. “There is nothing more important than that child during that time each week, because they are not going to understand if [I] don’t show up,” says Colvin, a program manager at Altria.
Debbie Colvin, a program manager at Altria, participates in an Altria-sponsored volunteer project.
and a number of other nonprofits in the Richmond, Va., area. Colvin, like many other Altria employees, are allowed and encouraged to volunteer with local organizations throughout the year such as mentoring local middle school students through Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“One of the great things about working here at Altria is that the company supports our volunteerism,” says Colvin. “That makes it really nice and really easy for us to give back to our communities.”
Employees like Colvin are just one example of how Altria is able to give back to the communities where its employees call home.
Over the last decade, Altria, headquartered in Richmond, has given $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions to hundreds of nonprofit organizations and supported hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer service. Giving is mainly focused on the key areas of middle school-age youth and the goal to reduce underage tobacco use, the environment, civic engagement, and arts and culture.
An Altria employee, foreground, helps out at a company-sponsored volunteer service project.
Altria involves employees in volunteer efforts across the country through its partnership with the
, part of Points of Light.
In 2013, volunteer activities at the Altria family of companies generated more than 34,000 hours of service. Altria also matched more than $1.2 million in employees’ charitable contributions.
But volunteering at Altria is more than just allowed; it’s rewarded. In 2013, Altria sought to inspire greater participation by challenging various divisions across its family of companies to work together to better their best volunteer efforts.
Called the Volunteer Challenge, employees were encouraged to identify projects that aligned with their work – for example, engineers building a greenhouse for a community garden.
In one project, nearly 50 volunteers participated in a makeover of
, renovating the art courtyard and learning garden, creating murals on the library and cafeteria walls, and building a portable kiosk to serve as the school store.
Altria employees participate in a company-sponsored volunteer project.
During the Volunteer Challenge, nearly 5,000 employees contributed more than 30,000 hours of time in company-sponsored events. This represents a 90 percent increase in participation in volunteer efforts during the same period the prior year, growing from a 30 percent participation rate to a 57 percent participation rate.
Another result of the challenge was the creation of a Volunteer Council. The group represents leaders from across Altria’s divisions working to build on the volunteer program by raising awareness within the company, collecting stories from volunteers like Colvin to encourage others to get involved and sharing feedback with nonprofits.
“One of the big elements of the Volunteer Challenge was really raising awareness of telling a better story,” said Amber Roos, community relations manager at Altria. “We knew we had more people engaging in projects than we were talking about because they weren’t putting [their volunteer hours] in the volunteer management system.”
Recognition was key to the success of the challenge. At the end, individuals were honored during a lunch with executives followed by a volunteer event at a
, where participants built furniture, completed a makeover of the teen center and prepared the center for after-school programs, among other projects.
For Colvin, recognition recently came in the form of a Presidential Volunteer Service Award honoring her work at Big Brothers Big Sisters and numerous other company-sponsored and personal volunteer efforts.
“I’ve found that the more you give, the more you want to give,” she said. “It’s one of those things that no money could pay you what you get back here.”
“They are a vital, engaged, intentional partner in the community,” said Regais Wilson, corporate program manager at
, which helps about 500 nonprofit agencies in the community find volunteers. “They recognize it as a from-the-top type of priority companywide.”
In 2013, Altria partnered with HandsOn Greater Richmond for 23 projects between its service months of April to June and September to November. In one project, Altria provided $39,000 and 125 volunteers to make over the
. According to Wilson, “The money was used to pay for playground equipment and furniture for a new elementary school on the organization’s campus, as well as building renovations and maintenance projects.”
In addition to Altria’s volunteer and recognition programs, employees who volunteer more than 25 hours a year with an eligible nonprofit organization can earn a $500 grant for that organization through its Dollars for Doers program.
“They have some of the best volunteers I’ve ever come across,” Wilson said. “They’re excited about projects. If you put anything in front of them, they’re going to knock it out of the ballpark.”
Companies Eager to Work Together in Response to Ebola
Unlike the empathy that characterizes the reaction to a natural disaster like a hurricane or earthquake, the public response to Ebola has been driven by fear. The result has been a lack of support for much-needed relief efforts. Companies are joining nongovernmental organizations, philanthropic partners and public sector leaders to change that.
(Photo courtesy USAID)
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a private sector group come together like this before,” said David Barash, a physician and head of GE Foundation’s Global Health Portfolio, at a recent gathering of corporations, nongovernmental organizations, philanthropic organizations and government partners in Washington, D.C.
“For all of their own reasons, some the same as ours at GE, companies are just more engaged, more interested,” Barash explained later. “There’s a desire to come together. There’s enough awareness, enough companies paying attention finally.”
From left, Donald Shriber, CDC Center for Global Health; David Barash, GE Foundation; Amy Latrielle, PSI; and David Evans, World Bank, at the Dec. 3 event.
Speakers included representatives from the White House, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and leading nonprofits responding to Ebola in the region.
Moussa Abbo, senior regional director of West and Central Africa at PSI, delivered a set of welcoming remarks; Amy Latrielle, deputy regional director for West and Central Africa at PSI, served on an afternoon panel discussion focused on how to strengthen health systems to respond effectively to tomorrow’s outbreaks.
The corporations’ representatives emphasized the need to share information on who’s already doing what and where, what’s needed and where, and what’s in the pipeline. They also discussed the basis for effective partnerships.
Many stressed that lessons learned today in the fight against Ebola should be used to strengthen health systems for tomorrow. Partners In Health co-founder Paul Farmer noted that the Ebola outbreak might have been avoided if science from previous health epidemics had been considered.
“This wasn’t the first instance of zoonosis – disease moving from animals to humans,” Farmer noted. “And it won’t be the last.”
Some of the most important problems right now in West Africa have to do with the supply chain.
“The largest rubber plantation in the world is in Liberia, and yet we can’t get enough rubber gloves,” Farmer pointed out. “We need to be able to get staff and stuff to where it’s needed.”
Farmer currently works with groups in Liberia on the Ebola response, but most of his experience and reputation were built in Haiti.
“[Partners in Health] worked with the GE Foundation not only to build a proper health system, but to have it train Haitians,” he said.
The idea of training local talent to sustain change beyond the life of a specific intervention period resonated deeply with the participating executives.
Moussa Abbo, senior regional director of West and Central Africa at PSI, noted the need to address the real roots of a problem like Ebola meant setting up “stronger infrastructure, community supports, market investment and governance that will ensure sustainable solutions that prevent another epidemic.”
Large operations, like IBM’s Corporate Citizenship programs, depend heavily on nongovernmental organization or government partners.
“Our partners are key,” said Diane Melley, vice president for corporate citizenship at IBM. “We rely on them for on-the-ground information and assessment. We can only be most effective when we know exactly what the needs are.”
IBM’s partners receive something extremely important in return — human resources. Over 260,000 of IBM’s 450,000 staff worldwide participate in pro-bono or volunteer work, according to Melley.
The event was not a call to checkbooks but an opportunity to collaborate and connect on potential next steps for long-term involvement based on interests and core business competencies. The group plans to reconvene in early 2015 to follow up on these initial collaborations.
Despite the challenges, “The real tragedy would be failing to leverage these resources,” Barash said throughout the day. “Let’s use Ebola as a leveraging point for strengthening health systems for the long term.”
Serving Those Who Served Their Country – Exelis Action Corps Members Make it Their Mission
Lindsey Kirksey’s childhood home was in such bad shape, two of the rooms were separating. But the Korean War veteran in his early 80s couldn’t afford to do anything about it. He needed help.
Korean War vet Lindsey Kirksey stands in front of his house before its renovation.
Volunteers from the Exelis Action Corps came together to repair his four-room Montgomery, Alabama, house.
“The volunteers I spoke to – they are just like me,” said Kirksey, who taught math in low-income neighborhoods in the Montgomery area. “They want to help people just like I want to help people.”
For decades, veterans and military service members of all ages have faced unique challenges. And there is growing concern in particular for the one million veterans transitioning out of the military between 2013 and 2018.
The volunteers from Exelis Action Corps, the signature volunteer service program of aerospace and defense company Exelis, have been on the front lines.
They’re lending their time and expertise – whether it’s providing career coaching to a new veteran, sprucing up a veterans support center or working with military families overcoming the challenges of military life, such as frequent relocation or deployments.
Exelis Action Corps volunteers put together care packages for veterans traveling through the Honor Flight Network.
Across the country, the young program – launched in October 2012 through a partnership with Points of Light – has already engaged 4,374 volunteers and completed 317 projects, serving thousands of veterans, service members and their families.
“We are proud of what the Exelis Action Corps has accomplished, but it’s not just about the numbers,” said David Albritton, vice president and chief communications officer at Exelis. “It’s about the difference we are making in the lives of those who served and the families who sacrificed for us.”
Just a few examples from 2014:
Across the country, Exelis employees created Family Fun Night packages for service members and their families. Volunteers shared with others what they like to do as a family, including playing games, watching movies and working on crafts. Each package was different depending on what the family decided to put into it. Service members received the packages so they could enjoy their own free “family fun night.”
In Salt Lake City, Exelis employees worked with Canines With a Cause, helping train 10 dogs to act as service companions for veterans. They also built 35 dog beds for veterans who already had service dogs.
In Clifton, New Jersey, Exelis employees collected turkeys for veterans at St. Peter’s Haven, a local shelter serving veterans. Their efforts yielded 47 turkeys and enough funds to purchase complete thanksgiving meals for 27 families.
Employees supported the Honor Flight Network, which flies veterans for free to Washington, D.C., to visit their respective war memorials. The volunteers assembled care packages for veterans on six flights. Each veteran received a flight bag containing items to make his or her visit more memorable and enjoyable.
In various locations, Exelis leadership provided resume assistance and interview coaching to hundreds of veterans seeking employment over the course of the year.
Ten Exelis offices held large projects, which engaged employee volunteers in the communities of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Roanoke, Virginia; Clifton, New Jersey: Rochester, New York; Washington D.C.; McLean, Virginia; Philadelphia; Salt Lake City; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. These projects ranged from a health fair to horse therapy sessions and revitalization of several veterans’ facilities.
For many Exelis Action Corps volunteers, it’s personal. As a veteran and volunteer, Erica Jeffries is clear on what matters: “To do good for others – it’s our purpose in life.”
Jeffries recalls one of her most gratifying volunteer moments with Exelis Action Corps came through Final Salute, an organization that provides housing to homeless female veterans in the Washington, D.C., area. The volunteers worked on landscaping, painting and otherwise making the house a comfortable living environment.
“The experience working with Final Salute was powerful because we knew we were preparing a home for veterans and their families,” Jeffries said.
As another Exelis Action Corps member pointed out: A wonderful feeling comes from “seeing the appreciation on the vet’s face. All that matters is making their day a little brighter.”
Want Meaningful Family Time? Volunteer Together
Kevin Bangilan seems to uncover a new passion every time he joins in on a new volunteer project with his family. After a
plant sale, the 9-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., announced he wanted to become an entrepreneur. After volunteering with his family at the local food bank, he announced he wanted to become the U.S. president.
“He talks now about how he wants to help people,” said his mother, Serina Bangilan.
Kevin Bangilan and his mother, Serina, participate in a blueberry-picking volunteer project for a local food bank.
and inspire Points of Light sponsor, Disney, to make investments that inspire families to give back to communities where they live, work and play.
Since 1991, Points of Light has promoted the Saturday before Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season with family giving and service. The day showcases the benefits of volunteering together as a family and provides opportunities for families to serve their communities in ways that spark their passions. The day also signals the start of
, families discovered many ways to take part in the day. The site has family-friendly project ideas and resources, and families can also search for family-friendly projects available in their zip codes.
Volunteers celebrate Family Volunteer Day at The Travel Town Museum in Los Angeles.
Families that came back to the Family Volunteer Day site to share their stories of service have a chance to receive a generationOn prize package, which includes a family night out on the town with dinner and a movie.
Ten families will be selected to be featured in a fall edition of
magazine.
“We recognize that the holidays are family time but, ironically, they are the busiest time of the year – with work and social obligations for mom and dad, and the end of first semester crushes for kids,” said Dan Horgan, executive director of generationOn. “Family time often gets lost in the shuffle. Holiday volunteering is a great way for families to spend time together and to really connect.”
In support of Family Volunteer Day, Disney Friends for Change provided funding for family-friendly projects across the country, including a special event at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, Calif., where Disney VoluntEARS packed 5,000 snack packs for kids at local food banks. Other projects included painting a mural at a community nonprofit, packing and delivering meals to the chronically ill and visiting patients in hospice care.
Francesca Capaldi, a generationOn celebrity youth ambassador, and her family help pack food on Family Volunteer Day at Downtown Disney in California.
There’s reason to believe the feel-good effect of meaningful family volunteer projects may help strengthen family bonds.
Building on a rich history of creating memorable experiences that bring families together,
hosted dozens of nonprofits from across America at the Disneyland Resort for “Discover Together,” a two-day symposium in January 2014, focused on how adults can make a difference in children’s lives by spending meaningful time with them.
The initiative, which employs
– a training for nonprofits to help them better engage family volunteers – is based on research exploring the significance of meaningful family time. A recent study by the
demonstrates the powerful influence positive parent-child interactions have on a child’s ability to learn, grow and thrive. The study shows that family volunteering helps to create these important bonds and teaches children valuable real-life lessons about empathy and caring.
Points of Light and Disney recognized 10 extraordinary families with
during the week leading up to Family Volunteer Day. The Daily Point of Light Award recognizes the power of individuals and families to spark change and improve the world through volunteer service.
For the Bangilans – who won a Daily Point of Light Award last year for their service – the rewards are apparent in the work of serving their community. Whether it’s packing blueberries for the
or selling plants for 4-H, the family of four – including father, Rod, and younger son, Crisanto, 3 – tries to do it together.
“I just really believe in the little things we do for one another in this world,” said mother Serina Bangilan. “We really believe that it will come back to us.”
Who Made the List? Announcing the 50 Most Community-Minded Companies in the Nation
This post is by Tracy Hoover, Points of Light’s president.
Click here to watch a short video announcement of the 2014 Civic 50 from Points of Light Chair Neil Bush.
The Civic 50 sets the standard for corporate community engagement nationwide and creates a roadmap for companies seeking to best use their time, talent and resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business.
Please take a moment to celebrate these companies for their great and continued efforts. And as the holidays approach, I hope you’ll put your money where your values are and use your purchasing power to support all the companies that are doing great work in their communities.
To learn more, click here or register for our free webinar, “The Civic 50: 2014 Highlights and Best Practices,” Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. ET.
The 2014 Civic 50, in alphabetical order, are:
AbbVie
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Aetna Inc.
Alcoa
Altria Group, Inc.
Apollo Education Group
AT&T
Bank of America
Baxter International Inc.
Caesars Entertainment *Consumer Discretionary Sector Leader
Capital One
CenterPoint Energy *Utilities Sector Leader
Citi
Comcast Corporation *Communications Sector Leader
ConAgra Foods *Consumer Staples Sector Leader
CSAA Insurance Group – a AAA insurer DIRECTV
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Eli Lilly and Company
FedEx Corporation
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Gap Inc.
GE
General Mills
Hasbro, Inc.
Health Care Service Corporation
Hewlett-Packard *Technology Sector Leader
Intel Corporation
Intuit
KeyBank *Financials Sector Leader
Motorola Solutions, Inc.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Prudential Financial, Inc.
PwC
Raytheon Company
SAP
Sigma-Aldrich *Materials Sector Leader
Southwest Airlines
Sprint Corporation
State Street Corporation
Symantec Corporation
The Hershey Company
Toyota Financial Services
TSYS
UnitedHealth Group *Health Care Sector Leader
UPS *Industrials Sector Leader
Valero Energy Corporation *Energy Sector Leader
Verizon
Viacom
Western Union
Bringing Financial Coaching to Those Who Need it Most
For Beverly Sanders, living on a budget used to sound like going on a diet: It’s the right thing to do, but it’s hard to know where to start.
“It sounded like depriving yourself, like starving yourself,” said Sanders, a nonprofit program manager. “While I’m a very well-educated woman, for some reason I seem to blank when it comes to sitting down and making a spending plan.”
That began to change in early 2014, when friends persuaded Sanders to try a new financial coaching program called the Financial Opportunity Corps.
Financial Opportunity Corps AmeriCorps VISTA members cheer during their swearing-in ceremony.
It’s an innovative partnership between Points of Light, the
members to go into communities and recruit and train volunteer coaches to work with people in need of financial guidance.
Central to the program’s success – and what makes it different from other coaching models – is the engagement of these community volunteers as coaches.
Launched in 2013, the Financial Opportunity Corps currently operates in nine U.S. cities.
In addition to community volunteers, Bank of America employees have embraced the program and serve as volunteer coaches and financial workshop facilitators. The workshops and coaching sessions are designed to help people from low- to moderate-income households find strategies that will help them achieve better money habits and long-term financial health.
In the past year, more than 1,000 people have participated in the Financial Opportunity Corps’ workshops, and more than 200 volunteers have been recruited and trained as financial coaches to work one-on-one with participants.
AmeriCorps VISTA members based at HandsOn Broward, right, distribute information about the Financial Opportunity Corps at a financial fair in Florida.
It’s an example of the “robust relationship” between Bank of America and Points of Light, said Kerry Sullivan, president of the
.
“We understood the need for individuals to be better educated on financial issues,” Sullivan said. “It hit a sweet spot for us.”
The Financial Opportunity Corps is a key program of Bank of America’s involvement with Points of Light, but the relationship goes much deeper. For a number of years, Bank of America has invested in and served as a thought leader for Points of Light’s global expansion and offerings, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
This involvement and investment, coupled with other philanthropic partners, has served as a catalyst for extending Points of Light’s footprint to 68 cities in 29 countries, in only a few short years. The groundswell of interest in volunteerism outside the U.S. continues to grow: Last year alone, more than 100,000 volunteers engaged in Points of Light partner-led projects and activities.
Additionally, Bank of America invests in the broader service sector through Points of Light, through the company’s involvement in the
. The council is a group of more than 70 industry-leading companies that form the premier global platform for increasing the quantity and transforming the quality of employee volunteering.
Through its corporate social responsibility program, Bank of America employees around the world logged 2 million hours of volunteer work last year. Employees are encouraged not only to take part in company-organized projects but to share opportunities to address needs in their communities.
This year, the company launched a Global Volunteer Awards program that recognized 20 employees for their outstanding service and commitment to their communities.
The Financial Opportunity Corps has allowed Bank of America employees to help people resolve many types of financial problems. Financial Opportunity Corps participants, or “clients,” are taught strategies for reducing debt, improving credit, building assets, saving for emergencies and planning for the future.
As a VISTA member assigned to
last year, Melinda Matthews matched 27 clients with coaches.
“The clients are so appreciative. They all have their ‘a-ha’ moments. You can see it on their faces and in the way their attitude changes. That’s priceless,” said Matthews, who now works as a development manager for HandsOn Broward, part of Points of Light’s
.
Program volunteer Mike Tsoi-A-Sue became a coach in January 2014. He has worked with four clients – including Sanders – meeting monthly for three to six months, depending on how quickly the client’s goals are met.
“They all start with basically balancing expenses against income,” said Tsoi-A-Sue. Coaches are essentially “an accountability partner who keeps them on track.”
The clients’ situations are sometimes complicated, he said. But Tsoi-A-Sue tries to help them focus on goal-setting, whether it’s reducing debt, saving for retirement or something else deemed important.
Tsoi-A-Sue “couldn’t be more different” from me, said Sanders. Formerly an accounting and finance worker in the petro-chemical industry, Tsoi-A-Sue is methodical and soft-spoken. But Sanders believes his calm, practical approach has helped her reach some breakthroughs in her attitude toward money.
“I come from a culture where when you have it in your pocket you spend it all,” she said. “I believe it’s kind of a poverty mentality. I know how to save money for things, but I just didn’t believe I was a person who could do it.”
Tsoi-A-Sue has helped her get control of her debt, gain focus and still have money in her pocket for the things she enjoys.
“What I realized is he wasn’t there to teach me about money. He was there to support me, to ground my free-spirit thinking and provide me some structure,” she said. “It really was about, `What are your values?’ and, `Where do you want to see your money go?’”
Days of Service Spark Commitment to Volunteering Among Belk Employees
Belk’s plan was ambitious – 125 days of volunteer service to celebrate the department store chain’s 125th anniversary.
Nicole Dean, Belk’s vice president of internal audit, participates in a day of service at Reid Park Academy In Charlotte, N.C.
“Giving back to and being involved in our communities has been a part of our DNA since our founding in 1888,” said Jessica M. Graham, vice president of communications and community relations for Belk. “We have a rich history of supporting our local communities and of encouraging our associates to get involved.”
The 125 Days of Service events last year – 8,000 associates participating in 304 projects at schools in 16 states – helped deepen that commitment and forge relationships that have lasted beyond the endeavor.
The idea was “to not only do a one-day project, but to continue those ties after the 125 days were over,” said Eric Law, executive director of Hands On Charlotte. The organization, a local affiliate of Points of Light’s HandsOn Network in Belk’s North Carolina hometown, helped plan and carry out the 125 Days of Service program.
Hands On Charlotte helped identify schools that needed improvements and were near Belk stores, and they worked with principals to design projects that met the schools’ most pressing needs.
Belk volunteers gather for a day of service at Ashley Park PreK-8 School in Charlotte, N.C.
“What we were looking to do was to make it a better place to learn and a better place for teachers to do their jobs,” Law said.
Belk employees signed up for two-hour shifts to work at the schools, though some of them went back to help out on their own time, Law said.
The 125 Days of Service project was the catalyst for forging a deeper relationship between an Alabama school and the Volunteer Center of Morgan County, the local HandsOn Network affiliate, as well as solidifying the center’s ongoing relationship with Belk.
The center helped managers from the Decatur, Ala., Belk store plan their service day at Austinville Elementary School, where many students come from low-income households. Belk associates delivered 300 to 400 books they had collected during an in-store book drive. Employees built bookshelves and picnic tables and painted murals, among other projects at the school.
While the Belk employees worked, the children sang songs and started reading some of their new books. Some of the kids even helped employees build picnic tables.
As a result of that day of service, several of the employees remain involved with the Decatur schools, said Heidi Parkhurst, who was store manager of the Decatur Belk at that time.
“It just really inspired them to continue their volunteer work,” said Parkhurst, now store manager at a Huntsville, Ala., Belk.
The Belk event at Austinville Elementary led to an ongoing relationship between the school and the Volunteer Center of Morgan County that has encouraged children to volunteer. The students participated in a can-a-thon the center and Belk conduct each year, collecting food to be donated to a food bank, and have been involved in a community garden and a drive to get restaurants to donate leftovers.
Some of the students and their parents also attended a summit on childhood hunger that the center organized, and several have toured the center to see the operation first-hand, said Kay Woller, the center’s executive director.
As the work at Austinville Elementary has been so well received by the school, students and Belk associates, Belk asked the volunteer center to plan a similar day of service project for a Cullman, Ala., school, probably in January, Woller said.
Going forward, Belk is continuing to build on the relationships the company made during the 125 Days of Service. This fall, Belk associates learned more about developing and leading volunteer projects for their stores by participating a Points of Light volunteer leader training webinar. They also received tactical and practical tips through a new quick reference guide.
And, in early 2015, HandsOn Network affiliates will develop and manage school-based projects for Belk associates in five regions.
“This year we are implementing a fundraising campaign during the holiday season that will benefit local schools in all of our markets – many of the same schools that we partnered with last year,” Graham said, adding that the department store chain this year launched a tracking program, Belk Associates Give, to keep up with volunteer work by its employees.
Law, of HandsOn Charlotte, said that when Belk employees give their time, even for just a day, it matters: “A lot can be done in a one-day service project.”
We Got the Billion +, Now It’s Time to Count the Change
This post is by Jenny Lawson, vice president of corporate strategy at Points of Light.
When Points of Light and its partners in the nonprofit world gathered for the launch of A Billion + Change in 2011, there were inspiring speeches and stories of a few corporate programs already doing great pro bono work.
Jenny Lawson
For me, there was a slightly frightening admonition by a U.S. Senator not to fail in our effort to encourage hundreds of companies to take a pledge to do more pro bono service.
Along the way, there have been amazing milestones. We secured more than $2 billion in pledges. We met and then surpassed our pledge goal of 500 companies. Today, we can count more than 2,100 engaged companies who have looked to Billion + Change to start, sustain and grow their pro bono programs. And we regularly field questions from social entrepreneurs around the world who want to start A Billion + Change in their countries.
But did it count for anything? We’re about to find out.
Points of Light and its Pro Bono Collaborative have launched the first ever Pro Bono Benchmarking Survey to standardize reporting and measurement of pro bono and skills-based service. Multiple-choice questions will explore the various methods companies use to monitor the impact of their service programs on human capital, talent recruitment, and communication across the company.
To assess whether pro bono service is really making a difference in tackling our communities’ most pressing problems, the survey will also ask companies to think critically about systems and strategies for measuring social impact. We hope the process will help companies better understand pro bono service and the possibilities and promise of skills-based service for more productive employees, more effective service programs. The 30-question survey is designed to take no more than 20-30 minutes to complete.
One difference is clear: The energy and momentum of A Billion + Change has strengthened the network of professional pro bono experts that serve as intermediaries between companies wanting to serve and the needs of nonprofits, governments and communities.
Together with key partners and reviewers from the business community, the Pro Bono Collaborative – as the group calls itself – worked to share their existing surveys, strategies and best practices to build the basis for the Benchmarking survey. This level of collaboration and a common benchmarking tool weren’t even on the wish list when we started.
What other differences between then and now will become clear? In the end, that’s up to you. We need 500 companies to take the survey. Has your company used its skills and talents in service to your community? If yes, take the short survey and tell us about it! Every company and every service project counts. If not, get started at www.abillionpluschange.org. Your community needs you.
I’m eager to get back to you with the results, so take the survey today. Together, we can make it count!
What Would You Do in a Disaster? Allstate Shows How Easy it Is to Prepare
Read about how folks in Los Angeles are preparing for disaster. To help your family take action, visit Good & Ready, where you’ll learn how to create various disaster plans, build a preparedness kit and more.
Paula Solano recalls the morning when the walls of her apartment fell apart around her during an earthquake.
Paula Solano was asleep when her walls started violently shaking and loudly crumbling around her. The patio sliding glass doors in her Los Angeles apartment blew out, spraying glass everywhere. She made a run for it, cutting her bare feet on glass shards and breaking a toe as she fled.
“I really thought that, maybe, I was going to die,” Solano recalled of that day 20 years ago, when an earthquake jolted the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles. “I wish I would have known where to go when the earthquake started. … I was literally caught unaware – out of a dream.”
The 1994 Northridge earthquake rated a 6.7 magnitude and left nearly 60 people dead. Thousands of others were left without shelter – including a young Solano, who had just arrived in town to teach, write and act.
Today, Solano makes sure her family is prepared, right down to having slippers next to her children’s beds, in case they have to run out in the middle of the night like she did. “You need to have a plan,” she said. “I call it a ‘clear path to safety.’”
A participant at the Los Angeles tour stop receives a pamphlet for her disaster kit.
That’s the mission of the national disaster preparedness tour created by The Allstate Foundation and Points of Light. Among others, stops have included Portland, New York City, Baltimore and Savannah in the East, Baton Rouge, Houston and Indianapolis in the south and Midwest, and Los Angeles.
At the Los Angeles event September 13, dozens of volunteers from Allstate insurance agencies and Volunteer Los Angeles – part of Points of Light’s HandsOn Network – lent their time to help people get ready for all types of disasters.
“This is one stop in a 14-city countrywide campaign,” said Jan Epstein, senior manager at The Allstate Foundation. “We want to educate people on the perils they face in their particular region of the country; and we want to help them become more prepared for those times of disaster During the tour, Allstate is providing supplies to hands-on build 10,000 kits, but just as importantly, we are educating people as they build their kits and by directing them to online resources”
Folks who attended the annual Dieciseis de Septiembre (Mexican Independence Day) celebration in downtown Los Angeles worked with volunteers to build free disaster starter kits. Inside blue Allstate drawstring satchels, people placed items such as first aid kits, water bottles, emergency checklists, escape plans, battery-free flashlights, whistles and dust masks.
A bilingual volunteer speaks with an event participant in Spanish to explain the importance of being prepared.
Allstate agency owner Beatriz Zaragoza spent the day talking with people at the festival in English and Spanish. “Some of the people don’t have anything in place, because they just don’t think it could happen,” she said. “But you just never know.”
The good news is that there was a sprinkling of families who stopped by to add to what they already had at home. “I’m kinda, sort of prepared, but not like this,” said Julian Bueno from the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. “I have a flashlight, I’ve got bottled water, but not the rest.”
Patricia Garza, Allstate Foundation director of strategic philanthropy, said the foundation is focused on demonstrating how easy it can be to set aside critical items.
“Every person, and every family, deserves the chance to realize their hopes and dreams. Poor disaster preparation leads to a needless loss of lives and property,” Garza said. “Doing a few simple things, like building an emergency kit or creating an evacuation or communications plan will go a long way to keeping people safe. That’s why The Allstate Foundation and local agency owners want to get Americans thinking about preparedness, before a disaster strikes.”
Marisela Magaña of La Crescenta, California, attended the Los Angeles event to reinforce what she has been teaching her kids about disaster preparedness. The mother of five has two autistic children who need frequent reminders of what they should do in an emergency. Magaña brought her 12-year-old sons with her – Mark, who is autistic, and Jonathan, who has ADHD and severe asthma.
“Kids with special needs, you have to continuously tell them and remind them and reprogram them so they are prepared for what might happen,” Magaña said. “If they weren’t prepared, a disaster would get them into a total frenzied panic.”
Julian Bueno, from Echo Park, acknowledged the need to be much better prepared after the kit-building activity. He had no idea until the event that he’d need more than a basic starter kit. He only had one emergency bottle of water to share with his son, Christopher, in case of disaster.
“I thought I was prepared, but I guess I wasn’t,” said Bueno. “I feel more complete now.”
Volunteers Go for the Win at Turner Field
Against the backdrop of America’s national pastime, hundreds of volunteers came together to recognize a national treasure: teachers.
Volunteers help game-goers at Turner Field assemble containers of school supplies for Atlanta teachers.
Before an Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies baseball game at Turner Field, more than 300 volunteers and game-goers packed 5,000 kits full of school supplies for local teachers. Target team member volunteers stacked tables high with supplies and volunteers visiting Atlanta for Points of Light’s Conference on Volunteering and Service filled plastic bins with water bottles, sticky notes, disinfectant wipes, pens, pencils and more – items teachers too often have to buy with their own money.
The June 16 event was part of Target’s All-Star Teachers program, in partnership with Major League Baseball, designed to engage Target guests and MLB fans in celebrating the nation’s teachers, and Target’s involvement in Points of Light’s Conference on Volunteering and Service as its Official Excellence in Education sponsor. (See below for the July 31 presentation ceremony.)
Target supplied the products, funding, infrastructure and dozens of team member volunteers. Hands On Atlanta – part of Points of Light’s HandsOn Network of 250 volunteer centers – coordinated the service project to distribute the kits to dozens of Atlanta public schools.
Target team member Jessica Johnson
Across the United States, public school teachers during the 2012-2013 school year spent $1.6 billion of their own money on school supplies and instructional materials, according to the National School Supply and Equipment Association. That’s an average of $500 per teacher.
In addition to assembling kits for the classroom, volunteers at the Turner Field event could vote for their favorite All-Star Teacher at an on-site kiosk and, by way of a photo booth, share photos of themselves via social media. Future MLB Hall-of-Famer and former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz came by for a few photos and to encourage the volunteers.
Jessica Johnson, who has worked at the Target store in Douglasville, Ga., for the past two years, says she appreciates the service opportunities Target provides its team members.
“It makes you feel good to work for a company that cares about things beyond just money, that cares about the community and the people who live there,” she said, as she reached for more supplies to stock the line. “That comes across in opportunities to go out and do things like this.”
Target volunteers hand out school supplies assembled at the Turner Field service project to Atlanta teachers.
“The Turner Field event, part of the Conference on Volunteering and Service’s opening day, reflects our core values at Target,” said Reba Dominski, senior director of community relations. “Through raising awareness for teachers and celebrating the impact they have on our children, we are also able to demonstrate our longstanding commitment to service.”
“At Target, we believe every child deserves a quality education, regardless of race or socioeconomic status,” said Dominski. “Through our partnership with Points of Light, we’re able to invest in communities by offering programs that help provide the tools and resources educators need to help students succeed.”
Target team members volunteered alongside attendees of the Conference on Volunteering and Service, like Allan Collins. He embraced the chance to participate in a hands-on volunteer experience as part of the Conference, which brought together thousands of leaders from the nonprofit, corporate and civic sectors to celebrate and shape the future of volunteerism.
“Learning about the programmatic side of volunteer engagement is vital,” said Collins, director of HandsOn Inland Empire, a volunteer mobilization organization in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. But Collins said that engaging in a tangible expression of volunteerism is “a powerful way to bring it all together.”
On July 31, representatives from Hands On Atlanta and Target presented the kits to Atlanta Public Schools teachers and Superintendent Meria Carstarphen at West Manor Elementary School. Target volunteers then helped teachers prepare their classrooms for open house the following evening and the first day of school, Aug. 4.
“Thanks to the generosity of Target, and literally, the hands of Hands On Atlanta, the 3,000 teachers of Atlanta Public Schools were given additional tools to actively engage and instill hope in our students this year,” Carstarphen said. “Target represents the important role of corporate partners in supporting student achievement by connecting the needs of our students and schools with the financial resources and goodwill of the community.”
