Denver Business – B:CIVIC

Tackling Hunger: B:CIVIC Members in the Community

October 19, 2015 B:CIVICB:CIVIC Announcements, Corporate Social Responsibility, Member News0

Our second B:CIVIC Academy is this Wednesday, October 21! Attendees will enjoy an interactive panel discussion with representatives from Kaiser Permanente, 34 Degrees and Albertsons/Safeway (if you haven’t RSVP’d yet, limited seats remain, so save your seat soon!)

While we can’t wait to hear the impacts that the panelist’s companies have made on hunger in Colorado as well as lessons learned along the way, we also want to highlight B:CIVIC member initiatives in the area. Ask and you shall receive! Our members show that there is some serious good brewing in Denver’s corporate giving scene.

“At DaVita we believe in being good stewards of resources and participating citizens of our community, which is why we’re committed to supporting organizations like B:CIVIC. We contribute to various programs aimed to end hunger in metro Denver, including Project Angel Heart and Urban Peak, among others, that meet the needs of students receiving low and reduced lunch services.” – Nancy Walters, corporate social responsibility manager at DaVita HealthCare Partners

Janus Donates More Than 1,000 Snack Packs to DPS Students in Need
Each day, hundreds of DPS students go to school without knowing where they will sleep that night or where their next weekend meal will come from. And that’s not their only challenge, getting to class is hurdle on its own without dependable transportation and often they are without the proper clothing or supplies. They feel alone, embarrassed and frustrated.?But with the desire to blend in with their peers, the impact of personal pride and, at times, an anxiety for how they will provide for their younger siblings, these students do not always surface and their issues struggles can remain concealed.

Janus Gives Back
The Janus team stepped up to the plate to combat these conditions during the Have a Heart for Homeless Children Food Drive. Through this effort, Janus employees donated nonperishable food items and fully constructed Snack Packs for the DPS Educational Outreach Program, an organization who aims to foster education by providing children identified as experiencing homelessness with the most basic needs.

In all, Janus contributed a total of 1,100 snack packs and $1,475 in monetary donations. These contributions were delivered to George Washington High School, the DPS school with the highest percentage of students in the program, and to the EOP administrative building for future use.

Every year the Denver Post Charities operates Season to Share. With the generous support of donors and matching funds provided by the McCormick Foundation, grants are made to qualified nonprofit organizations that focus on child and youth education, health and wellness, homelessness and hunger.

The hunger funding area supports Food banks and other large scale programs in areas areas where severe gaps for nutritional services exist, or that address the nutritional needs of specific groups such as children, families and seniors.

Eligible Programs include:

Food Banks: Organizations that support the efforts of community hunger-relief agencies in high-need areas, and/or provide benefits linkage, job training and other poverty alleviation strategies
Multi-Service Network: Includes community networks (multi-agency collaborations) providing comprehensive crisis-to-stabilization services aligned with hunger-relief efforts
Childhood Hunger-Relief Initiatives: Addresses acute needs of low income children/youth at times when they are at most risk of hunger (before/after school, weekend, holidays, and summertime)
Systems Support: program supporting an agency’s ability to affect systemic change by promoting policies that bring additional resources to a sector and/or leading coordinated planning initiatives shared by multiple stakeholders.

Does your company have a hunger initiative you would like us to highlight on the blog or at the B:CIVIC Academy? Please email us and we’ll help you spread the word!

Growing corporate giving, one business at a time

October 9, 2015 B:CIVICMember News0

The Denver Business Journal
www.bizjournals.com/denver
Friday, October 9, 2015
4:00 am MDT

By Emma Dell
edell@bizjournals.com
303-803-9235

It’s well-known that community brings people together — sometimes it’s an individual, sometimes it’s family, and sometimes it’s a group of philanthropic companies coming together under one organization.

Denver’s B:CIVIC is banking on that third way: An altruistic organization focusing the civic and philanthropic efforts of many businesses.

Su Hawk, B:CIVIC executive director and CEO, right, talks with Barbara Berv, center, The Denver Foundation vice president of philanthropic services and Pat Landrum, Social Venture Partners Denver executive director. The Denver Foundation is supportive of B:Civic and Berv is on the Board of Directors. KATHLEEN LAVINE / DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL

Formed from the skeleton of Denver’s original “2% Club” and fleshed out with a host of new members, Businesses Committed to Investing & Volunteering in the Community dedicates itself to promoting philanthropic efforts by local companies.

The organization, which has taken on the moniker B:CIVIC, has applied for classification as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. B:CIVIC will rely on member companies and their donations to keep itself running. After its founding in 2013 with 100 members, B:CIVIC’s membership has grown to 150 and leaders have high hopes for future growth.

“Certainly we want to expand the membership even further,” said B:CIVIC’s executive director and CEO, Su Hawk. “We’re so proud that we have 150 very forward-minded, civic-thinking companies.”

B:CIVIC’s members come from all parts of Colorado’s business community. More than 40 percent of B:CIVIC members are considered entrepreneurial companies, employing anywhere from 1 to 50 people. But it also counts Fortune 500 companies with more than 500 Colorado employees and everything else in between.

“Corporate philanthropy is for any company of any size of any industry,” Hawk said.

Each member is different. They all contribute in their own way, but are formed by the same basic principles: A desire to do good in the community, and an interest in fulfilling their corporate social responsibility.

Law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, one of the organization’s founding members, is celebrating its 100-year anniversary with a “Year of 100 Good Deeds,” choosing 100 charitable causes to support over the course of the year. And their progress tracker is filling up, as 95 of 100 projects had been listed as complete as of mid-September.

Its motivation is unique, as not many companies can boast such longevity, but its execution is right in line with B:CIVIC’s goals: Helping member companies find compelling ways to engage their employees and give back to the community.

“So many of these companies are doing this for all of the right reasons, and so nobody knows that they’re doing it except for the people who were intended,” said Hawk.

B:CIVIC isn’t just a support group for do-gooders, though. Their reasons may be selfless, as Hawk contends, but the businesses also benefit.

One of the guiding principles of The 2% Club was that businesses can compete better with other businesses of equal quality when their customers see them supporting a cause. Joining the Club, or now B:CIVIC, gives companies an edge over their competitors while also helping the community they’re based in to grow stronger.

Participating in CSR can also give businesses an edge when it comes to hiring. Hawk argues that it is a common theme among B:CIVIC’s members that volunteering builds pride in company employees.

“They’re not there to show off, they’re not there to be recognized. They’re doing it because they want their employees to feel really good about the company,” she siad.

Employees are some of the biggest benefactors of company membership, because not only do they get to feel good about working for a philanthropic business, but they also get to participate in B:CIVIC’s many programs and discussion workshops based on sharing ideas, networking, and discussing strategies.

“We have different programs…one is called Academy and that’s all about really deep, thoughtful content. Then we have another program that’s called Sparks & Sips and the objective is to have a workshop to spark peoples’ interest, and then we have a social hour afterward so they can connect with each other and further the conversations,” said Hawk.

“We also have a peer-to-peer network that we’ve held that’s been very successful, and often times it’s because it’s held with other peers who are discussing the same issues.”

Resources such as these can be really great motivators for those who may want to get involved in their community, but aren’t really sure how to do it.

The increase in company contributions after companies become members of B:CIVIC is evident to Hawk, and she credits the increased association with other philanthropically minded companies for that change. Online discussion forums are set to be launched soon as well.

“I believe they will be very productive for people, because our in-present conversations have been very successful. I would hope that our online discussions would even further that,” Hawk said.

“Every single day I want to make sure that I’ve done more in our community,” said Hawk. “Now I get a chance to really help B:CIVIC strengthen how it’s a hub in our community.”

5 Key Ways to Boost Employee Philanthropy
1. Create a unique charity involvement project
2. Attend networking events and educational seminars
3. Team with similarly involved companies
4. Pick specific quarterly focus issues
5. Listen for great ideas or areas of interest
Source: B:CIVIC

edell@bizjournals.com, 303-803-9235

View the original article here.

Member Spotlight: Brownstein Denver Office Congratulates Las Vegas Office for Being Named Private Philanthropic Business Of The Year

September 16, 2015 B:CIVICCorporate Social Responsibility, Member News, Uncategorized0

The following Member Spotlight was submitted by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
Want to see your story featured? Fill out a Share Your Story form today!

Congratulations to Founding Member Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Las Vegas office for being named the Philanthropic Business Partner of the Year – Private for 2015 by Vegas Inc. and Angel Media Groups in the annual Angel Awards!

According to the company blog, “Brownstein contributes to the community through board service, hands-on volunteerism, financial contributions and pro bono legal work. Approximately 70 percent of the firm’s attorneys and policy professionals sit on nonprofit boards. In addition to board service, Brownstein’s attorneys and policy professionals provided more than 11,000 hours of pro bono service in 2014. Brownstein’s pro bono commitment to the Las Vegas community includes significant work for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, the largest low-income civil legal services provider in Las Vegas, including representation of children in the foster care system through the Children’s Attorney Program (CAP).

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The firm’s Las Vegas office has adopted Halle Hewetson Elementary School, where more than 90 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch. Firm employees built bikes for students, cleaned school grounds, installed a garden, painted classroom doors, adopted students’ families for the holidays, read to students during Nevada Reading Week, and contributed books, school uniforms and a washer/dryer to the school. Brownstein team members also volunteer at Three Square Food Bank, Southern Nevada’s only food bank providing food assistance to the residents of Lincoln, Nye, Esmeralda and Clark counties, and the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, which strives to be the model for providing hope and change to the homeless, addicted, and others in need.”

B:CIVIC is proud to have Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as a member and looks forward to sharing more of its generous community work in the future!

SPARKS and SIPS: Engaging Employees Effectively

July 8, 2015 B:CIVICCorporate Social Responsibility, Events, Member News0

Employee engagement is a commonly used term, but it’s not as easily understood. Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work, more productive and can serve as powerful brand ambassadors. They also spark the innovation and growth that propel businesses forward. Yet, Gallup recently announced that only 30% of the U.S. workforce is actively engaged.Companies large and small grapple with this challenge, and there are multiple ways they can try to solve it.

Join us at B:CIVIC’s July SPARKS and SIPS to learn from select diverse, local companies that approach the engagement challenge in vastly different ways, as well as Mile High United Way, who has been an expert in employee engagement for more than 128 years. The companies represent a wide range of sizes and industries with varying missions, staff sizes and budgets, but one common goal: to effectively engage every employee through community-oriented initiatives, ultimately boosting productivity, increasing retention and improving overall culture. Attendees will hear from the panel on three primary employee engagement topics:

Volunteer Engagement – How to develop effective volunteer recruitment, strategically select relevant projects and prevent employee burnout.

Employee Resource Groups/Professional Development – The importance of fostering employee-led groups and structured educational opportunities that can enhance a company’s mission and make employees feel valued.

Employee Giving – Best practices for engaging employees in structured giving campaigns of different shapes and sizes.

Attendees will also have a chance to reflect on their own employee engagement efforts and determine the most strategic and appropriate methods for their companies through relevant exercises.

PANELISTS

Christina Frantz, Great-West Financial