This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
Empower your employees to give back at the individual level by downloading our new Virtual Volunteering Playbook, which includes ideas and best practices on how to excite and inspire individual giving.
The Appfire team is excited to participate again in this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign, especially since this year has been such a hard one for so many around the world. We’ve been part of Pledge 1% since the beginning, and while we encourage our employees to give back all year round, we like to take this time in particular to rally around this important cause.
We launched our first-ever “Be Human” month this time last year, and to highlight all the ways our team participated, we started an internal Slack channel called #LivingThePledge. This channel continues to be a space for our team members to share philanthropic organizations they’re passionate about, volunteer opportunities they participate in, and other ways they give back. As our team has grown this year, with many joining us through several exciting acquisitions, it’s been amazing to see how both new and old members of the Appfire family have joined in on the fun!
Here are some of the inspiring ways our employees have already started giving back this month in preparation for #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday:
- (Nashville, TN) — “I donated an old Xbox and PS4 to a local children’s hospital to provide a fun outlet for the kids.”
- (Glasgow, KY) — “I am planning on donating to our Boys And Girls club to help get some of the kids there some chromebooks, so they can have a better machine to do their school work on!”
- (US) — “To help kick things off a bit early, we’ve just made a helpful donation to Covenant House which helps to protect homeless youth from the impacts of COVID-19.”
- (Boston, MA) — “We sent a big Instacart grocery delivery today to the Food Pantry based upon their November wish list.”
- (Boston, MA) — “Happily made a trip to Tharros House today to donate a huge box of puzzles and games to those in recovery and stuck indoors during a strange time :).”
- (UK) — “My dear photographer friend Ed is leading this initiative to help live music event technicians who have been affected by the cancellation of 2020. Prints for Music has been set up so you can buy prints of over 100 music artists taken by world renowned and celebrated photographers. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Stagehand’s Covid-19 Crew Relief Fund, the only UK charity specifically dedicated to providing hardship funding for music stage crew who have fallen on tough times.”
- (Hyderabad, India) — “There is a young nurse who treated my grandmom like a dedicated family member. She would attend work anywhere between 8-12 hours and then come home to monitor the IV fluids for hours together. I am funding her nursing course she wishes to pursue, which she has been putting off due to financial constraints.”
- (Sofia, Bulgaria) — “At the beginning of September 2012, a charitable initiative called “Knit Warm” was launched. It targets a group of people who are often overlooked by such initiatives, namely homeless people and those in need. For most of us, the cold winter days come with a small wardrobe change of clothes; sadly, others should fight the cold in streets and shelters, needing the same basic things – light, food, warm clothes. This charity campaign is focused on building a bridge between those who seek and those who give. This is my small contribution to the cause, which I hope to warm not just someone’s day but its heart.
- (Boston, MA) — “This month starting today, my Etsy shop has a 20% off sale. Proceeds support donating to Transition House, Embrace Race and also to charities via The Appfire Foundation. Also this winter wear gets donated to many.”
We know the team is just getting started and can’t wait to see what other causes our employees donate to today and in the future.
There are so many ways you too can integrate the pledge into your life. So this Giving Tuesday, remember that you can start anywhere, no amount of giving is too small — you too can take the Pledge.
