Thank you very much for your response and your enthusiasm!
We wholeheartedly agree that charitable activities can, and should, continue throughout the year. For Zella as a company, we find that these activities keep our team cohesive and appreciative of the community in which we operate. Luckily, marketing activities and charitable giving can easily go hand-in-hand! As we keep a pulse on local commerce, community happenings and industry news, we keep record of opportunities to give or fund-raise as well. We tend to organize our own internal marketing activities seasonally and/or quarterly, and in doing so, plan at least one community activity alongside our “business as usual” calendars.
The spring, for example, is a great time to engage in benefit runs/walks– We participated in a fabulous 5k last year that provided funding to maintain local public parks. In late spring, we typically run a spring/Easter-basket drive, followed by an annual school-supply drive in August. A year-round favorite organization of Zella’s is the Technology Access Foundation (TAF), that provides exposure and education to children of color who may not receive those experiences otherwise.
There ARE opportunities for giving year-round, and your suggestion for a CGO is brilliant! For us, the primary research and organization of such activities belongs to our PR & Outbound Marketing Department, with support from the team as a whole. For a larger company, a CGO may be necessary to organize an entire employee community, and/or separate regional activities for each geography. We hope that CGO’s or similar positions will be increasingly appointed in the future– And perhaps the bits of business benefits inherent therein will help convince more executives to establish a CGO within their own organizations!

Thank you for contributing to the conversation!

-TeamZella

I have to believe we all, or at least most of us, want what’s good for all us. Call me an idealist. But if you agree and you truly believe this – then why not demonstrate it in your company? Make giving such an integral part of your culture that without it, your company … well, it isn’t your company. Make it what your firm is all about.

Make your company one that people would feel guilty not patronizing.