By Taya Johnson
July 7, 2011
In all the research done about the keys to fostering a healthy corporate culture, there’s one element that never seems to make it to the top of the list, but can have a tremendous impact: employee-driven community support.
My employer, Plex Systems, believes in supporting employees’ altruistic natures and building engagement by giving back to the community, both for them and through them. We do all of the conventional things, such as matching employee donations, but we also do a lot of “out-of-the-box” things – most of which were our employees’ ideas. The following are some practices you might want to consider. Not only can they enhance your business’s reputation in the community, they engage employees in activities that have a lot of meaning for them personally.
Select one or two charities each year, then support them in a big way. Small and midsize companies’ community and charitable activities can quickly get diluted if they support too many organizations. Focus on just one or two charities a year and then support them in a variety of ways.
Each year, the entire workforce is invited to nominate charities, and then we all vote and select one or two to become our “corporate charities” for the next 12 months. During that time, we hold fundraisers ranging from wine tastings to pancake breakfasts. Employees also donate individually, both financially and through volunteer work, to these organizations.
We’ve been able to raise much more money than you would expect from a company with under 200 employees. For example, so far this year, we’ve raised more than $11,000 for each of our 2011 charities: Gleaners Community Food Bank and the St. Clair Butterfly Foundation. Last year we raised more than $30,000 for our two chosen charities.
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