Giva Blog Categories : Corporate Social Responsibility

Volunteers dedicate their time and efforts to a variety of industries, at every corner of the earth. Data from a survey released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016, the most recent year available, shows that about one-quarter of Americans take time to volunteer. Giva believes that by offering spare time, unique skills, talents and more, you can affect positive change, both in your life, another person's life, and the world as a whole.

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Any large company executive knows that corporate giving is an essential piece of their business model. What started in the mid-twentieth century as a grassroots effort to limit the power and spread the wealth of large for-profit businesses, has now been embraced by top corporations to better their company and community. The result is a revolutionized standard for how we view and operate businesses. With the ever-growing ability to interact with potential customers, corporations have discovered that people respond well to benevolence; they support the business that supports others and makes a positive impact in their community. Corporate social responsibility has successfully woven itself into the corporate world, and not only is it here to stay, it seems to be growing in power, presence, and profit.

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The Center for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) recently released a report on the sustainability of trends in Silicon Valley. The question about whether Silicon Valley corporations, of all shapes and sizes, are or are not models of sustainability, is still up for debate. Though the CSE report does provide vital research and data on this very topic, with an aim to achieve a clear cut answer.

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In June of last year, Points of Light held their ninth annual Service Unites conference in the city of Detroit, to promote and commemorate giving back to communities on individual, group, and corporate levels. It is the largest yearly congregation in the name of volunteer work in the world.

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Corporate social responsibility has already deeply implanted itself in the worldwide economy, in the shape of government policies and corporate campaigns. As the concept continues to grow, current trends are beginning to develop that are gradually redefining and strengthening the presence of business altruism.

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How can a for-profit philanthropic company be more beneficial to a cause than a nonprofit? YourCause, an online platform for corporate social responsibility, answers this question with a guarantee held strongly from its creation: all donation funds are transferred directly to the charity organizations intended to receive them, with no money taken out to support the company itself. While most nonprofits subtract a fraction of their user's contributions to keep their business afloat, YourCause makes sure that the causes to which their users contribute are not denied a cent of what was intended for them. The program gains financial means instead through company memberships and investors that see promise in their purity.

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In the early 1980s, Bernie Glassman saw a need among individuals in the Yonkers community for a second chance at life. Yonkers has the highest concentration of poverty in Westchester County, with 18.5% of Southwest Yonkers residents living below the poverty line and 11% being unemployed. When Glassman opened Greyston Bakery in 1982, he made it his mission to give the hard-to-employ a way out of poverty.

Greyston Bakery employs an Open Hiring™ Model. Anyone who comes to the bakery is given a chance to work, no questions asked. The bakery uses a waiting list, and as soon as a job becomes available, it is given to the next person on the list. Because the bakery trains its employees in baking and employment readiness skills during an apprenticeship period, any individual can work, regardless of background or work history.

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The 6th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest wrapped up earlier this year, and in doing so, provided $2 million in Samsung Technology to public schools across the United States. The Solve for Tomorrow Contest was launched in 2010 by Samsung to support and encourage science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education among K-12 students. The goal is to increase students' enthusiasm for STEM learning while also encouraging them to use that learning to help make a difference in their community. Samsung partners with BrainPoP, the National Environmental Education Foundation, and Adobe to make this contest possible. Entry into the contest is straightforward: contestants make a two-minute video describing how their project improves their community.

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In the United States, buildings account for 38% of all CO2 emissions, 73% of electricity consumption, and nearly 14% of potable water used per year. Both companies and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on the environment. 61% of corporate leaders think that sustainability helps companies improve their financial performance and differentiate themselves in the market.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is a way to demonstrate the quality and achievement of a building's or neighborhood's green features. LEED certifies 1.85 million square feet of construction space every day, making it the most widely used green building rating system in the world. The U.S. Green Building Council estimates that every day nearly 5 million people experience a LEED building.

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