Apple recently featured this content in the App Store: "Innovative Ways to Give Back". Why? Because 90% of millennials--and 85% of all consumers--would switch brands to one associated with social causes.

Additionally, for you, know that 83% of millennial employees are more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to social causes. So, with both those facts, how are you leveraging philanthropy to retain your key stakeholders?

“SpotHero values giving back to causes that create a positive social impact, and Percent Pledge empowers our team to live that value in an exciting new way. Now our team can seamlessly support their favorite causes and further our impact on the community." - Nikki Facchini, Senior Director, People

From what we gather, CSR is the acronym "Big Giving" sent down from on high to encompass anything a company does to give back. "Big Giving" forced this acronym on us all and, now that giving back is becoming increasingly important to today's talent, companies keep asking us what CSR means! So, to preempt that question moving forward, CSR goes like this...

Percent Pledge, the premier workplace giving & volunteering solution for growing businesses recently recognized by Built In Chicago as one of "2019's Top 50 Startups to Watch," today announced several new enhancements. In addition to Percent Pledge's original giving portfolios, such as Youth & Education, they now offer customizable Company Cause Portfolios, local Cause Portfolios, and even a BYOP (Build Your Own Portfolio) feature.

Cares Teams are a fantastic way to build an employee-driven foundation of giving, but they are a tall order for a small group of employee do-gooders. "We tried to have a cadence and strategy, but we're a growing startup and got busy so it was pretty all over the place," said SpotHero's Cares Team leader before partnering with Percent Pledge.

We've heard that at dozens of companies and limited bandwidth, competing priorities, and a lack of philanthropic expertise are common--and understandable--roadblocks. We exist to help growing companies overcome these common roadblocks, and we've learned these best practices to build an effective Cares Team and create a foundation of giving at your company.

"Over the past year, we have seen some of the world's most skilled employees stage walkouts and participate in contentious town halls, expressing their perspective on the importance of corporate purpose. This phenomenon will only grow as millennials, and even younger generations, occupy increasingly senior positions in Business. In a recent survey by Deloitte, millennial workers were asked what the primary purpose of businesses should be – 63 percent more of them said "improving society" than said "generating profit."' 

To fully realize the positive power of giving - e.g. establishing your company as a leading corporate citizen, improving culture, and retaining more of today's socially conscious employees - you must be able to both measure and market your impact! Here's why transparency drives most giving-related business ROI - and how you can easily add this missing link to your workplace giving & volunteering programs. 

If you are a business leader who wants to grow your business (so, if you are a business leader!) then you obsess over talent. Keeping existing talent, and attracting new talent. That point may be obvious, but do you also know that today's top talent is socially-conscious millennials?

As such, philanthropy needs to be part of your recruiting strategy. Recruiting is largely an exercise in storytelling, and including your "philanthropic story" resonates with today's talent (in addition to being a great reflection of your culture). These tips will make it easy for you to improve recruitment by doing good.