Philanthropy

The Hemmelgarn family has adopted two sibling groups (five children!) from foster care. They finalized the adoption of their youngest son on April 27. We love when siblings find their forever home together.

Did you know there are more than 425,000 children in foster care right now? And that more than 130,000 of them are in need of loving, adoptive homes?

We know from previous research that employees view their employers as facilitators and multipliers for their own philanthropic efforts. But what exactly does that mean? What types of giving methods and opportunities are employees specifically interested in, and what inspires them to actually participate?

This fall, America’s Charities will give you answers to these questions and more when we release Snapshot 2017, the latest in our research series on employee giving and engagement trends.

Despite the intensive time commitment while working a full-time job on a First Nations reserve, vice principal Craig Lindsay didn’t hesitate to sign up when he heard about a new course for principals at First Nations schools offered through the Martin Family Initiative (MFI). Previously called the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, the organization founded by former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is dedicated to improving education for Indigenous students in Canada.

AEG’s National Hockey League (NHL) team, the Los Angeles Kings, announced a $150,000 donation toward the completion of the highly anticipated El Segundo Aquatic Center in El Segundo, Calif. The Aquatics Center, which aims to put swim safety and swim sports to the forefront of the South Bay, is designed to be available for both the general public and members of the Wiseburn and El Segundo high schools.

Weleda, Europe’s leading skincare brand and Whole Foods Market, America’s healthiest store, have aligned their values to offer a travel kit of skin and body care products worth $25 for only $5. All proceeds from the sale of the kits will benefit Whole Kids Foundation - specifically school gardens in the three participating states - NY, NJ, CT.

Today on CauseTalk Radio, Megan and I talk to Buffy Swinehart, Senior Manager, Cause Marketing for Aflac, on the company's Duckprints campaign to fight childhood cancer.

I recently had a conversation with the Reputation Institute, a leading research and advisory firm that collects and analyzes data and proffers advice about corporate reputation. We discussed Pulse Scores, derived from data that the Institute calculates for companies to measure their public reputation. Its algorithms are based on seven dimensions: leadership, performance, products/services, innovation, citizenship, governance and workplace.

Kimberly-Clark celebrates its 25th year of the Bright Futures Scholarship Program by awarding $1.08 million in college scholarships this year to 54 children of Kimberly-Clark employees across 18 states and Canada. Since its inception, the program has awarded over $39 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 students.

As millions of Indian citizens continue to struggle with poor access to clean drinking water, 21st Century Fox’s National Geographic has teamed with Water Aid India and top talent from Bollywood to launch Mission Blue, a new initiative to raise awareness of water scarcity and drive conservation. The company will air documentaries and television specials about the crisis across its channels in India, and the campaign’s website will provide digital tools allowing viewers to calculate their own water footprints and provide ways to save water in their daily lives.