Positive Change

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit which envisions a country where every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, will close its application period for its national Youth Advisory Council (YAC) on Friday, May 5. Applications are open to students entering their sophomore, junior or senior years in the fall of 2017.

Increasingly, today’s diverse workforce is looking for employers to provide purpose in the workplace and to help them make a difference at work, at home and in the community. And, for good reason, more companies are taking notice: highly engaged employees are 38 percent more likely to have above-average productivity and 87 percent less likely to leave the organization.

"I volunteer because I care for future change. In 20 years I want to look back and see how much this world has changed, and know that I was a part of changing it,” said Sam Barrington, NFL linebacker – an unrestricted free agent who previously played three seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

In recognition of National Volunteer Week taking place April 23-29, Benevity shares that Spark, its market leading cloud solution for workplace giving, grantmaking and volunteering was used by enterprise clients to achieve record growth in volunteering, helping to drive employee engagement and skills development, while making a positive social impact in their local communities. Together, Benevity clients continue to experience triple digit year-over-year increases in corporate volunteer hours as they leverage Spark’s easy-to-use, mobile-friendly volunteer sign-up, time tracking and rewards capabilities to give time and expertise to causes that matter to them.

In this episode of Community Voices of Change, Daniel Horgan interviews Common Impact CEO, Danielle Holly about Common Impact's work with companies designing and implementing skill-based volunteering initiatives, her insights on nonprofit capacity building and pro tips on project management.

"I volunteer because I want to see real change in our communities," said Michael Thomas, safety for the Miami Dolphins. Dedicated to giving back, he was one of the first NFL players to participate in the First Step Program – an initiative led by Daily Point of Light Award honoree Scott Van Duzer that gives kids and teens the opportunity to engage with community leaders on a regular basis, coming together for casual pick-up games, mentoring and small group discussions on community issues.

National Rebuilding Month will culminate on National Rebuilding Day, Saturday April, 29 and will engage volunteers in a concerted effort to complete repairs on homes, nonprofit facilities and community spaces to bring immediate, transformational change to communities across America on the same day.

For companies looking for simple, cost-effective ways to give back to the community, it’s hard to beat a donation program. Providing products or gift cards to local community groups is often the first step a company takes in launching a corporate giving program.

According to Honda, millennial drivers have the highest rates of texting (74%) and checking social media sites (36%) while driving. In response, Honda created a parody music video titled “Designated Texter” which presents a new solution to texting while driving.

Thanks to nearly 43,000 volunteers, Rebuilding Together completed over 1,900 home and community projects during National Rebuilding Month in 2016. Be a part of the impact this year!