partner and certified B Corp, has always strived to be different, including offering an entire 40 hours of annual VTO. However, we found, like most companies, that not everyone took advantage of this perk. In fact, in both 2019 and 2020, only around 25% of employees utilized any portion of their one week of paid volunteer time. Sure, we still achieved our Pledge 1% commitment to donate 1% of employee time back to the community, but we knew we could do better.
As we spoke with employees, we found three contributing factors: the overwhelming lack of weekday volunteer opportunities, the business demands of the workweek, and the difficulty of finding an opportunity that included their biggest passion: technology.
2021 Changes:
So, we set a 2021 goal to double our employee volunteerism rate and we made some changes.
For starters, employees could volunteer on the weekend and count it towards their work-week expectations–volunteering no longer had to be done during work hours to count. We also opened it up to non-traditional volunteering, like chaperoning field trips and helping out with little league practices, encouraging parents to spend more time outside of the office and with their children.
In addition, we launched a training program with Goodwill of North Georgia that allowed our employees to volunteer their technical skills and expertise to teach Salesforce to adults transitioning into tech careers. We also added an experiential component to the program, pairing employees with students to implement Salesforce’s nonprofit success pack for four deserving organizations.
2021 Results:
As of mid-November, we were on pace to see almost 60% of our staff use their paid VTO to give back to their communities. And that 1% target? Between the volunteer time (on pace for 1,600 hours) and our pro bono Salesforce work, we’re going to double our goal and donate 2% of revenue in the form of employee time.
So, as we begin to lay out our plans to eclipse our 2021 results in 2022, we’re confident – in hindsight- that increasing our flexibility as a company really did drive overall team volunteerism. And all it took was small changes to attain those significant results… an impactful reminder of the importance of listening to our employees.
This year’s Sandra Schmirler Foundation Annual Telethon, serviced by net2phone Canada, was held completely virtually, across Canada. Volunteers and supporters came together to make 2021 another record year! The Sandra Schmirler Foundation, named after curling champion and Olympic gold medallist Sandra Schmirler, contributes to Canadian hospitals by donating life-saving NICU equipment to care for critically ill newborns. On February 21st, 2021, the telethon hit a major milestone, raising over $700,000.
As the phone service provider chosen to power the telethon for the eighth consecutive year; where the event was normally held each year in a different Canadian city, this past year’s remote-based telethon meant we had to think differently to support this wonderful cause. net2phone Canada team was proud to send out our VoIP phones to volunteers in locations across the country. Along with equipment donated, net2phone Canada staff worked with the foundation and volunteers to ensure the phones kept ringing and could take donations for this excellent cause from 9:00 am to midnight. This was accomplished with 80 volunteers across various provinces.
Watch an interview with net2phone Canada’s President and COO, Jonathan Moody, as he discusses the telethon and upholding #Pledge1% values. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVQy7IvxI-g)
The Sandra Schmirler Foundation Telethon volunteers were flooded with a whopping 3,600 calls, which bested last year’s total by over 400 donor calls. We set up insight dashboards, which allowed us to visualize important metrics and call data in real time, such as number of calls handled, average talk time, call volume, and wait times. These statistics enable the Foundation to track caller’s behaviours in reference to the TSN coverage and prepare the appropriate resources for the following years’ telethons.
“Telethon day is always stressful for all of us at the Sandra Schmirler Foundation. It is our biggest fundraiser of the year. In past years, our phone system was a massive challenge. Since we partnered with net2Phone Canada all those challenges have disappeared! They deal with any issue that arises, so quickly and professionally. We are so grateful for their support over the last 8 years.”
– Brenda Gallagher, Director of Operations, Sandra Schmirler Foundation.
2020 was a hard year for most because of the COVID pandemic. But for Rosalee (not her real name), it became a prison where she was trapped with her abuser, unable to escape or call for help. The courts were closed. Shelters were closed. Life felt closed. The only light was social media groups where she could escape for a moment and connect with others like her.
As the pandemic shut life down, VictimsVoice realized what this meant for victims of domestic violence like Rosalee. We had people using our documentation tool across the US and watched usage rates spike in each state as it issued stay-at-home orders. We also knew that others who would need the VictimsVoice application would not be able to get to one of our partners to get a free license.
Being a new startup, we’ve pledged 1% of our product to all of our Partner Members, victim and survivor-serving organizations and agencies who pre-pay for our licenses to give to those who cannot afford the annual fee. We also pledge 25% of donation purchases from private individuals, turning that into interest-free loans for those who need to get out and feel safe through our VictimsVoice Halo Fund.
Already a member of over 50 victim and survivor groups on social media, we made the decision to put revenue aside and, during the entire month of May, offered free licenses to anyone in the US who was trapped with their abuser and needed the legal documentation to get a protective order or seek legal justice. No questions asked – we provided activation codes and onboarding instructions for anyone who said they needed it.
With government funding stripped bare for 501c3’s, we saw a new need in 2021. Nonprofits were struggling to meet the overwhelming needs of those survivors who were finally able to get out and seek help. We partnered with DomesticShelters.org and their Purple Ribbon Awards to ensure the US-based, grassroots nonprofit shelters who were doing the hard work to help those like Rosalee had access to provide our tool to those in their community and onboarded 69 new Partner Members at no cost. This was much more than 1%, but the need was so great that we had to step up.
Today is Giving Tuesday, November 30th, and it’s my birthday. What better gift could anyone ask for than to have people all over the world dedicating donations of time, money, and products to so many amazing nonprofits.
My company may not be in a position to donate equity (yet), but I am proud to be able to donate an important product to so many nonprofits across the US that are saving lives and those of their children. You can learn more about the VictimsVoice Partner Members on our website here.
Sheri Kurdakul, CEO, VictimsVoice
Victims by Force. Survivor by Choice. Activist by Design.
PhoenixDX met Zer0hunger during a global OutSystems Hackathon in February 2021. As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, they dedicate a percentage of time, human potential and profits to causes that they believe will make a difference to local and global communities.
PhoenixDX believed in the Zer0hunger project and knew their team could help them. They built a groundbreaking custom build application that can eradicate hunger in Malaysia and hopefully further afield.
Zer0hunger is a non-profit organisation founded in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic started and Malaysia had their first lockdown, two of Zer0hunger’s founders decided to send meals to 3000 students who were stranded. They mobilised at one university and were amazed by how difficult it was to help these students. People were screaming that we needed a system to streamline the process, and they thought that all of the NGOs could benefit from a platform.
Zer0hunger was created to systematically address hunger in Malaysia through a platform that could connect people in need with donors and NGOs.
“We could see that NGOs were working off Google Sheets and Google Forms which meant that many people were touching fields, data and databases. Sometimes 20 or more people. This increased human error and made it difficult to verify information.
We tried to build our own solution using a few freemium platforms, but it wasn’t sophisticated or nimble enough. We realised that we had to build a customised application, but we didn’t have the resources. We reached out to our local developer companies, but they did not share our passion.
While we were going through this process, we came across OutSystems. They got in touch to ask if we would like to be considered for a hackathon. I was like, yes, let’s do it.” – Sharizal Shaarani, Director and Co-Founder of Zer0hunger.
The hackathon connected Zerohunger with OutSystems partners from around the world, and PhoenixDX created the best prototype out of all of the competitors… and won the hackathon. After the hackathon was over, Pedro Carrilho, PhoenixDX managing director, reached out to Sharizal and offered to keep working on the prototype.
On Malaysia Day 2021, 16th September, Zer0hunger launched its mobile app. We continue to work with Zer0hunger to develop the platform and their application further to fulfil their dream of ending hunger in Malaysia.
To find out more about the PhoenixDX project, watch this video:
Already since our foundation in 2017, we are a proud Pledge 1% member to support non-profit organizations and other charitable causes with our social commitment and entrepreneurial success. Taking responsibility and showing social commitment is very important to us as a company and we stand up for our values. Pledge 1% as a global movement, drives the shared vision that every company gives back a part – 1% – e.g. of its time, product, service or profit to society. We have decided to take our time to do good and make a difference.
Each year, our colleagues from Eigenherd GmbH collectively choose which organization can be supported with our work time. One of the two available days for Pledge 1%, for example, was used by our employees from the team in Berlin to collect garbage together in the Hasenheide which is a park there. Together with an initiative of the city cleaning in Berlin (BSR=Berliner Stadtreinigung) which is called “Kehrenbürger” they helped to keep the city a bit cleaner. With the support of BSR, this initiative offers a platform in Berlin that promotes volunteer beautification and cleaning campaigns in neighborhoods where the city cleaning BSR itself is not responsible for cleaning. Since 2005, they are a member of the international action alliance “Clean up the World”; which campaigns worldwide for cleaner cities.
“I am part of the team in Berlin and participated in the cleaning day which was my
first experience with Pledge 1% since I joined Eigenherd more recently. It was
nice and sunny so we had a lovely day cleaning the Hasenheide park in Berlin!
My highlight of our cleaning initiative was a random guy who saw our work and
wanted to support us. We gave him some of the tools and he started cleaning too
– so we inspired him! Hopefully more people get inspired by this.”
– Sebastian Christoph
We could not agree more with Sebastian and are proud to use our work time with Pledge 1% to help nonprofit organizations and make a visible difference in our local home. That is one step towards a more sustainable and socially aware future that we are more than happy to be a part of.
VRP shares 14 stories of giving from this last year
Giving children a bike, planting trees.
The VRP Volunteer Club was very active, with several different initiatives. Our #VRPpeople from Minsk and Vitebsk visited a boarding school in Begoml. We planted some trees at a school and delighted children with some sweet treats and gifts. Meanwhile, our team in Mogilev visited the oncological dispensary there and planted more trees as part of our Pledge 1% commitment. Thank you to all participants. Your support is invaluable! Check out our photo collection from these events.
Minsk orphanage – giving gifts to children
We believe in giving back to society and are proud to be part of the Pledge 1% initiative. Our VRP people regularly donate blood with Belarus Red Cross, we support causes like SZLACHETNA PACZKA, aiding families in need, we donated our time to improve Save the Children Netherland’s volunteer recruitment solution, and recently we visited one of the Belarussian orphanages in Minsk, bringing gifts to children. Check out the video of our #VRPVolunteers in action!
As part of our pledge 1% commitment, our #VRPPeople in Krakow participated in a charity run organized by Fundacja Poland Business Run. The purpose of the event is to collect donations to help people with motor disabilities but this year it was socially distanced, with participants recording their times using run tracking apps. We’re proud to have helped. And we had a lot of fun, running in different locations Check out our photo collection
Our #VRPPeople came together to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, taking part in the #CranesOfOurFuture project. We’ve made origami cranes, writing our wishes for a brighter future inside each of them. Join in and deliver a message of hope -> share your crane in a comment
“Give blood and keep the world beating”. For #WorldBloodDonorDay many of our #VRPpeople became blood donors with the Red Cross. This small act can save lives. Join in and make a difference!
VRP Goes Green initiative – sustainable activities
On #InternationalEarthDay we celebrate the activities our VRP global teams accomplished as part of our April’s #VRPGoesGreen Challenge.
Take a look at our list of initiatives and let us know if and how you took part too:
planted trees in neighborhoods
growing a couple of kitchen gardens
♀️ riding bikes instead of driving
refusing to buy new clothing
avoiding plastic wrapping and tableware
taking care of stray animals (see our new friend – The Cat)
Collecting plastic bottle caps and batteries
picking litter from the streets and in the forests
Why do we take part in pledge 1% – insights by Roman
Why do we take part in the pledge 1% initiative?
We asked Roman Medvedev, Founder and CEO of VRP Consulting, for his insights on being part of this corporate philanthropy:
“The volunteer movement to support various nonprofits is strong among the whole Salesforce ecosystem, VRP included. We believe in giving back to society and are motivated to help those less fortunate.
We want to make a difference to the ones in need. Thus, we encourage our employees to regularly engage in blood donations, mentoring programs, or assist poor families in everyday activities. Last year we were active in support both global and national charities including, SZLACHETNA PACZKA, Save the Children International, International Committee of the Red Cross – ICRC, World Health Organization, to name a few.
This year we have transferred our charitable assistance online so that even with the pandemic, employees can take part in the campaigns without leaving their homes. This opportunity has received high uptake and we are proud to be actively supporting those in need, especially during challenging times like today.
I hope more companies will join in to be a force for good.”
The Mogilev Regional Center for Correctional Development Training and Rehabilitation – renovation
The Mogilev Regional Center for Correctional Development Training and Rehabilitation provides crucial support and treatment to children with disabilities. To ensure their vital work continued, VRP contributed to the renovation of their center. After the opening ceremony, we celebrated with center staff, proteges and guests having an exciting entertainment program including dancing and special performances. Check out our photo collection.
Choose to challenge – gender bias inequalities
“We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.” ~ International Women’s Day 2021
Today, we would like to participate in the challenge to support the fight against inequalities. We want to be part of the inclusive world, where everyone feels comfortable.
Donating animal food to a local zoo in Vitebsk
How much food do you need to feed a zoo?
Our volunteer club found out when they donated food to a city zoo in Vitebsk. As part of our #pledge1 commitment, more than 180 kg of food was bought for the animals.
Kobrin Regional Training center – gifts
Great job, VRP Brest team. They supported the Kobrin regional training center by bringing some joy to the children there. As part of our #pledge1 commitment, we gave each child a gift package including household items, toys, books, sweets and coloring kits.
Congratulations VRPBelarus Team, for organizing a #charity campaign together with Belarus Red Cross.
We collected books, clothes, and other necessities in our Minsk office to give those away to families in need.
See the photos.
You know how busy it must be for Santa this time of the year. We wanted to help, so together with SZLACHETNA PACZKA, we have organized gifts for the family in need as part of our pledge 1% commitment. Szlachetna Paczka is a polish social project to materially and mentally support people in a difficult situation.