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Corporate citizens
Many companies give more than a check to worthy causes
American corporations have a history of stepping up to the plate during national and international disasters, leading the way with donations and hands-on help. Those high-profile efforts are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to corporate volunteerism, according to Cecilie Lilletvedt, director of development for Hands On Atlanta, a nonprofit organization that matches community needs with volunteers.
"There's so much more going on that people never hear about," Lilletvedt said. "Corporations are volunteering more, and they're doing it smarter."
Since 2003, the number of corporate projects has doubled each year at Hands On Atlanta. Between August 2005 and July 2006, corporations supplied 7,700 volunteers for 132 community service projects with the organization.
"With more projects and more volunteers, we've expanded our staff to five corporate-project managers to help companies do what they want to do," Lilletvedt said.
When it comes to giving, she sees some of the same streamlining practices that businesses have developed to be more efficient.
"Corporations are focusing their efforts. Instead of volunteering across the spectrum, they're targeting their efforts toward causes that make sense for the vision of the company and the needs of their employees," she said. "Companies are looking for high-impact projects, where they can really make a difference."
Since 1951, the UPS Foundation has had a mission to improve lives and strengthen communities wherever company employees work and live, according to Evern Cooper Epps, president of the UPS Foundation and vice president of corporate relations.
"As the seventh-largest company in the world, our 400,000 employees see communities around the world up close and personal every day," Epps said. "We haven't changed our commitment, but we're taking a more strategic approach."
UPS focuses its philanthropic efforts on literacy, hunger and, since 1998, on volunteerism. In 2005, 43,000 UPS employees logged more than 460,000 volunteer hours. They built Habitat for Humanity houses, collected and distributed food, trained future nonprofit entrepreneurs, extended the reach of literacy organizations and changed the lives of young women by working with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
"It's not unusual for a UPS driver to take his lunch break to read to schoolchildren. Our platform of volunteers gives our philanthropy its heart. When you match the dollars with the time and talent of your people, you're going to have more impact," Epps said.
As a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, she shares best practices and takes away new ideas. "I'm over my head in work, but it's all good work," she said.
Not surprisingly, building is at the center of Home Depot's giving. The mission statement of Team Depot, the associate-led volunteer force, is "Build CommUnity."
"We focus our volunteering on four focus areas: play spaces, gathering places, affordable or transitional housing and rebuilding hope and homes (disaster relief)," said Kevin Martinez, director of community affairs at Home Depot. "Those are the exact areas where we give money, as well. We mesh our giving and volunteering efforts in order to get the most from our dollars and to make our projects as meaningful and transformational as possible to our associates and their communities."
The company calls the concept of leveraging company resources, know-how and dollars to meet community needs "embedded philanthropy."
"If you want money from the Home Depot, you get our people, too, because we want to see something happen. Instead of measuring volunteer numbers or hours, we want to measure impact. That includes building infrastructure capacity and leadership in the nonprofits we support," Martinez added.
Visible results
One example is the company's partnership with KaBOOM!, a nonprofit organization with the goal of putting play spaces within walking distance of every child in America. Home Depot made a $25 million commitment to the project and supports it through materials and volunteers. By the end of 2006, the partnership will have refurbished or built 500 playgrounds, ballfields or ice rinks in North America.
"At 8 a.m. there's nothing, and by 3 p.m. there's a brand-new playground," Martinez said. "It makes people proud to have been a part of giving that gift, and it tells our associates that we want to give back to them and their communities."
Team Depot's 2,100 captains are given two hours off the floor each week to plan volunteer activities.
Employee development and involvement in the programs creates a unifying force within the company and makes for what Lillevedt calls "productive, high-energy volunteers."
It also promotes better customer service. "When volunteers go into a community, they aren't always working with people like them. They begin to understand what's important to others," Martinez said.
He said he believes that strategic giving that stems from what a company is and does is not only socially responsible but also good business practice. When people are proud of what a company stands for, they stick.
"Communities and nonprofits have huge needs for the kinds of business and leadership skills that corporate workers have -- skills in technology, fund-raising or marketing," Lillevedt said. "We're seeing more companies provide skills-based volunteering."
BellSouth is a company that plays to its strengths when giving back to the community. The BellSouth Pioneers group (part of the 600,000-strong Telecom Pioneers, made up of active and retired employees) focuses its volunteer initiatives in the areas of health and human services, education and the environment -- and often delivers its help through technology training.
"There are good reasons to narrow our volunteer initiatives to what we know best," said Bibby King, head of the BellSouth Pioneers and regional vice president of the Telecom Pioneers. "We know technology very well, and there's a great need for our expertise, so it makes sense to take those skills into schools and communities."
BellSouth Pioneers have distributed 16,000 copies of the company's signature Project Connect CDs to fourth- through seventh-grade classrooms, helping children learn more about technology through interactive games and activities. The company supports virtual school curricula and e-learning, with the goal of raising achievement levels and graduation rates, especially among low-income and minority students.
"Through a partnership with the BellSouth Foundation and Hands On Georgia, we're providing computers and training to people who need them," King said. "Our BellSouth Pioneers collect the computers, refurbish them and teach Saturday training classes to children and their families. Those who attend the classes are eligible to receive a computer."
BellSouth employees and retirees donated about 3 million hours of their time to the community in 2005, at a value of more than $53 million.
Corporate volunteerism also is growing across company borders. Seven years ago, a small group of lawyers turned to Hands On Atlanta for help in starting an annual service day for the legal community.
"It started small, with about 130 volunteers, but this year we had 700 to 800 people participate," said Bert Adams, partner with Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan and co-chair for Service Juris.
A committee of representatives (25 to 30) from various law firms directs the projects, which have included working in neighborhoods, parks and schools.
"This year we worked alongside teachers and students to install a KaBOOM! playground, create an educational hiking trail with plants from different biospheres, paint murals and build reading lofts and an outdoor amphitheater at Bolton Academy," Adams said. "As lawyers, a lot of what we do is intangible. It's very gratifying to be able to look around and see the tangible results of what you've done."
National mission
The Hands On Network Corporate Service Council, a national alliance of more than 50 corporate CEOs and civic leaders, is working to increase work forces of corporate volunteers nationwide.
The council -- chaired by Michelle Nunn, co-founder and CEO of Hands On Network; and Bob Nardelli, chairman, president and CEO of Home Depot -- seeks to increase corporate volunteerism by 10 percent in two years, adding 6.4 million volunteers and training 100,000 volunteer leaders. Companies and nonprofit organizations will join forces in September to complete projects during the Hands On Network Corporate Month of Service.
"A lot of companies have stepped up, and they have incredibly strong volunteer programs," Martinez said. "This kind of collective thinking gives us a unique opportunity to learn where the needs are, where the resources are, and work together."
