Newsletters
Common Connection
Volume 3, Number 2: August 13, 2008
This issue of Common Connection is dedicated to Common Impact's corporate partners:
Accenture Ltd.
Analog Devices
BEA Systems, Inc.
(now Oracle Corporation)
CA, Inc.
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Eaton Vance Corp.
FMR LLC
Genworth Financial, Inc.
Goodwin Procter LLP
Keane International, Inc.
Morgan Stanley
State Street Corp.
We continue to be inspired by the dedication of these companies to tap into their human capital for the purpose of addressing the business challenges of nonprofit organizations poised to solve social and environmental problems in our local communities. Thank you to all of the people who enable our partnerships to thrive and succeed.
Telling Totals
Our corporate partners have helped over
400 of their top-notch employees to bring diverse professional talents to their local communities. Thus far, these employees have spent over
9,000 hours helping community-based nonprofits strengthen their abilities to achieve their mission.
Relentless Rigor!
Recently, our own
Danielle Holly had the chance to find out why
Ken Palmer of Fidelity Investments has completed five projects through the Fidelity Cares / Common Impact skills-based volunteering program. She also was curious to learn more about what Ken does in his day job.
Danielle: Hi Ken, can you inform our readers of the role that Pyramis Global Advisors plays in the Fidelity Investments family?
Ken: Pyramis provides investment management services to corporate and public retirement funds, endowments, foundations, and other institutions.
Danielle: Hmmm, that's pretty different than what you've done as a volunteer. What has intrigued you about the nonprofit sector? How does skills-based volunteering fit into your personal interests and the role Fidelity plays in the community?
Ken: When I signed up for my first Fidelity Cares / Common Impact project, I had no experience with the nonprofit sector. I was interested to see how business was conducted when the cause being championed was more important than profitability. My involvement with Common Impact has allowed me to learn a great deal about how small nonprofits run their business. It has also allowed me to meet a lot of good people, doing great things for their community. It has been a great source of pride knowing that I could be a part of what these organizations are accomplishing.
Danielle: Tell us about one nonprofit project that made a significant impact on your team and on you, in particular.
Ken: I was part of a team that worked with the Boston Learning Council on a project to support their BIFF (Building Inspiration to Fight Failure) program. This program provided inner city youth with incentives to excel academically. They are working to counter the idea among teens that "being smart isn't cool." This program provides incentives such as gift certificates for improved grades, and limousines to pick up students at school that make honor roll so that their peers can see the rewards of their accomplishments. I know that high school students try to blend in with their peers. I felt that this was a great way to encourage students to risk "standing out." Tomorrow's leaders will not be the people that don't "stand out."
Danielle: How have your experiences affected you on a professional level? Do you think they have influenced who you are as a colleague? If so, how?
Ken: The work I've done with Common Impact has shown me people who exhibit the highest level of teamwork I've ever seen, as it is the only way these organizations can get the job done. As a colleague, I have seen this level of team focus and try to give the same at my job every day.
Danielle: Now for the interview toughie....if Common Impact was a bar of chocolate, what would we be? We hope you won't say "full of nuts!!"
Ken: I would have to say that Common Impact would be a Reese's peanut butter cup. When you look at the surface it looks like a great thing, but until you dig into it you don't know just how good it can be.
New and Newsworthy
Report on the 2008 National Conference on Volunteering and Service
Organized by the Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the 2008 National Conference took place in Atlanta in June, convening more than 4,500 nonprofit and corporate leaders to discuss the need for bold civic action. Throughout the three-day conference, we heard business leaders reinforce their commitment towards social responsibility and emphasize the importance of pro bono service to better our communities.
Common Impact convened a panel session with corporate leaders from Deloitte LLP, Genworth Financial, KPMG LLP, and State Street Corporation entitled "Skills-based Volunteerism: Strategies to Engage Employees." We were delighted to see the burgeoning interest at the conference in this innovative approach to volunteering and employee engagement. If you missed the conference, but have an opinion or a question to share on the topic, please !
Stellar Strategic Partners
Common Impact's strategic partners have helped us grow by leaps and bounds in our ability to form valuable relationships with others who have the passion and the resources to solve social problems. In this space, we'd like to recognize two of these stellar partners: The Boston Society for Information Management (SIM) and Engage Training.
Boston SIM
For the past three years, the Boston chapter of the Society for Information Management has designated Common Impact as an "Outreach Partner," giving us access to a rich set of networking and educational programs at no cost. In 2008, Boston SIM also provided a financial grant to Common Impact to underwrite the cost of two nonprofit organizations seeking our IT services. Thank you, Boston SIM! We hope to see a lot of you this fall.
About Boston SIM: Boston SIM provides its membership of more than 400 CIO's and other senior IT Practitioners with a network of resources to enhance personal and professional growth. As the largest and most active chapter of SIM International, Boston SIM can offer IT Executives a unique opportunity to meet and personally interact with their peers and to "give back" to the community through our Outreach Programs. Senior IT Executives are invited to go to the SIM International web site,
www.simnet.org and then navigate to the Boston Chapter site for more information. You may also contact Michael Brooks at 781-359-1729 or via email at .
Engage Training
Engage Training has generously provided to Common Impact's staff a set of training experiences that have brought our presentation and relationship development skills to a new level. We feel extremely fortunate to be a pro bono client of Engage Training, and want to say a big thank you to Bruce Campbell, Founder and CEO.
About Engage: Engage created Boston's first socially responsible leadership development program. Their distinctive program, called Leadership 365, gives business leaders an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on their favorite non-profits organizational and fundraising performance while giving their company a new strategy for developing and retaining their next generation of socially responsible leaders. For more information, please visit their website:
http://engagetraining.com.
Viewpoints
The Latest Office Perk: Getting Paid to Volunteer
A recent article in the
Wall Street Journal reports that companies are increasingly lending the skills of their employees to nonprofit organizations "on company time -- and the company dime -- even if it means employees miss weeks or months of work." This has benefits not only for the community but also strengthens the company bottom line.
From the article: Employees often gain a broader perspective on business when they do their jobs in different settings -- knowledge they can bring back to the organization. And, say employers, first-rate corporate volunteer programs help attract and retain so-called millennials -- workers born after 1980 -- who are needed to help fill vacancies expected to be created by the impending retirement wave of the baby-boomer generation.
View the full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120940853880850351.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
New Members of the Team
Thank you, Annie--Program and Marketing Intern.A rising senior at Bryn Mawr College, Annie Morse came to Common Impact having spent a semester studying the effects of globalization on the environment at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her work in non-profit consulting at CLFV, the non-profit affiliate of the Conservation Law Foundation, has inspired and prepared her to take on the business research assignments of her Common Impact internship. Annie worked closely with our consulting and marketing staff on special projects including program evaluation, market research, and technology solutions.
Thank you, Katie--Strategic Communications Intern.Katie McPadden came to Common Impact while working toward a master's degree in Communications at Boston University. Excited about encouraging people to develop relationships between the corporate and nonprofit sectors, Katie is helping us to place articles in local and national business press and to promote the research that Common Impact has been gathering for the past seven years.
Thank you, Michelle--Product Development Intern.Michelle Stratton is currently pursuing her M.B.A. at Boston College in Finance and Leadership. She came to Common Impact with an undergraduate degree in Finance and a minor in International Business. With four years of professional experience in the financial services industry, Michelle has been applying her experience by helping us develop our financial management and accounting service offerings to nonprofits and companies.
Make Way for Ducklings!
With our beaks in the air, watching out for cars on Charles Street and led by Naomi Dreyer, our team made it safely to the Boston Public Garden for our semi-annual fun day. After an afternoon relaxing together in the park, we couldn't imagine anywhere else we'd want to be!
Summer Greetings from the Common Impact Team!
The Small Print
Thank you for reading the quarterly newsletter of Common Impact! We welcome your comments and contributions. Please send all inquiries to:
Common Impact
The Athenaeum Building
215 First Street, Suite 25
Cambridge, MA 02142-1236
Phone: (617) 492-3105
E-Mail: info@commonimpact.org
