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This issue of Common Connection is dedicated to Common Impact's corporate partners:
|
BEA CA Cisco Systems Eaton Vance |
Fidelity Investments Goodwin Procter Keane State Street Corporation |
Our partners' dedication to their communities and their interest in working with nonprofit organizations to make a real difference are a constant source of inspiration to us here at Common Impact. Thank you to all of the people who make our partnerships vibrant, exciting, and fun.
Our corporate partners have helped more than 250 volunteers put their business skills to work in the community. Those volunteers have contributed nearly 5,000 hours of pro-bono work to nonprofit organizations, and made an incalculable difference in the delivery of services to people in need.
When we formed a partnership with CA, one of the world's largest IT management software providers, earlier this year, we knew that it held enormous potential. But we got a sense of this potential when we met Eric Snow, CA's Director of Public Relations, and saw his marketing skills at work in the community. The nonprofit sector may never be the same. Common Impact Marketing Consultant Karen Horwitz wanted you to meet him, too, and here's what she got on him:
Karen: Hi Eric, can you tell us a little bit about CA?
Eric: CA is one of the world's largest management software companies. In plain English, what that means is that we make the software organizations use to ensure their technology infrastructure is as reliable as possible. The company, formerly known as Computer Associates, has about 15,000 employees around the world, of which about 700 are in the greater Boston area.
Karen: So what brings CA and Common Impact together? How does Common Impact fit into CA's community involvement?
Eric: CA is committed to maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in the communities where the company has a major presence. Volunteer programs at CA are an important component of our overall corporate citizenship program. Common Impact enables CA employees to find a great match for their skill sets and areas of interest. In short, Common Impact helps make CA's volunteer program successful because it makes it easy for CA employees to have a rewarding volunteer experience.
Karen: Last fall, you led a team of CA volunteers in a day of service with Common Impact and Project R.I.G.H.T., a nonprofit that strengthens and coordinates services in the Grove Hall area of Boston. Could you tell us a little about that project?
Eric: Sure. Several individuals from CA's marketing department spent a day with the executive director of Project R.I.G.H.T. to help them re-evaluate some of their market material. We offered suggestions for changes to several pieces of collateral and completely redesigned one of their lead brochures. One of the best parts of the whole experience was that it was a totally collaborative process. I think our outside perspective was received as a breath of fresh air by Project R.I.G.H.T., but we were also quite careful to ensure that the ideas we offered fit within the organization's existing profile – and met with the executive director's approval. Over the course of the day each of the volunteers gained a true appreciation for how hard people at organizations like Project R.I.G.H.T. work, and how committed they are to their mission.
Karen: Many of our partners tell us that working with Common Impact not only helps them to make an impact in their local community, but also helps them to develop a stronger internal culture and sense of community within the company. Would you agree?
Eric: I couldn't agree more. One of the things that
struck me the most from my volunteer experience was that skills I
take for granted every day were like gold to the organization we
were working with. It reinvigorated all of us on the volunteer team
and gave us a renewed appreciation for our skills – in this case in
marketing. The volunteers from CA were all seasoned marketing
professionals, but the executive director of the organization we
were helping had very little marketing training. It was a great
match (thanks to Common Impact) and got the CA volunteers to
remember the value that we provide. I think it has made each of us
better marketers for CA because we have a renewed enthusiasm for
what marketing is all about.
Karen: Are you going to volunteer again this year? Why or why
not?
Eric: Absolutely. The partnership between CA and Common Impact makes it easy because I don't have to search for a volunteer opportunity – many that fit my skill set and area of interest are presented to me and I can simply choose from those. In addition, CA encourages its employees to volunteer by allowing us each to take three days off as paid "volunteer" days. What more incentive does one need?
Karen: So, say CA and Common Impact were two families who lived next
to each other; maybe in Framingham near your office. What kind of neighbors
would we be? Could we borrow your grill?
Eric: You bet. But there's a catch. We'd have to enjoy our cook outs
together all summer long!
Karen: Thanks, Eric. We hope to do the cook out soon!
Common Impact's Centi-Client!
We are now serving our 100th nonprofit client--the Boston Society of Vulcans. They empower people in need through education and support in the area of fire & public safety, prevention, and employment into the fire service. They do impressive work, and we are helping them with their marketing to make sure the community knows it. We are looking forward to a next hundred clients as exciting and effective as the Boston Society of Vulcans and the other 99 fantastic clients we have served. Who wants to be our Bi-Centi-Client?
Conversations Around Town
Common Impact may be appearing soon at a conference near you, if you are near Boston. Come see us speak:
Executive Minds for Social Innovation
Topic: How to Develop Strategic Corporate/Nonprofit Partnerships
Moderators: Brenda Ginsberg (Founder, Invision Consulting) and Christianna Beebe
Smith, (Independent Consultant)
Panelists: Jim Salzano (Executive Vice President, The Clarks Companies),
Marjorie Victor (Corporate Partnerships Office, Oxfam USA), Anne Erhard
(Director, Cone LLC) and Theresa Ellis (Founder, Common Impact).
Thursday, June 21st from 11:30am to 2:00pm at Ritz-Carlton Boston Common,
Hamilton Room
Recent Conferences
Empowering Communities through Electronic Information Access:
Public Policy and Effective Community Practices
Topic: Leveraging Corporate Talent for Community Gain
Saturday, June 9th, Northeastern University
The Nonprofit Technology Conference put on by our friends at NTEN
Topic: Does Anyone Ever Raise Money for Technology Anyways?
Moderator: Theresa Ellis (Common Impact)
Panelists: Cathleen Finn (IBM), David Ford (Richard and Susan Smith Family
Foundation), Tom Hamel (Generations, Incorporated), Geeta Pradhan (Boston
Foundation), and Roberto Cremonini (Barr Foundation).
Tuesday, June 5th, at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge
Common Impact is Hiring
There is still time to ricochet your resume through our human
resourcery if you want to be Common Impact's next Information
Technology Consultant or partner up with Uncle Sam's Americorps
VISTA program to be our VISTA Special Projects Associate. Come work
with a great team of dedicated do-gooders--we'll even give you the
good stapler (sorry Karen). Check out the job listings at http://www.commonimpact.org/go/jobs
New Faces, a New Place, and a Leavetaking
Welcome Jenifer!
The whole team wants to give a newslettery welcome to Jenifer Aiello, Common Impact's new and stunning Office Manager. It's worth calling us just to talk to her--make something up to ask us about.
Welcome Shabduli!
Summer is upon us, and we are fortunate to welcome Shabduli Purav, Tuck '08 MBA Candidate, as our summer intern. Shabduli came to us with a background in consulting at Evaluserve, a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Pune, and a strong desire to see what life in the nonprofit sector is like. Her assistance with our market research and strategic planning will be invaluable!
Congratulations Sameen!
A hearty round of congratulations to Sameen Saeed, who has been promoted to Director of External Relations. That's good news for many of you out there, who will be enjoying the paper-and-ink incarnations of Sameen's intelligence, dedication, and unrelenting concern for the happiness of others.
Farewell, Dear Readers
After two great years of writing to you, the far-flung friends of Common Impact, your newsletterist is stepping down to start a new career in engineering. I suppose it will be my last abuse of the power of the pen to substitute my own message for the team's farewell to me. It has been one of the many pleasures of my work to correspond with all of you out there, and I am comforted to know that I am leaving your inboxes in the excellent care of Sameen. Many many thanks to all of my friends at Common Impact, and to all of Common Impact's friends who keep this extraordinary organization going. Who was that guy? Weston Smith: Development and Communications Associate, Common Impact.
A recent article in Fortune Magazine (Vol. 155, No 10 - May 28, 2007) on the entry of the children of baby-boomers' in the workplace, reports that these twenty-something's, about 79.8 million members of Generation Y, have high expectations for themselves and need constant stimulation from their employers.
From the article: "This is the most high-maintenance workforce in the history of the world. The good news is they're also going to be the most high-performing workforce in the history of the world. They walk in with more information in their heads, more information at their fingertips - and, sure, they have high expectations, but they have the highest expectations first and foremost for themselves,' said Bruce Tulgan, the founder of leading generational-research firm RainmakerThinking."
View the full article at: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033934/index.htm
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