Create a Team for a Charity Walk

On July 17, the 25th Annual AIDS Walk in San Francisco raised over $3,000,000 for Bay area AIDS programs and services offered by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, including, as outlined in the walk material:

• Benefits counselors help individuals understand and link into the complex private and public benefits systems, including the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, food stamps, Medi-Cal, Medicare, Social Security and private disability plans.
• The housing subsidy program provides rental assistance to more than 350 individuals. Through the work of our client advocates and the clients themselves,more than 95 percent of these individuals remain stably housed.
• The Speed Project works with gay and bisexual men who use crystal methamphetamine to assist them in understanding the connections between substance use and sexual health and well-being through education, peer support and alternative social activities.
• Black Brothers Esteem promotes the sexual health and well-being of AfricanAmerican gay, bisexual and same-gender loving men. Through weekly drop-in support groups, workshops, leadership-building retreats and other community-building activities, members learn to advocate for their own health and for their community.
• The HIV Prevention Project is a sterile syringe access program that distributes more than 2.3 million syringes annually, helping thousands of exchangers and their partners avoid HIV infection and hepatitis C. Staff and volunteers, nurses, and drug treatment counselors offer free, anonymous exchange and other vital services at 10 San Francisco locations.
• El Grupo, is one of the longest running bilingual support groups for Latinos living with HIV in the nation. Open to all HIV-positive Latino/as and their families, El Grupo provides a safe forum to share information on managing HIV and reducing isolation and stigma.
• The Stonewall Project is a counseling and treatment program for men who have sex with men (queer, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or no label) who use crystal methamphetamine. Its website, tweaker.org, provides information about the use of meth to nearly 2,300 visitors a day.
• Magnet provides sexual health services, including HIV and STD testing and screening, in the Castro, the neighborhood with the greatest concentration of new HIV infections in San Francisco, and creates a space for gay men’s social events.
• BETA (Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS) provides in-depth treatment information and news on the latest advances in HIV care.

For non-profit organizations, teams are able to effectively raise money for causes, and NPOs like the San Francisco AIDS Foundation promote team formation and facilitate team effectiveness. I am quite amazed at the comprehensiveness of their manual for teams. One table they include is a list of the top 25 fundraising teams from 2010. (Go, Gap, Inc!) To me, this is brilliant. First off, it recognizes the strong performance of these teams and promotes a sense of appreciation. It also provides promotes the reputation of the organizations with teams in the top 25. Less obviously, it might spur healthy competition so the teams will strive for even greater donations for future walks.

Benefits to the non-profit organization, such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, are clear. In the Fall, walks to support charitable organizations abound. (The ones closest to my heart are the Walks for Farm Animals held across the to country to benefit the Farm Sanctuary; my dog and I also walk in the March for Animals to benefit the Tompkins County SPCA.) 

What is it, though, that organizations who provide the employees who populate the teams gain? As I mentioned, having teams participate in the walk can provide good public relations among the other walkers and the larger community. The organization can benefit in other ways from employee involvement in these teams. Employees usually have fun with other team members on the walk. They feel a sense of meaning from participating in a fundraising opportunity for a good cause. When the team has worked together to raise funds leading up to the walk, and when the team creates a special t-shirt for the team members to wear, cohesion among the team members increases. 

This is a very low-cost, low-risk strategy for organizations who want to promote SAW. Even better if organizations will match some or all of the funds raised to show a greater commitment to the cause and support of the employees who are walking.

Gap Inc.'s "Be What's Possible" Program

Gap, Inc. has a number of programs that allow employees to become involved in social action at work. The "Service Leadership" section of their corporate social responsibility report. In 2010, employees donated over 428,000 volunteer hours, primarily through skills-based volunteerism that leverages an employee's knowledge, skills and abilities to help local charitable organizations. The report explains: 

employees provide skills-based volunteerism that ranges from writing a competitive analysis for a women’s organization to creating a database for a workers’ rights group to providing organizational development for a family services agency. As an ongoing example, a team from our Legal department has been working with two youth nonprofits to provide the legal expertise they need to expand their services, acting similarly to an in-house counsel for these organizations.

To help associates identify the volunteer opportunities that best align with their skills, Gap, Inc. provides a website called "Be What's Possible." 

This site outlines the different social action programs available to employees, including grants for team-based volunteering, "money-for-time" (donations to non-profits when an employee volunteers a minimum number of hours), Camp Old Navy, board member match, and more. Gap, Inc. provides two different toolkits that help employees identify the intersection between their skills and their passions and provide advice for maximizing the impact employees can have on their chosen cause. Finally, the site outlines the target causes (those that "fit" with Gap Inc.'s social mission) and offers instructions for associates who want to take advantage of matching donations.

Gap, Inc. believes the opportunities for social action at work pay off with more committed employees:

We see a direct connection between our employees’ volunteerism and their commitment to Gap Inc.: engaged employees deliver strong business results. In a recent employee survey, nearly all respondents said it is important for them to work for a company that invests in the community.

TIAA-CREF Parnters with UNC Charlotte to Promote Financial Literacy

A recent press release outlines the planned initiatives of a partnership between TIAA-CREF and the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, to provide financial education to students and faculty in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district. One unique feature of the partnership is that members of UNC Charlotte will train TIAA-CREF volunteers on how to be better tutors and mentors to students. Additionally, the planned events are meaningful to the local community and take advantage of TIAA-CREF's core competencies. When social action at work is aligned with the values and strategies of the company, employees believe them to be more authentic, leading to better outcomes in terms of commitment and satisfaction (Ellis, 2008).

August 18, 2011 10:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time

NEW YORK--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--TIAA-CREF, a leading financial services provider, and UNC Charlotte today announced a partnership to provide educational support to over 4700 students and 500 faculty members at Governor’s Village schools. Opened in 1996, Governors Village is home to four Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS): John M. Morehead STEM Academy, Nathaniel Alexander Elementary, James Martin Middle, and Zebulon B. Vance High.

“We are proud to partner with UNC Charlotte and the Charlotte school system to adopt these four schools to ensure that the students and teachers have the tools they need to be successful.”

Working together with CMS to identify the specific needs of the Governor’s Village schools, TIAA-CREF and UNC Charlotte have partnered to develop a number of programs and initiatives that will take place throughout the school year, including:

Mentoring/Tutoring Programs – Starting in mid-September 2011 and running throughout the school year, TIAA-CREF and UNC Charlotte volunteers will provide tutoring and mentoring for students in Governor’s Village. UNC Charlotte faculty will provide training to all TIAA-CREF volunteers on best practices for being a mentor and tutor.

Governor’s Village Professional Development Conference – On January 23, 2012, TIAA-CREF will host, at the organization’s offices in Charlotte, a professional development conference for approximately 500+ teachers and faculty from the Governor’s Village schools. TIAA-CREF will provide financial services related topics for the conference, and the conference agenda will be developed jointly by TIAA-CREF, UNC Charlotte and CMS.

Job Shadow Event – In February 2012, TIAA-CREF and UNC Charlotte will host a job shadow event at TIAA-CREF offices for students in grades 8-12, in order to provide students with opportunities to gather information on a wide variety of career possibilities. Additionally, TIAA-CREF and UNC Charlotte staff and alumni will participate in Career Day at schools for students in grades 3-7.

Financial Literacy Employee Volunteer Program – In April 2012, to coincide with National Financial Literacy Month, TIAA-CREF employees will host financial education sessions with teachers, faculty and parents at the schools’ PTA meetings.

“TIAA-CREF is dedicated to education and committed to supporting the communities where we live and work,” said Charlotte-based Gene Flood, Executive Vice President of Diversified Financial Services. “We are proud to partner with UNC Charlotte and the Charlotte school system to adopt these four schools to ensure that the students and teachers have the tools they need to be successful.”

“UNC Charlotte has a long-standing relationship with TIAA-CREF and we’ve made Governor’s Village an important part of our community outreach priorities,” said Mary Lynne Calhoun, dean of UNC Charlotte’s College of Education “Through our combined volunteer time and resources, this partnership is about removing educational barriers to help deserving students achieve their full potential”

“We are grateful for the partnership and commitment from TIAA-CREF and UNC Charlotte,” said interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh. “Our students in the Governor’s Village can benefit tremendously from this initiative.”

TIAA-CREF also announced that it had donated approximately 500 personal computers to the Governor’s Village schools. The donated computers support TIAA-CREF’s belief that students should have access to technology and information for educational development and learning purposes.

In addition, TIAA-CREF donated school supplies for the Governor’s Village schools in the company’s annual “Backpacks and Knapsacks School-Supply Drive”. TIAA-CREF's "Backpacks and Knapsacks" program is a school supply effort championed by employees to support education through their donation of pencils, paper, backpacks and crayons for local schoolchildren.

Additionally, in advance of the start of the school year, dozens of TIAA-CREF and UNC Charlotte volunteers assisted in the beautification of the Governor’s Village schools campuses to prepare for the arrival of faculty and schoolchildren.

About TIAA-CREF

TIAA-CREF (www.tiaa-cref.org) is a national financial services organization with $469 billion in assets under management (as of 6/30/11) and is the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products.

Herman Miller's Better World Report

Herman Miller is one of the companies that inspires me the most. They are extremely conscientious in their product design and marketing as well as in operations, but they are careful not to over-promote their sustainability to avoid greenwashing. It doesn't hurt that their products are of exemplary quality and are cleverly and beautifully designed.

Herman Miller also supports employees' social action at work. Employees are allowed 16 paid hours a year to work with the charitable organization of their choice. As a whole, the company has a goal of providing 10,000 volunteer hours to the community. That employees can chose the organization for which they want to volunteer allows them to create significant meaning through SAW. Additionally, there are team-based volunteer opportunities which allow employees to interact and network while doing good work. Recently, a team worked on a LEED (!) Habitat for Humanity home. Around 100 employees volunteered time to build a playground in an economically depressed area of a local community. For the third year, 40 women participated in Women to Women International. Moreover, the company matched donations to the Herman Miller Foundation, with the funds going to hurricane ravaged Haiti.

Community Service - A Better World Report - About Us - Herman Miller

McGraw Hill: Why We Volunteer

McGraw Hill's company blog, The Virtual Watercooler, describes the motivation behind the organization's employee volunteer program and details the efforts they made as part of their eighth annual "Global Volunteer Day" (GVD). They write:

This year’s GVD really did have a global reach, especially in helping the lives of children. In the U.S., 90 of the 157 projects focused on helping children. In India, team leaders volunteered at over 50 schools across the country which impacted approximately 9,400 students. In Melbourne, Australia, team leader Marg Slesser said “We had an incredibly inspirational day with our project. Everyone came away from the day feeling they had contributed to the lives of the special people we spent the day with and feeling very humbled by our experience. The Melbourne City Mission people were very grateful for the opportunity to take such a large group and enjoy a day’s outing partaking in an activity that so many of us take for granted.” These are just a few highlights of the impact we had in 58 cities around the world.

McGraw Hill's latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

Academy of Management Blogging

I'll be blogging for the Academy of Management during the annual conference this year. About 9,000 management scholars and practitioners along with the staff who make the meeting possible have converged on hot and humid San Antonio, Texas.

Check out my first entry here!

Adopt-a-Garden

Gardens provide environmental benefits, but they also help with mental health. At Cayuga Medical Center, employee volunteers maintain gardens around the hospital's campus.

Ford Rogue Factory

Visiting Dearborn's Ford Rogue Factory, where the car maker's F150s are produced, was such a treat. I enjoyed seeing the production line and watching the employees as they interacted with each other (or not) and completed their tasks. I was also thrilled to see the environmental-friendly features of the LEED Gold factory. One highlight is Ford's living roof, the largest in the world. Vegetated roofs have several advantages, including better use of water, longer life span of the roof, improved heating and cooling, reduced urban heat sink, and aesthetic qualities. Ford has large cisterns that capture rain water and runoff to use in the plant. The factory was also designed for efficient air flow, natural light, and porous pavement.



I was surprised, and pleased, to know that Ford also gives attention to wildlife and has been designated as an official wildlife habitat. They also have a colony of bees on site that are cared for by an employee volunteer.



Many of these initiatives are only successful through the efforts of Ford employee and retiree volunteers. Learn more about the program at the Ford Volunteer Corps website.