Celebrity Baby Shower Gift

Giving Back in Meaningful Ways

You've probably wondered more than once about how you as an individual and businessperson can add value to your community. I hope that what I share below inspires you and also gives you more insight into how we strive to make positive impacts on our community.

At Voices.com, we've developed an initiative where we donate 1% of our time, 1% of our talent and 1% of our revenues to serve our community and industry in meaningful ways.

1. Time

We've committed to donating 20 hours of time per team member per year. This could include community cleanups, volunteering in a soup kitchen or any effort where we can help and contribute. Being present, accountable and having a heart for our city is life giving. Giving time might also mean that we attend community events in support of other organizations to acknowledge their efforts to positively affect and contribute to our community.

2. Talent

Giving of our talent is very important to us. We were all gifted with unique abilities and skills and feel that they should be put to use in the service of others. Manifestation of our talent may include mentoring, public speaking, advising, organizing events, and making our talent available to those who need it most. This is one of the most gratifying ways to give back because you are literally giving of yourself and using your gifts as God intended. While we're using the figure 1%, I find that it is hard to quantify this kind of giving in terms of actual hours, pieces of advice or services rendered... it's more than that.

3. Treasure

Each quarter we have decided to donate 1% of our revenue to a worthy cause that moves our hearts. This quarter we made a donation to help support those on the ground in Haiti as they do important work and save lives following the devastating earthquake. We realize that giving includes financial resources. By giving to organizations whose mission it is to serve, our goodwill goes even further to tangibly touch people we couldn't reach otherwise, save for prayer.

Are You Giving Back?

I'd love to hear about how you may already be giving back to your community! Be sure to comment with your stories :)

Best wishes,

Stephanie

©iStockphoto.com/Rob Friedman

In their recent online article Time Magazine asks, “Can Video Games Save the World?” Albeit the title’s a bit cliché, we at Peanut Labs are happy to see press that shines a positive light on gaming and recognizes its powerful position in our society. The enthusiasm of our 80+ million users is a testament to the significance of social gaming. For young users like ours, socially conscious games present an opportunity for exposure to real world issues that may elude them through traditional media channels. The interactive nature of gaming not only exposes us to the issues, but invites us into a world where our actions can impact social causes. Since 2006 when MTV released Darfur is Dying, the social game has inspired thousands of users to contact the White House or petition their local representatives. Stephen Friedman, general manager of MTV affirms, “No other media enables you to literally run in someone’s shoes.”

Facebook’s application Causes offers more evidence of the socially conscious potential inherent in social media. Causes now powers the Facebook Charity Gift Shop, allowing users to send gifts to their friends’ profiles with profits going to charitable organizations. According to Causes, you can “buy a Bed Net for a friend and Malaria No More will deliver one insecticide-treated net to protect a child in Africa from malaria,” or purchase “a Healthy Baby Kit Gift [which] will help the International Rescue Committee provide a baby delivery kit with a warm blanket for a child born in a crisis zone.” Social media has embraced the trendy “shop for a cause” movement, which in the past was only available at bricks and mortar and online stores. This demonstrates the adaptability of social media, which has become a reflection and extension of current, everyday life.

Here at Peanut Labs we’re proud to partner with CMO Council in the Pause to Support a Cause Campaign. This milestone program allows participants to channel funds to their favorite causes or charities, in exchange for taking online surveys. Many of us can be overwhelmed when faced with the problems of the world. What can we do to influence positive change? We’re told a good place to start is to “act locally, think globally.” Using surveys in socially beneficial ways can produce real change on a global scale. This is an excellent place to begin; where can we go from here?