CALGARY, AB — February 22, 2017 — Benevity, Inc., the global leader in online workplace giving, matching, volunteering and grant management solutions, hosted the Benevity Nonprofit Community Council meeting on February 7, 2017 in Palm Springs, to discuss the ever-increasing importance of companies supporting their employees as a vehicle for achieving positive societal outcomes. Among other topics, the Council highlighted the need for companies to empower their employees as a source for bringing trusted charity relationships into corporate giving programs. By doing this, companies realize greater employee engagement and nonprofits benefit by gaining access to much-needed corporate funds and visibility amongst a larger potential donor base. In this context, the Council highlighted the need for a corporate toolkit enabling companies to rally their employees around the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Until now, there have been very few ways for companies to easily engage their people in supporting the critical areas of global poverty, hunger and gender inequality, among other pressing social issues.

“Doing Good is not just about giving money to a cause,” said Alan Abramson, professor of nonprofit management at George Mason University. “It’s also about how you run your business from the inside. When companies empower their people to be genuinely involved in Goodness, they can realize cultural benefits for both the corporation and society.”

“Doing Good is not just about giving money to a cause — it’s also about how you run your business from the inside.

— Alan Abramson, Professor of Nonprofit Management, George Mason University

A prevailing trend sees companies taking a complementary approach to their workplace giving programs, providing year-round giving and volunteering options to their people while continuing to manage traditional corporate fundraising initiatives that focus on the causes and pillars that align with their strategic goals, including those run by local chapters of the United Way. Benevity’s data shows that over the long term, companies who combine these elements see giving increase by more than 60% across the board, helping them to engage more employees and create a bigger social impact in their communities.

“Companies have a unique opportunity to leverage the vast reach and resources of their people to collectively solve the world’s problems,” says Bryan de Lottinville, founder and CEO of Benevity. “By aligning their existing cause pillars to the 17 Global Goals and running specific SDG-based campaigns, global companies can help their employees participate in something that’s bigger than themselves, helping them to develop a greater sense of purpose at work.”

“Companies have a unique opportunity to leverage the vast reach and resources of their people to collectively solve the world’s problems.

— Bryan de Lottinville, Founder & CEO, Benevity

In this integrated world of personal and corporate giving, the Council spoke to the role that Benevity plays in enabling companies to support the personal passions of their people to not only participate, but to power their programs at a grassroots level and in doing so move the needle on local and global issues. This is increasingly how enterprise companies are maximizing the social and business value of their corporative giving programs.

About Benevity Benevity, Inc., a certified B Corporation, is the global leader in online workplace giving, matching, volunteering and community investment software. Many of the world’s most iconic brands rely on Spark, Benevity’s award-winning Cloud solution, to power corporate “Goodness Programs” that attract, retain and engage today’s diverse workforce by connecting people to the causes that matter to them. With software that is available in 15 languages, to several million users around the world, Benevity has processed over a billion dollars in donations to more than 100,000 global charities. Media Contact Alex Middleton amiddleton@benevity.com 1.403.629.2743