Volunteers’ work is critical in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy… and all Disasters

Posted on February 12, 2013 by jeffhoffmanassociate

It has been three months since Superstorm Sandy hit the easternseaboard. Last week I had a moving experience on the Rockaway peninsula, and in Brooklyn, seeing firsthand the devastation and how volunteers continue to be part of the solution helping these communities rebuild.  As the storm approached, Points of Light dispatched their director of disaster services to FEMA headquarters.  When the storm surged it became apparent what areas were the hardest hit.  The Red Cross and many other organizations, along with government agencies and businesses, were poised for the relief efforts.  Volunteers, both trained and not (unaffiliated), were responding.  One of my clients’ subsidiaries, Southern California Edison, sent trucks, equipment and linemen along with staff from the community investment department, to help.  Points of Light and its HandsOn Network (Volunteer Centers) were also responding.  Nine affiliates through the region were, and are, active in the various phases of a disaster from initial relief, to recovery and resiliency.

My tour was through areas serviced by New York Cares.  We drove the length of the Rockaway’s, visited their command center (very cold trailers), and homes that they were being mucked out.  One home was being scrubbed for mold.  After the home’s contents and dry wall had been removed, the studs were scrubbed so as the house could then be rebuilt.  This is a tedious process and being done by volunteers.  Many of the areas I visited are home to lower income and the elderly.  Without the support of volunteers, many would not be able to rebuild, or rebuild as quickly.  Volunteers have been providing many services in addition to those mentioned here.  Tutoring children when the schools were closed so as they would not fall behind and now helping with income tax preparation as the disaster will make their returns far more complicated, are both examples.

Points of Light is building its infrastructure to better support the 250 HandsOn Network affiliates across the US, plus those outside the US, prepare and respond.  Next time there is a disaster and you want to help, or be proactive with your support and help with the preparedness efforts, consider funding volunteer infrastructure.  It’s a very important, and often overlooked, element of disasters.  http://www.pointsoflight.org/programs/disaster http://www.newyorkcares.org/

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Games for Change

Posted on February 8, 2013 by jeffhoffmanassociate

My blog from January 25 discussed the inspired work of Kat Taylor and Tom Steyer.  Another session of the USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy’s Leadership Forum involved Games.  Games are becoming an increasingly important way to communicate.  Last year’s annual Council on Foundations’ conference had several sessions on games.  Both featured a fascinating speaker, Mayur Patel of the Knight Foundation.  Organizations are turning to gaming more frequently to better tell their stories, engage with current and prospective stakeholders, and fundraise.  The Knight Foundation is investing in games as part of their strategy to help organizations be more effective communicating.  Several examples were given.  This one game is a fascinating way to show the decisions people in poverty have to make, and the cause and effect of their choices.  www.PlaySpent.org.  I encourage you to play the game.  You will soon see the power a game can have in communicating challenging issues.  Others of interest include www.battlestormgame.org and www.maconmoney.org . The Knight Foundation recently released a report:  “Social Impact Games: Do They Work?”  In June, there will be a Games for Change festival in New York City.  In an era with short attention spans and much clutter, games seem to be breaking through and leaving an impression.  http://www.knightfoundation.org/ http://cppp.usc.edu/

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Giving Pledge Couple, a Dynamic Duo

Posted on January 25, 2013 by jeffhoffmanassociate

Kat Taylor and Tom Steyer have a passion for life, and a drive to make society and our earth better. They are using their resources to be part of the solution. And when I say resources, I mean the same definition as I use for our business… a high-impact plan for giving… giving of money, time, intellect and voice. A very lucrative career in business has led them to creating social enterprises and a foundation focusing on Good Energy, Good Money and Good Food. A panel, moderated by my fellow USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy board member, Wendy Wachtel, kicked off the Philanthropy: Imagination, Innovation, and Impact Leadership Forum at USC. Kat is CEO of One PacificCoast Bank. Their vision is called Beneficial Banking. “One PacificCoast offers a full line of traditional banking services, but with a distinct focus on the traditionally underserved: low-income communities, sustainable businesses and job creation.” The bank is owned by a foundation and is a B-Corp. Their aim, Kat said, is to be “influential and annoying” to cause real change. They align themselves with talented people and then let them do their jobs. The bank is just one of their initiatives. They were well on their way to using their wealth for good when Tom received a call from Warren Buffet asking to join the Giving Pledge. They were one of the early joiners of the movement. Tom’s focus is the environment and more specifically energy. He uses politics, and with it public policy, along with philanthropy. “If you truly care about the environment, you can’t avoid politics.” In all of their efforts, Tom and Kat say that they are working for “true outcomes and it must be fun.” They take on operational roles with their philanthropy to truly be able to lead the efforts and stay close to issues. http://onepacificcoastbank.com/ http://cppp.usc.edu/

 

Posted in Economic Development, Environment, Social Enterprise, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Leading Tomorrow’s Global Volunteer Community – Together. IAVE London 2012

Posted on December 11, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

This week I am in London for the bi-ennial conference of the International Association of Volunteer Effort.  While I have attended many of these conferences over the years, from New Delhi to Singapore, for the first time, this convening’s focus is corporate volunteering.  With the IAVE publication last year of the first global research report on corporate volunteering, and the increasing role companies are placing on their corporate citizenship, the timing of the focus is both significant and appropriate.  This year marks the sixth anniversary of the Global Corporate Volunteer Council and membership now stands at 40 global companies.  This group, which I helped found, met just prior to the  conference.  Both at the council meeting and at the conference, it is exciting to see how companies have truly embraced the collective power in activating employee engagement plus corporate resources to help solve some of sociality’s most pressing issues.

Day one, I moderated a forum titled Re-Imagining Corporate Volunteering.  This was the first session of the Corporate track and was meant to be the gateway for what was to come over the next two days.  The panelists represented leaders from Ford Motor Company, Samsung, Vale, Hewlett Packard and Mondelez International.  The first question I posed to the group was “what will workplace volunteering look like in the next 5 to 10 years?”  The answers were as diverse as the types of companies represented.  Common themes were exposed.  The ability to make a stronger impact, and then better track and understand the outcomes of the impact, is something that many of the companies are well on their way to doing.  Moving the actions towards needs of the community, and those needs driving the work, versus the old equation of “I have 25 employees that I need to have volunteer on Saturday, what can you create for me?”  Shared value, where the benefit to the company, employees and society are engineered into not only the programs, but how a business operates.  Many of these thoughts will be discussed further throughout the conference.

Other highlights so far include seeing former Disney colleagues, hearing Lord Michael Hastings of Scarisbrick, CBE, of KPMG International and lunch with many of our Points of Light HandsOn Network International Affiliates.  Next up:  “Moving Volunteers to Social Development and Social Justice” with a panel including colleagues Michelle Nunn of Points of Light and Flavia Pansieri of United Nation Volunteers.

http://www.iave.org/london2012 http://www.iave.org/gcvc http://www.pointsoflight.org http://www.unv.org/

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Supporting our Veterans more Effectively

Posted on November 11, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

When my father returned from his tour of duty in Italy at the end of World War II, he came home to a hero’s welcome.  He had postponed college and risked his life in service to our country.  He came back to not only a welcoming community but to programs supporting his reentry such as the GI-Bill.  Unfortunately, the same kind of welcome that my dad received was not evident in the Vietnam era and we can see many of the causalities of this failed situation today.  A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to meet then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen.  He has been very public about the need to do a better job in supporting our veterans.  Our First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden have also been working hard in support of veterans along with many other organizations.  To their credit, both our government and local communities are waking up and putting in place support mechanisms to help these men and woman re-acclimate and become successful members of society.

Last month I attended the launch event for an innovative new program called the Community Blueprint.  The goal of the Community Blueprint is to create a set of tools and practices that provide a framework for communities to produce positive, measurable outcomes for veterans, military members and their families.  Points of Light is leading the Community Blueprint coalition of more than 50 veteran and military service organizations, nonprofits and government agencies.  ITT Exelis announced an investment of $5 million to the initiative.  Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light, said “We hope to create the nation’s largest pipeline of volunteer opportunities focused on meeting the needs of veterans and military families. We intend to harness our nation’s sea of goodwill for our veterans and turn it into action.”  The skills learned in the military can be transferred to civilian purposes and many companies now have programs to help facilitate the hiring of veterans.  So in addition to thanking our veterans for their service, lets ensure we have the right services in place to assist them. http://www.pointsoflight.org/programs/military-initiatives/community-blueprint

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Pro Bono Service, it’s Not Just for Large Corporations

Posted on October 24, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

Often when one hears the term pro bono you think of a law firm.  True, but pro bono service can be provided by most any business.  In recent years companies have been using their intellectual capital to help solve some of society’s most pressing issues.  The same intellectual capital that creates new technology, designs marketing campaigns or guides large workforces.  Some call it skills-based volunteering, some call it pro bono.  Sometimes it is on the clock and sometimes it is not.  What is important is that more businesses are helping organizations be more effective in achieving their missions through brain power.

Deloitte, IBM, HP and McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP use their core competencies to help organizations scale, operate efficiently, be more strategic and build awareness.  Small businesses can too, even my business with a mighty team of two.  The pro-bono work can be through a formalized program between a company and an organization, working through an intermediary, or it can be developed directly between the two parties.  It can take on different forms, from a onetime project to ongoing consultation with individual participants or teams.   I have seen projects resulting in the creation of a strategic plan, a human resource policy, a marketing program, to a design for a new client service center.

Recently I participated in a convening of businesses in Los Angeles to discuss the national initiative, A Billion + Change.  The mission statement says it best:  “A Billion + Change is a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based service by 2013 to address core issues our communities face across the country and around the world. Together we will transform how businesses leverage their employees to make a lasting impact on society by engaging, inspiring and mobilizing professional talent to build the capacity of non-profit organizations to better meet community needs.”  Jeff Hoffman & Associates, Global Philanthropy & Civic Engagement, took the pledge right alongside most of the Fortune 100.  I encourage you to do the same.  There is no cost to join the movement plus you gain access to the tools and resources to help your business either get started or be more impactful with your pro bono work.  Join me in taking the A Billion + Change pledge!

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Post-Partisanship: The USC Schwarzenegger Institute Inaugural Symposium

Posted on September 25, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

“The USC Schwarzenegger Institute is committed to advancing post-partisanship, where leaders put people over political parties and work together to find the best ideas and solutions to benefit the people they serve.”  This mission statement really resonates with me.  The current gridlock in Congress and in our State Houses is destructive.  I love the term “post-partisanship.”  This is a concept that we need to work hard to achieve.  And this was the first topic of the Institute’s inaugural symposium that I attended yesterday.  On the stage was a distinguished group.  Governor’s Charlie Crist, Bill Richardson, Tom Ridge and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senators John McCain and Tom Daschle.  The panel was moderated by Cokie Roberts.  Tom Daschle made a point that reinforces what tends to come up in nearly every political conversation I have. “We’re no longer in the Cronkite era. Now we have news channels that aren’t observers but participants in partisanship.”  And Tom Ridged echoed that thought.  “Now we watch TV not to be educated, but to have our opinions confirmed. We must learn to respect others’ point of view.”  I wish everyone, especially elected officials, could watch this entire panel.  Leaders from both sides of the isle talking about the need for compromise and a shared purpose to get things done, not to get reelected.  This is what is needed to get our country back on track.  Governor Schwarzenegger summed it up “”If you believe you can only use the ideas of the right, or the left, you will never be able to move forward.”

At the luncheon, we had a panel titled “Local Solutions to Global Problems – Environment, Energy, and Climate.” The two panelist were Nobel Prize winner Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster.  I had the honor of sitting with the panelists during lunch and was able to talk a bit of local engagement strategies with my own hometown mayor.  “People say things like environmental action will eliminate jobs, when the opposite is true” said Dr. Pachauri.  When discussing the challenges of governments to address environment issues, Mayor Foster said “we have lost our ability to plan for the long term”.  He said that there have been successes, such as the Green Ports initiatives at our harbor, but much more can be achieved.

The afternoon session was titled “The Power of People and Innovation – Media/Hollywood Leaders’ Perspectives” and featured several panelists including Universal Studios President Ron Meyer and Imagine Entertainment Chairman Brian Grazer.  This session, while interesting, seemed to lack focus and covered many different issues.  Topics included intellectual property issues between entertainment companies and technology companies, music education to the power of the media to influence.

USC President Max Nikias started the day saying that the “Institute reflects a need to resolve the world’s most acute problems.”   The Price School of Public Policy’s Dean, Jack Knott, said “Data show that the level of polarization in Congress is the highest it’s been in 100 years.”  What elected officials and political pundits need to understand, and why this concept of post-partnership must be put into action, is simplified by these words from Governor Schwarzenegger “People don’t want to breathe Democratic air or Republican air. They just want to breathe clean air.

http://www.usc.edu/schools/price/research/centers/schwarzenegger/inaugural_symposium.html

 

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Volunteering on the Railroad

Posted on September 20, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

Last weekend we had the pleasure to take a ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railway.  The train leaves from Portland, Maine on a 3 mile roundtrip journey alongside Casco Bay.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning journey.  But what made this experience most interesting to me is that the organization is all volunteer.  Established in 1992, this nonprofit organization collects, preserves, displays, interprets, and operates historic two-foot gauge railroad equipment.  Our conductor that day has been volunteering for four months at the organization.  He said he is the newest volunteer while some have been with the group since the beginning.  Volunteers help to restore the engines and cars, maintain the tracks, engineer the trains, staff the museum and are historians.  The waterfront train rides help offset the cost of operating the museum.  Historic preservation helps us understand how our society was built and about the people who built it.  The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum is doing a fine job presenting how these unusually narrow railroads were a valuable part of Maine’s economy in the later part of the nineteenth century and into the early days of the twentieth.  www.mainenarrowgauge.org

 

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2012 Neighborhood of the Year: California Heights

Posted on September 5, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

For years I have been a proponent of civic engagement as a way to build stronger and sustainable communities.  This year I learned of an organization called Neighborhoods USA.  They are “a national non-profit organization committed to building and strengthening neighborhood organizations. Created in 1975 to share information and experiences toward building stronger communities, NUSA now continues to encourage networking and information sharing to facilitate the development of partnerships between neighborhood organizations, government and the private sector.”  A neighborhood in my home city is the winner and I think they illustrate an excellent example of what a committed group of neighbors can do with a shared vision and determination.  They placed first in the Physical Revitalization category that enabled them to compete for the overall award which they won.  The neighborhood is a historic district that the group has worked tirelessly to preserve and restore.  The Neighborhood Association, led by my friend Join Royce, is another example of what an all volunteer organization can do to make life better for themselves and their neighbors!  www.calheights.org www.nusa.org

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Bronze, Silver and Gold… perhaps a Platinum for the Olympics’ Volunteers?

Posted on August 6, 2012 by jeffhoffmanassociate

London 2012 is a masterful event that has been in the planning stages for years and we are now seeing it play out.  The spectacular Opening Ceremonies alone utilized more than 10,000 volunteers.  It is estimated that 75,000 volunteers are contributing to the success of the Games over the 16 days.  And countless volunteers around the world, helped train and raise funds to get the athletes to London.  The volunteers are often overlooked, although I was happy that the volunteers were mentioned as an integral part of the Opening.  The London 2012 Organizing Committee has dubbed the volunteers “Games Makers.”  Very appropriate!  Recruitment began in September 2010. They received more than 240,000 applications and interviewed 100,000 people across the UK. Successful applicants attended at least three training sessions.  They ask that Games Makers to be inspirational, open, respectful, team-focused, distinctive and have a ‘can do’ attitude.  In addition to the Games Makers, the Mayor of London established a program called Team London Ambassadors. These volunteers welcome visitors from all over the world and are “the face of London,” people who are passionate about the city and want to tell millions of people about the hidden treasures that makes London one of the best capital cities in then world.  As we root on the athletes, lets pause and remember that the Games Makers are doing just that!  http://www.london2012.com/about-us/volunteers/about-our-games-makers/

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