Attend production meeting. Reply to emails. Wrap and deliver presents for the kids at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
For Omaze Vice President of Operations Jessie Segal, it’s all in a day’s work, as charity is weaved throughout her company’s mission. Omaze’s platform was created to help nonprofits fundraise.
“Our mission is to serve world changers, including the nonprofits we support, our customers and our employees,” Segal said.
Whether through volunteer work or charitable donations, more companies are providing opportunities for employees to give back. According to Charity Navigator, corporations donated $21 billion to nonprofits in 2017. We spoke to Segal, as well as Katerina Kugel of Golden Hippo about how their companies encourage employees to give back to their communities, and the impact that has on their company culture.
Omaze’s fundraising platform has enabled over 300 charities to raise more than $100 million. Vice President of Operations Jessie Segal shared the ways Omaze supports charities outside the office as well.
How does your company give back to the local community, both during the holidays and throughout the year?
We exist to empower nonprofits so they can do world-changing work. We have supported over 300 charities around the world with our once-in-a-lifetime experiences, including raising over $30 million for nonprofits in our home state of California.
We worked with After-School All-Stars to create after-school programs for 17,000 kids in the Los Angeles Unified School District and we raised funds to get disaster relief resources to 100 victims of the California fires through the California Community Foundation. We are currently raising funds to build a $1 million community center in Downtown LA with PATH to provide resources and housing for the homeless population.
We exist to empower nonprofits so they can do world-changing work.”
How is this “spirit of giving” reflected in your company culture and the way your team works together?
Omaze's mission is to serve world-changers, including the nonprofits we support, our customers and our employees. Each year, the entire organization takes a break from our office jobs for an annual day of service, where we volunteer with a local nonprofit and give back to our community.
For Giving Tuesday, Omaze allocated $2,500 to purchase, wrap and deliver gifts for kids at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. We also frequently have our nonprofit partners come into the office to speak at our bi-weekly team meetings.
Director of Reputation Management Katerina Kugel says Golden Hippo has donated to over 12 charities over the past few years. But they do more than fundraise: Golden Hippo gives back to its employees’ mental health, too. For World Smile Day, Golden Hippo matches donations for each employee that participates in a yoga class.
How does your company give back to the local community, both during the holidays and throughout the year?
We have partnered with 12 different charities over the last few years, donating throughout the year to charitable causes such as Smile Train, Vitamin Angels and Action Against Hunger. The company also organizes various opportunities for giving during the year.
On World Smile Day, we host a donation-based yoga class where Golden Hippo donates on behalf of each employee that participates in a 30-minute yoga class. This holiday season, we are hosting a food drive for a local food bank.
We create the “spirit of giving” at work each and every day.”
How is this “spirit of giving” reflected in your company culture and the way your team works together?
At Golden Hippo, we actually reward each other for collaboration. We have a fantastic spot bonus program where you can give a fellow ‘hippo’ a cash bonus just for going outside of their call of duty and helping you out. This really pushes us to seek out collaboration and create the “spirit of giving” at work each and every day.
