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smaller nonprofit organizations have the same needs that the larger ones have

virtual volunteers.-Volunteermatch.org -Networkforgood.org -Charityguide.org -icouldbe.org -Onlinevolunteering.org -Serviceleader.org -WorldVolunteerWeb.org -Youthxchange.net

For example, if you are in need of a graphic designer you might be able to find a virtual volunteer half-way across the country willing to design your fundraising promotional materials.

Businesses can build stronger relationships with their stakeholders through their charitable endeavors. Helping others while helping themselves can lead businesses to bigger profits.

on’t forget your employees

Clarify your business’ values

Find out where your stakeholders are donating

First Steps

Picking a Charity

Determine the criteria for the potential charity

arrow it down: Search for charities that meet your criteria. Here is the tedious part. Giving USA cites there were more than 1 million charities in the United States in 2009. You may want to enlist another person or a committee to help with the selection process. GuideStar.org has a wonderful search function that allows you to pick through its database by criteria

Compare mission statements

Make sure organizations are registered

Transparency and accountability

Trustworthy non-profits will discuss their programs and finances

Give your partnership a trial run. Test your partnership by donating to a small project before doing a large campaign.

Charities are a fulfilling way to further the mission of your organization while helping the community in which you live and work. Keep these tips in mind the next time you conduct your next cause marketing or charitable campaign, and your organization will be sure to come out ahead.

La jeune génération a été élevée avec ces valeurs et l'implication sociale est une notion qui gagne en importance pour eux, dit-il. Ils reconnaissent la valeur que ça ajoute à une entreprise

S'il est bien de redonner à sa communauté ou de se préoccuper de questions environnementales, les entreprises doivent faire attention de rester en accord avec leurs valeurs.

Il faut rester cohérent avec l'image de l'entreprise, sinon c'est du mauvais marketing. C'est bien beau, mettre de l'avant de belles valeurs sociales, mais comment cela se traduit-il au quotidien dans l'entreprise? Les jeunes voient clair là-dedans et ne sont pas dupes devant ceux qui essaient d'en profiter!

Si, en tant qu'employeur, vous cherchez une façon de vous engager socialement, M. Simard suggère de d'abord faire l'inventaire de ce que vos employés font déjà par eux-mêmes bénévolement et de s'associer à une démarche qui semble leur tenir à coeur.

Par exemple, au Québec, Randstad est partenaire du Club des petits déjeuners et les employés peuvent servir bénévolement le déjeuner aux enfants avant le travail.

Nul doute, toutes ces initiatives nous aident sur le plan de l'attraction des candidats. Les gens sont fiers de travailler pour nous, ils sont motivés et reconnaissent la valeur que ça ajoute à leur travail de pouvoir être engagés dans leur communauté»

The applicant must be financially sound, and Bell will be strongly impressed by organizations with low administrative costs which can offer a partnership that will fit its corporate vision and strengthen its position in the niches it wants to occupy.

crucial for Bell to have telecommunications exclusivity in the project

s it a unique made-in-Canada concept?

Is it likely to attract positive public attention?", "Is the applicant a Bell Canada customer or potential customer?", "Does this proposal present an opportunity for a commercial return for Bell?", and "Will there be a role for Bell employees to play?" No organization, Foster points out, will ever meet all of the criteria, "... but the more 'Yes's, the better your chances."

Offer proposals that make commercial sense to Bell Canada

Too often, it's the popular kid, and not the most deserving one, who wins. This type of giving poses definite ethical questions. That corporate marketing divisions are using social responsibility as a way to boost the bottom line is the least of these. The aforementioned $200,000 is actually but a part of the $5 million Chase claims to have donated

Non Profits who serve them would rather write a grant and be evaluated by program officers (who hold expertise in specific giving areas) than waste time running in a popularity contest.

Those in charge of allotting corporate, shareholder dollars to charitable organizations have an ethical and fiduciary obligation to uphold best-practices when giving.

The other option, and probably most common, is to have someone or several folks dedicated to “product management.”  That probably makes sense in larger organizations or as companies grow,

However, I personally think that this is very dangerous for an early company, and I’d go so far as to say it’s a major red flag.  Here’s an example of what you want to avoid

it’s a good sign and highly preferable if the founders focus and own the product process.  Ideally they’re also able to “go deep” and be involved in the entire product management process, writing the specs for engineering teams, managing the priorities, etc…

I think the founders of a startup need to be very cognizant and controlling of the product management process, at least until you become a larger organization, and avoid the temptation to hire “someone dedicated to product.”  In my experience, the more people/layers you add to the process and the further the founders step away from the product management the process, the worse the outcome.

each of the ten fraternity chapters on campus agreed to sign on and to collaborate on a philanthropic endeavor this semester and in the future

all fraternities will collaborate philanthropically around an agreed upon theme, sharing resources and co-sponsoring fundraising events together

Because fraternities at Tufts are already so busy with their individual chapter philanthropic activities, it was initially challenging to get all the chapters to sign on

However, once everyone came to the understanding that this was not intended to be a burden but rather a supplement to their ongoing activities, things began to develop well.

ollaboration really has great potential for better utilizing our manpower to maximize the effect we can have

hopes the partnership will help change some of the stereotypes about fraternities.  “While the point of this project is to increase the philanthropic activity of chapters, it is also very much to improve recognition of the philanthropic work chapters have been doing for a while now,

reek chapters participate in or host multiple philanthropy events a semester and the campus doesn't always hear about them, so by bringing all of the chapters together it is hoped that awareness of fraternity charitable activity will increase.

Field said one major attraction for companies is the chance to align their employee volunteer programs with the objective of their business.

Volunteer programs are tied efforts to retain two major employee groups, younger workers looking for work-life balance and ready-to-retire older workers who want to serve their communities,

Bramhall, 29 agreed the Development Partnerships program is a retention tool for Accenture.

Workers who are part of Gen Y say they want a job that lets them also exercise their personal values and beliefs, according to a study by Deloitte & Touche USA LLC. The study shows 62 percent of Gen Y respondents between the ages of 18 and 26 want to work for companies that give them a chance to use their skills to help a nonprofit.

Lupe Garcia, associate general counsel in the legal department at Gap, Inc. said her supervisors have recognized the fundraising and communication skills she developed in her volunteer work have increased her skills

Employees at Gap can spend up to five hours of paid time each month on a volunteer activity. If they spend 15 hours of their own time volunteering, Gap will give $150 to the organization, as well as matching any employee donations.

"An important driver in wanting to do this was really a desire to do something with my skills that had a broader impact, that had a deeply social impact," Coghlan said.

Internal communication and collaboration within intranets has documented solid ROI’s encouraging companies to look to it more and more for increased innovation and decreased costs. While many organizations have achieved these positive ROI’s, the process to realizing them is often challenged. Activating the community, and getting users to interact with each other becomes a difficult behavioral change, but one that is invaluable to the company as a whole and its employees

No one is participating because companies are simply using a different communication medium for the same old message. The voice of a community should reign relevant to the workers, not the executives, a common mistake we see with many failed internal community and intranet projects.  The fastest way to make a community relevant and to gain participation is to make it human and to upgrade the messaging to fit the distribution tool.

Identify ambassadors/ Experts: Don’t ignore those able to deliver genuine knowledge, identify them, embrace them, and give them room to speak in a HUMAN voice. Engagement breeds engagement. People who are most likely to contribute include natural leaders, employee’s active on other social networks, and members who had a say in the initial community planning stages,

Recognize these experts: Thank users who do participate. Many companies build communities prompting “Find an Expert” “Ask a Question” but the true value of the question and answer feature is getting people to answer those questions.

Invest in Information Architecture and User Experience: We’ve seen several communities that are lacking engagement because it is unclear to users HOW to engage.  Investments in information architecture are often over looked, even though they are vitally important. 

Current Dollar Fair Market Valuation Pro bono work should be valued at Fair Market Value (FMV) and recorded as non-cash giving in CECP Survey Question 9.  FMV is the hourly or project cost that a paying client would incur for the same service. Companies are encouraged to use the three scenarios below to assist in determining the FMV of services rendered.  The dollar values in the scenarios below are based upon current U.S. salary data adjusted to account for geographic differences and typical fee-discounting practices.  CECP is currently unable to provide dollar-value assistance for non-U.S. pro bono service. Paid-release-time service that does not meet the pro bono criteria should be recorded at a dollar value that is appropriate to the skills involved in CECP Survey Question 22 (do not include pro bono hours in Question 22, as that would be double counting hours recorded in Question 9). When in doubt, the current Independent Sector rate is appropriate.

For companies with minimal pro bono tracking capabilities In the absence of employee skill area data and internal billing rates, CECP recommends using an estimate of $120 per hour for pro bono service projects. This is based on a rounded average billing rate for mid-level employees across disciplines, highlighted below. For companies with moderate pro bono tracking capabilities Companies that track the seniority level or skills deployed in pro bono projects should use the following chart to value pro bono hours if internal rates are not available.

For companies with robust pro bono tracking capabilities Companies should use their best internal billing information to determine the FMV of services rendered. These valuations should be adjusted to reflect billing differences by: geography, seniority level, rate discounting, employee skill area, etc. To do this, companies must track project metrics that affect billing rates so that an accurate, defensible valuation for pro bono contributions can be recorded. CECP strongly encourages companies to track pro bono to this level of specificity whenever possible.

Why now?

what's with the boom in charity work in recent years?

candidates for medical school are becoming more and more qualified right out of university. With great grades and amazing recommendations, it can be hard to differentiate yourself from the pack. Enter philanthropy.

It adds some much-needed clout to your character and shows you can commit yourself fully to a project and see it through until the end.

Bus ads, billboards and online banner announcements all broadcast the latest causes to hit the scene. Perhaps all this good karma talk has seeped into our collective subconscious minds and led us to believe that the only way to live a worthwhile life is to include a little do-gooding in our daily activities.

the most important factor at play when it comes to philanthropy: the pure, selfish, unadulterated sense of warmth and happiness that comes from knowing that you've just used your valuable time to help someone who's not you

we've all started realizing that helping other people is just another way of helping yourself.

behind every good charity organization, there stands an army of amazing volunteers. So, here's to all you karma junkies, altruism enthusiasts and kindness fanatics out there. Consider yourselves all cyber high-fived, because the work you're doing is actually making the world a better place.

This stand

e message that Quebec promotes the right balance between work and family

So far there has been lots of interest from companies and public organizations

McMaster University business professor Nick Bontis said he’s not aware of any other government certification programs similar to Quebec’s

“We’ve been doing it on our own for two years

“We view it as an investment.

This is still a hard sell to corporations.

This is a program for companies of all sizes and in all sectors,

think this is amazing. It sends a signal to the rest of the world that Canada is pushing the envelope