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.
From day one, when Litify’s workforce was in the single digits, our company has been a proud Pledge 1% member. Giving back—through our time, profits, and product—has been at the forefront of our company culture. In fact, it’s so embedded in our culture that we established Litify.org, the dedicated charitable arm of our company.
Though the workforce became fully remote amid the coronavirus pandemic, it by no means put an end to charitable giving and volunteerism. When stay-at-home orders were first announced, we worked with our partners and employees to find creative ways to give back throughout the year.
With each socially-distanced volunteer event and fundraiser, we found that employees felt more connected with each other and the company. Giving back has also helped foster a culture of service and kindness that spills over into our everyday interactions at work.
Here are the creative ways we’ve exercised our company values and have kept employees engaged while we’ve been away from the office.
- Daily Giving Through Good Today
Good Today sends a slack message highlighting an important cause every morning to each of our 120 employees. Our employees can select the relevant charity that they would like to support, and Litify donates $.25. While seemingly small, it totals $90 dollars per employee on a yearly basis and creates a daily habit of giving back.
- Virtual Conversations
Like many other companies, Litify had to temporarily postpone our in-person conferences. Traditionally, each of our conferences highlighted and supported a local charity. As part of the Gag the Swag initiative, Litify.org donates the money normally spent on branded merchandise to the local charity of choice and invites them to share their story with our audience.
Since we couldn’t meet in-person, we decided to launch a monthly webcast, “Conversations for Change.” Each conversation features a social justice nonprofit or advocate who guides us in a thought-provoking discussion on some of the most important issues affecting our society today. Episodes have featured the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Colibri Center for Human Rights, and most recently, The Wounded Warrior Project.
In a similar vein, Litify’s CRO Terry Dohrmann joined Good Today’s Joe Teplow in a recent LinkedIn Live conversation on generosity and empathy in the workplace.
- Virtual Letter-Writing Campaign
When stay-at-home orders were first issued, Litify teamed up with Letters of Love to send handwritten letters to seniors who have been isolated from loved ones this year. The company mailed stationary and pre-stamped envelopes to each employee and organized a Zoom letter-writing party.
- Virtual Fundraising Drives
Throughout the year, Litify has held numerous fundraising drives and matches employee contributions. One fundraiser supported our charity partner Caps for Kids, which provides signed ball caps from famous celebrities to kids battling cancer.
Another supported the important work of our client, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which supports victims of civil rights abuses and hate crimes. Litify matched all employee donations to SPLC up to $10,000.
- Pink Selfies for Breast Cancer Awareness:
On October 16, we marked Breast Cancer Awareness month by encouraging staff to post selfies wearing pink. Our slack was filled with pictures of employees, family members, and pets wearing pink to mark the occasion. For each picture posted, the company donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
- Halloween Pumpkin Surprise:
In collaboration with our partner Vonage, Litify kept the Halloween spirit alive by surprising a 4th-grade class at St Therese School in Succasunna, NJ with all of the pumpkins and supplies needed for a pumpkin decorating party. The class was in particular need of some holiday fun as one of their classmates was battling a rare brain tumor.
- Powering the Polls on Election Day:
Litify partnered with customer Pond Lehocky to ensure local polls were properly staffed and could support a fair and safe election this year. Employees could use VTO hours to work their local polls if they were comfortable doing so, or could use the time to volunteer remotely by working with nonprofits to text or call voters with local voting resources to ensure everyone could vote safely.
- Thanksgiving Turkey Drive:
In collaboration with client Daniel Stark Law Offices and BCS Together, Litify distributed turkeys for families in need in the Bryan, Texas area. Over 200 turkeys were distributed on November 21.
- GivingTuesday Food Insecurity Campaign:
To mark Giving Tuesday, Litify will partner with our customer, Pond Lehocky, to help families and individuals who are food insecure this holiday season.
To learn more about what Litify is doing in our community through Litify.org, please follow us on social media (@LitifyHQ on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram), or contact Laura Dohrmann, Litify Corporate Affairs (laura@litify.com).
