An Inspirational Journey: Gaining Experience in CSR

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This post also appears on Engaging Volunteers.

Editor’s Note: As our amazing interns transition out of their roles at VolunteerMatch, they’re reflecting on what brought them to work with us, what they’ve accomplished, and where they’re headed. We hope you’ll be as inspired as we have been by these “ultimate volunteers!”

An inspirational journeyWhy I Love VolunteerMatch

First of all, I would like to say that VolunteerMatch is awesome and the people that work here are an inspiration. Before I get into the details of where I came from, what I accomplished while I was here as the Marketing & Insights Intern, and what adventure I want to embark on next, I must share some details about my fellow colleagues. I learned so much from each one of them.

From the organization’s President to the amazing communications team and everyone in between, each of them played an important role in the joy and learning journey I experienced while I was here. Each person at VolunteerMatch is unique and has inspired me in some sort of way.

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CSR Food for Thought: Corporate Reputation = Be Authentic

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The CSR Food for Thought series is a weekly roundup of relevant news from around the Web, presented to you in one bite-sized blog post.

Follow us on Twitter for CSR news and trends throughout the week: @VM_Solutions

 

Six Growing Trends In Corporate Sustainability
The latest research study by Ernst & Young, in collaboration with GreenBiz, shows that employees are regarded as the key stakeholder for CSR programs. Employees are the heart of any organization, and can be the main supporters and advocates that help drive impact.

Corporate & Workplace Reputation: Be Authentic
The best path to a strong reputation is dedicating to authenticity. Instead of showcasing the one proof point that puts your program in a positive light, consider combining data and storytelling to present a full picture of your efforts.

Seven Steps to Turning Your CSR Report into a Year of Communications Content
CSR reports are often considered a headache. It takes time to gather all the necessary data and requires multi-stakeholder involvement to get all the pieces into place. To make the most of all that hard work, creative communications firm AHA! recommends seven steps to getting more content and storytelling out of the “the beast.”

What makes a Sustainability Report Good or Bad?
On the topic of CSR reports – how do we know what makes a good or bad report (which is important if we plan to suffer a headache over it!)? Elaine Cohen, an international CSR reporting wizard offers her thoughts and guidance of what will make your report stand out.

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What to Do in SF During the 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit

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When we welcome our clients to San Francisco next week for the 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit, we want to make sure they enjoy all the fruits our home town has to offer. We gathered advice from around the VolunteerMatch office for the must-see, must-do and must-eat list.

1. Visit the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market – widely acclaimed for local farm fresh products and artisan foods, the market takes place Tuesday and Thursday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

2. Attend Friday night’s Off the Grid food truck market at Fort Mason – food trucks are all the rage in the Bay Area, and at the largest meeting of the Off the Grid food trucks – about 30 at once – you can find a dish to fit any palate. (Tip: don’t miss CupKates, a personal favorite, for dessert!)

3. Take the Powell/Hyde cable car to Fisherman’s Warf – don’t leave San Francisco without riding the iconic street cars and hanging off the side like a true tourist. Hop off this line to visit the cable car museum, or ride it all the way down the hill to Fisherman’s Warf.  (Tip: avoid the line in Union Square and hop on a block or two up the line.)

4. Watch the Pier 39 sea lions – after you hop off the cable car, mosey on over to Pier 39 where the cutest attraction are the infamous sea lions.

5. Tour Alcatraz – we can barely withhold our Sean Connery accent when we recommend this popular tourist destination, but we all agree “The Rock” is a must-see!

6. Eat at the Slanted Door – a mainstay in the Ferry Building, the Slanted Door is a foodie favorite, serving modern Vietnamese cuisine and with an amazing waterfront view. (Tip: this is not far from the Gap, Inc. headquarters, and a great option for dinner after the Client Summit on May 17th).

7. Climb to Coit Tower – if it’s a 360 degree view of the city you’re looking for, you must visit Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. The steep walk up is well worth the magnificent views of the city.

8. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge – if free activities strike your fancy, don’t miss taking a stroll across the city’s most iconic feature. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, find a friend and ride a tandem bike across the 1.7 mile bridge. (Tip: make sure you trust your bike buddy – tandem bikes require coordination!)

9. Hang out in Golden Gate Park – this park is pretty enough to just stroll around, but also features amazing museums and attractions including the Conservatory of Flowers, De Young Museum, California Academy of Sciences and Japanese Tea Garden.

10. Give Back to the San Francisco Community – we always strive to give a little back during each Client Summit, and this year we’ve organized an outdoor group volunteer activity to “Beautify the Palace” at the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. Participants can take in views of the bay while doing some light gardening. It feels good to give back after taking the city in!

Client Summit attendees can RSVP for the group volunteer activity by emailing cbrennan@volunteermatch.org.

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Meet the 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit Speakers: Meg Garlinghouse

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On May 17-18, 2012 VolunteerMatch will gather its corporate clients for a day and a half of learning, sharing and networking. The 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit will feature several sessions led by corporate social responsibility (CSR) thought leaders. In this series of posts, we’ll introduce you to each of the speakers and what they’ll discuss at the Summit.

Meg Garlinghouse, Head of Social Impact, LinkedIn

Name: Meg Garlinghouse
Title: Head of Social Impact
Organization: LinkedIn
Keynote Chat: Going Social: The Changing Landscape of Volunteerism & Service

The rise of social media and demand for corporate responsibility have changed the way employees search for and engage with employers today. Individuals want their employers to provide opportunities to engage in CSR efforts, and volunteerism in particular helps to develop more engaged, passionate, productive and loyal employees. The practice of volunteerism and support for causes is now worn as a badge of honor in our increasingly social professional profiles.

In this session, LinkedIn’s Meg Garlinghouse with share trends and data that are shifting the way we as employers recruit and engage our audience in volunteerism and service. She will share highlights from the organizations global survey about volunteering and causes in the workplace and discuss how strategic employee engagement can help build equity for companies.

About Meg Garlinghouse
Meg Garlinghouse is head of Social Impact at LinkedIn. In this role, she is responsible for identifying partnerships and programs that leverage the LinkedIn platform to create positive social impact for the world. Garlinghouse has nearly twenty years of experience working in the technology and philanthropy sector. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Garlinghouse spent almost 10 years building and leading Yahoo!’s global community relations function.

She also has a background in international development, working for the Asia Foundation as special assistant to the president and in the private sector development department of the World Bank. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa, running projects designed to raise the social and economic status of rural villagers. Garlinghouse received her Bachelor’s degree in public policy studies from Duke University and a Master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She currently serves on the Boards of Network for Good and VolunteerMatch.

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Extra Credit for 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit Attendees

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VolunteerMatch staff and clients will "Beautify the Palace" at the Exploratorium in San Francisco following the 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit

This year at the 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit, we’re giving attendees a chance to earn some “extra credit.”  But instead of adding work to their schedules, we’ve organized two fun and collaborative activities for participants to add to their agendas.

First up is a pre-event reception at the Thirsty Bear – one of our favorite organic brewers and tapas restaurants in San Francisco. Attendees landing early in San Francisco will join us the night before the Client Summit program begins to mingle, drink and eat. (See what we mean about FUN extra credit?!).

When we gather each year for the Client Summit, we also like to give a little back to the community. Following the day and a half program of engaging keynote presentations and thought-provoking breakout sessions, attendees are invited to join us for a volunteer activity at the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts. We’ll help “Beautify the Palace” with some light gardening tasks while taking in sprawling views of the bay. Better yet, volunteers receive a museum pass to explore following the activity or for a later visit to the Exploratorium.

Stay tuned for photos and recaps of these activities following the event on May 17-18, 2012.

Are you attending the 2012 VolunteerMatch Client Summit? Contact Casey Brennan if you’d like to join for these attendee-only “extra credit” activities!

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Does It Matter Why We Give?

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This post also appears on Engaging Volunteers.

Greg Baldwin is rethinking the science of generosity.

Greg Baldwin is rethinking the science of generosity.

Greg Baldwin, President of VolunteerMatch, is not a scientist by training. However, last week he published an article on Fast Co.Exist as part of Catchafire’s series on the future of service in America called “Rethinking the Science of Generosity.”

Why is our prez suddenly so fascinated with science? And why does it matter?

As Greg explained in his article, for a long time science has not provided much warm and fuzzy support for the practice of giving back. After all, evolution and the survival of the fittest naturally have us competing, not helping each other.

As Greg points out, this can’t be the whole story. At VolunteerMatch we see firsthand how many individuals are ready to step up and help others as volunteers and as nonprofit staff members. So where is the science in that?

Alternate theories are in fact emerging as to why we give back, and over the coming year Greg will be further exploring the science behind our good deeds. After all, as he says in his article, “The question of why people give is at the heart of whether it’s even possible to convince someone to make a difference who doesn’t already want to.”

Read Greg’s full article on Fast Co.Exist, and tell us: Why do you give?

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2012 VolunteerMatch Corporate Volunteer Awards: A Look at Finalist Google

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2012 Finalist Company: Google

On May 17, 2012, winners of the 2012 VolunteerMatch Corporate Volunteer Awards will be announced at our annual VolunteerMatch Client Summit in San Francisco, CA.

In this series of posts, we’ll introduce you to the facts and folks behind the ten most effective employee volunteer programs in our family of corporate clients compared against our 2011 benchmarks.

VolunteerMatch congratulates Google for its nomination for Employee Volunteer Program of the Year (Large Businesses).

Google runs several volunteer programs that allow employees to serve based on their interests and skill sets.  These programs include:

  • GoogleServe - A program that allows Google employees to spend a day volunteering in their local communities alongside fellow Googlers.
  • For Googlers by Googlers – A Google employee can suggest a program to assist a nonprofit and they can recruit their colleagues to help in that program
  • Dollars for Doers – Google gives money to organizations for every hour an employee volunteers
  • Matching Gift Program – Google matches contributions up to $12,000 a year ($6,000 towards any eligible nonprofit, $6,000 towards relief or development nonprofits) from Google employees to nonprofit organizations.

Google also offers services to nonprofits, such as providing Google apps either for free or at a discount to nonprofits, as well as offering grants that allow nonprofits to advertise on Google Adwords.

Other Google highlights:

  • Since Google’s employee volunteer site launch in 2007, Google has reached out to nonprofits organizations locally and around the world, such as the The Excelsior Community Food Pantry, The Women’s Community Clinic in San Francisco, Action for Autism in Delhi and The Akshaya Patra Foundation in Bangalore.
  • In 2011, Google donated $100 million towards nonprofits, with $40 million contributed towards causes that support girls’ education, empowerment through technology, science and math education and ending human trafficking.
  • Google employees from 119 cities in 36 countries participated in 2011’s GoogleServe. This resulted in more than 7,700 Googlers serving their communities across 400 different projects.

Some project examples:

  • In the New York Area, Google employees provided resume writing for veterans seeking employment.
  • In San Francisco, Google employees provided one-on-one consultations with low income women starting their own businesses with the Women’s Initiative for Self Employment.
  • In New Delhi, Google employees assisted in city cleanup.
  • In Dublin, Ireland, Google employees assisted in trail maintenance along the Dublin Mountains Way.

We commend Google for its excellent volunteer program and focus on being an active community member!

Stay tuned for more finalist profiles in the coming weeks, and announcement of the winners on May 17, 2012 during the2012 VolunteerMatchClientSummit.

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