Silver Crosshair

The volunteers’ friendship can tie their community together more closely, and of course it will fulfill the volunteers’ goal of giving charity to those incapable of supporting themselves. The obvious problem is that organizing your schedule so that you’re free to volunteer often squanders time that could really be put to so much better use elsewhere. And don’t you agree that if you had your co-workers volunteering alongside you you’d all enjoy yourselves more?

In reaction, a number of companies are making themselves into initiatives encouraging their employees to support the community through volunteer activities. One of the leaders in this is Adaptive Marketing LLC of Connecticut who developed shopping and financial benefits programs including Privacy Matters Identity (MVQ*PRIVACYMID) to consumers. If you think of company-supported charitable effort, you probably think of giving blood, maybe an annual donation drive, and no more, but that’s simply no longer true. Looking at a specific company, Adaptive Marketing has offered staff the opportunity to help with anything from athletic shoe recycling efforts to local tree planting events. With all information — time, date, location, type of event, et cetera — displayed in advance it is a simple matter for staff members to decide the precise amount of time they’d be giving and how they’d be using it. Giving volunteers their say in which activities the company sponsors is essential. Firms providing this kind of service to their community like Adaptive Marketing, the developers of the program Privacy Matters Identity (MVQ*PRIVACYMID), present their staff members with a wide range of projects in the local area. Once you start looking for things to do you see so many; getting involved in the education of children and young adults, lending a hand to green programs, or supporting local artists to name just a few. Adaptive Marketing’s members of staff are presented with such a choice that they’re sure to find a project they’ll enjoy participating in, ensuring they’ll enjoy the time they spend volunteering.

Typically a company sponsored charity project — fundraising with a local school, say, or assisting at a homeless shelter — is either done on a regular schedule or as a one-off event. Even if you’ve only got enough time to help out at the public library’s used book sale or a Saturday morning park clean-up, you’ve still got plenty of time to help. Commercial history is full of examples of organizations giving back to the citizens of their home town. A sense of community goodwill builds from the volunteer work done by Adaptive Marketing’s members of staff, and the members of staff of companies like it, over the course of these company-supported projects. The simple fact is, the benefits of volunteer work include a sense of accomplishment and generosity — a positive feeling that can influence the entire corporate culture.