Best corporate practices for supporting nonprofits during a ‘state of emergency’

With threats to organizations and community basic needs mounting, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment for the nonprofit sector. Corporate, foundation and government spending are on the decline. Professional services offering pro bono and discounted services are needed more than ever, along with corporate sponsorship and volunteerism. But are some companies looking to take advantage of this moment, take up space and profit off of “services” they broker for nonprofits that aren’t really needed? 

New York Nonprofit Media caught up with Jessica Sloan, executive director of Raised By Us, to learn how her organization is bridging the gap between companies and groups with resources wanting to serve their communities and the nonprofits that can make that goal a reality. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Before we get into the current moment we are in, tell me a little bit about your background. 

I’m a lifelong nonprofit-er. I was always driven by a combination of helping others and problem-solving. I started off my career in mental health, first providing one-on-one support and then overseeing programming that had a larger reach. I think everyone has a moment or two in their careers where there is a distinct turning point. For me, I got this serendipitous opportunity to join an incredible charter school in the South Bronx, Mott Haven Academy, and lead their social-emotional work (they are the first school in the country dedicated to serving child welfare involved youth), and take fundraising and external relations off the founder and principal’s plate. I realized by helping high-impact organizations secure the funds they needed to do their mission-critical work, raise awareness and pursue high-ROI partnerships, I could sort of “flywheel” the impact that drove me. 

I’ve spent the next part of my career leading external engagement and fundraising for a variety of youth-serving organizations that are both local to New York City and international. In the midst of the pandemic, at a time when nonprofits were in the highest demand and needed the most support, I had the opportunity to lead the Raised By Us team from start-up to scale-up mode. And the rest is history.

What is Raised By Us, and what drew you to this work?

Raised By Us is a unique nonprofit. We fill the gap between people who want to give back and nonprofits that critically need the support by mobilizing good within workplaces. 

We partner with companies, mostly high-growth startups, to help them leverage their resources and activate their employees to give back to causes they care about in meaningful ways. Historically, that meant campaigning for micro- or small-dollar donations that added up to millions of dollars annually, and now we also unlock generosity through high-impact volunteer engagements and what we call socially conscious events - opportunities to bring people together for connection and team-building that are purpose-driven and raise awareness and support for community-based organizations..

When I learned of Raised By Us’ mission and its focus on working with the innovative venture sector, I thought there was a real opportunity to engage companies that, by definition, were creating new categories and ways of doing things, and transform traditional social impact programs into real vehicles for change. 

What is the good Raised By Us seeks to do in this world, and why is this especially important today?

Nonprofits are operating in a state of emergency right now. I sat in a room of Executive Directors yesterday and everyone was sharing how reduced funding across all revenue streams - government, foundations, corporations - was impacting their operations and ability to deliver their programs. And yet, at the same time, so many people want to help and do something, but don’t always know how or where to direct that energy. 

Our goal is to enable companies to give back to their communities in a high-impact way –  whether that’s through company-level generosity of donations and grants and/or creating the space for their employees to give back. Every event, engagement, and partnership we design is based on an actual need that has been communicated to us by nonprofits. 

Most businesses are facing challenges right now, whether you are nonprofit or for-profit, to find time and resources. For nonprofits, we are expected to do more with less right now (less funding, less staff, and highest need), and for company social impact programs, we see a lot of budgets being cut and teams downsized.  

Even before the current crisis, an estimated $4 to $7 billion in corporate employee donation match funds were left unclaimed each year. This poses a significant opportunity for nonprofits to receive critical funding, for employees to amplify their charitable impact, and for companies to support and celebrate causes their workforce cares about in a high-impact way. But we are seeing more and more matching budgets being cut or funds being offered as a vanity benefit with zero effort in place for them to be utilized. 

We’re also seeing a lot of companies put most, if not all, of their social impact eggs into the volunteering basket right now. Volunteer projects are doing double duty as corporate social responsibility and also building culture and increasing connection to and within the company. There’s a natural intersection and opportunity to merge team-building and belonging initiatives with giving back. This can be a win-win when done right. 

Can some companies get it wrong? 

Companies – and the people leading social impact initiatives - have great intentions. They want to support their community and provide opportunities to their workforce to do the same. But the intent doesn’t always match the impact.

As a development director, I spent a lot of time explaining why turn-key large group volunteer events aren’t providing “free” resources to the nonprofits (and why they should always be accompanied by a donation - are any other vendors they engage providing their services for free?), and playing sort-of matchmaker between what the company was willing to do and what my programs team could truly benefit from – without adding more work to their plates, being disruptive to or taking advantage of the young people we work with. Over a decade ago, the Boston Globe published a controversial article looking at the burden of corporate volunteers, rather than impact of them. Unfortunately, that still rings true today and may even be more amplified.

The “for good” industry has grown immensely over the past decade, ranging from technology making it easier for donors to connect to and give back to their communities, or platforms enabling companies to access volunteer opportunities at scale. Does the influx of tech-enabled give-back solutions mean more impact is happening? Who and how are we defining that impact –  is it the nonprofit sector or the companies who also profit off their purpose-driven products?

How are you seeing companies rise to the occasion right now?

As I mentioned before, there is a ton of crossover between employee engagement and company social impact programs and an opportunity to merge moments for internal connection with external impact.

But what happens when a service activity becomes more about the employee experience and corporate culture than the outcome for the community? Should companies be recognizing these efforts as volunteerism, or more accurately as culture-building?  

We’ve seen some outrageous examples of volunteers completing glorified arts and crafts projects like putting stickers on capes for pediatric patients, and coloring bandanas with markers for breast cancer patients - projects that kindergartners could and would do - and calling that volunteering. As a breast cancer survivor myself, seeing masses of professionals use their time and talent for this type of activity when so much is needed in the space is defeating. 

This dumbed down volunteering has negative effects on the nonprofits it’s intended to serve, denies volunteers the opportunity to do so much more to positively impact causes and actually connect nonprofit staff and community members, and makes it very unlikely that the employee will feel any kind of affinity to the organization inspiring them to stay engaged or donate. 

We’ve heard stories of nonprofits receiving the fruits of these service projects – even after saying they didn’t want them – and then having to carry the logistical burden of distributing them or throwing them away. Not only is that wasteful for the environment, it’s sending the wrong message to the volunteer who now has walked away thinking they’ve fulfilled their civic duty. 

Nonprofits need support and have limited opportunities to raise awareness for their work and engage supporters in their missions. People have limited time and energy to give. By calling a social gathering or culture building event, a service activity – you are taking an opportunity away from a nonprofit to actually engage that person in a meaningful way and potentially using up that employees limited time and resources to give back.

What message do you think people in corporate social responsibility need to hear right now to avoid these pitfalls? 

Be true about your intentions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with gathering employees together for team-building and using hands-on activities to promote connection, conversation, and even de-stressing. “Sip and paint” is popular for a reason! But don’t assume a nonprofit wants or needs donations of your paintings if they haven’t explicitly asked for it, even if a third-party vendor pitches the idea. And if they haven’t asked for it or you don’t know if it’s being put to use, then understand that is not a community service activity - it’s a social gathering. 

If impact and community support are your goals, we encourage you to ask these questions while planning your engagements: 

• Has an organization directly communicated this is the best way for us to help them or are we assuming this? This is particularly important during disaster and crisis response. 
• Does this activity provide an opportunity for employees to learn about a cause and connect with an organization’s work? Oftentimes, nonprofits are looking for opportunities to raise awareness about their missions with the hope of building longer-term relationships.
• Does our program have multiple entry points for our employees to give back in ways that are personally meaningful to them (learning, donating, volunteering, advocating)? If not, are there ways to add those moments to our activities to make them more inclusive.

If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change for nonprofit organizations and leaders in New York City right now?

First thing I’d do is drop money from the sky to ensure all of these organizations could stop worrying about making payroll and focus their attention on advancing their missions. Until then, I just want to create an honest dialogue between our private and public sectors about how we can come together to support one another and our shared goals, and advance the greater good for all. Not too much to ask right?