As you may or may not have seen, Starfish Impact launched a new initiative called #SupportingOurSector. We’re excited for it for a number of reasons – one, we get to support a winning nonprofit with cash and a custom pro bono services package without them having to jump through the hoops of a grant application. It’ll be an exciting and unbudgeted surprise at the end of year when many nonprofits are anxiously trying to close budgets.
Secondly, we created the initiative to be heavily driven by social media and inclusive of all community members, those that are already invested in the social sector, and those that might have a charity of choice, but otherwise don’t think about the sector as something to be built up regularly. By allowing all of these individuals to get involved (by nominating, and after close of the nomination period, voting in the final vote off), we’re hoping that we’ll engage individuals we might not have otherwise interacted with, and simultaneously helped expose them to a variety of deserving nonprofits.
Thirdly, we love the idea of this serving as a listening campaign for us. We’re constantly striving to keep our finger on the pulse of the social sector so that we can best advise all of our clients. We’re expecting to learn about new nonprofits, build stronger relationships with partners, followers, and executives, and really get a sense from the community what issues are most important to them and from their perspective, which nonprofits are doing something about it.
And lastly, we are really excited by the prospect of engaging the business community in a novel way. Corporate Social Responsibility is not just a buzzword, it’s an overarching title that encompasses the variety of ways businesses can support their community. This prize allows businesses to try their hand at gamification, without the risk and financial investment in infrastructure normally required, as its spread across all partners, and heavily absorbed by Starfish, which is serving to administer the initiative. For many of our Partners, it’s the first time they’re doing something more than checkbook giving into the community, and for others, its another way to engage the community.
We’ve already seen tremendous engagement from the community in #SupportingOurSector. View the initiative, get involved, and if you’re interested in joining us in 2017 as a Partner, let us know. We’re expecting to be even larger next year.
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