California Business - Volume 3, Issue 1 - Northern California - 21

who could use them before expiration."
The chain identified child hunger
as its mission and focused on supplying
groceries to organizations throughout its
footprint that addressed child hunger.
"It worked out very well," Urban says.
"They started a program, employees volunteered to help, and they utilized their
supply chain to help get the food where it
needed to go. It's a great example of using
resources other than a dollar to make a
difference."
Getting	employees	involved
The inspiration for community service often starts at the bottom of an organization
and wells upward. Volunteerism is a powerful motivational tool that you can use to
better engage your workforce, strengthen
your culture, and perhaps most important,
strengthen your customer service.
"There is all kinds of research that indicates employees engaged in volunteerism
are also better engaged with customers," Urban says. "It's especially true with
younger employees, where there is a strong
movement around volunteerism."
Encourage the groundswell and give

"If you take the time
to build a strategy
for your company,
you'll always have a
foundation in place
for guidance."
- John Urban, senior partner,
The Philanthropic Initiative

employees a chance to serve. As with
anything else in the workplace, when
employees feel like their voices are heard
and their actions can make a real impact,
they're more motivated and perform at a
higher level overall.
"We were working with a scientific company that decided to develop an employee

engagement program for community service initiatives," Urban says. "It led to the
formation of community action councils,
in which employees in different regions sit
on a council and advise management on
the community needs in their respective
regions. They determine how the dollars
will be spent, and I think that's a great
example of how a giving strategy can work
from the bottom up."
Developing and executing a philanthropic strategy comes down to asking a
lot of questions - of your employees, your
stakeholders and of organizations that
might benefit from your giving. Finding
the right answers to those questions helps
you create strategic alignment, which
ensures your dollars and time make the
maximum impact.
"Just as individual philanthropy is
driven by your interests, so is corporate
philanthropy," Urban says. "Different companies will have different goals, and if you
take the time to build a strategy for your
company, you'll always have a foundation
in place for guidance. Course corrections
can be made down the road, but you'll
have the system in place." *

California Business * 21
California Business - Volume 3, Issue 1 - Northern California

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