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Reaching Out to Our Kids

Today is a special day for the Avon Chamber of Commerce, Avon High School (AHS)  and about 40 of its students. Called Job Shadow Day, I am honored to serve as the Chamber's Education Committee lead, which together with the AHS Guidance Department hosts a day when students are matched up with Chamber volunteer mentors.

I just returned from seeing the students off, as they travel in many directions to spend the morning with a local business. One student rode with me to her destination, the Farmington Valley Shoppes, a local mall where she is being hosted by the Mall Manager and will get a small sense of what it is like to work in real estate management.

Other students are visiting the local library, banks, accounting and investment professionals and firms, doctors, construction companies, daycare, The Salvation Army, fitness and physical therapy specialists and other businesses large and small. It is a day for students to experience a taste of what it is like to work in business or to be an entrepreneur or run a business as a C-level executive.

This is my second year as a lead, following three years as a volunteer on another chamber education committee. I am blessed and honored to have the opportunity. This is but one way to lead with your heart and give back to your community. It is fun, it is educational to learn from these students, and at the end of the day, the mentor businesses and the education committee get back far more than we give.

P.S. Please share ways that your business or you individually are serving your community.

It's Free, It Really Is

I just returned from a virtual trip to Perry's place, The FreeColorPrinters Blog. Perry works for Xerox and  owns this blog, which is a wonderful resource on a variety of topics, including printing and digital photography. But what surprised me most was discovering that Xerox has a group called The FreeColorPrinters Team that gives away Xerox color printers.

Perhaps I have been living in a cave but this information startled me. First, let me say that I believe all companies should offer programs that provide free products and services. It's the right thing to do and it's good for business as customers and employees appreciate these kinds of efforts and seek to support them by becoming loyal to the brand or, in the case of employees, taking pride in their job and their work.

Here's how the program works:

The Xerox FreeColorPrinters program began offering Xerox color products to qualified organizations in 1999, and since has provided more than 50,000 products to various organizations throughout the United States. An application and review process are required. Those who might qualify for a printer are small businesses, private and public schools and institutions, religious organizations, and non-profits. The only costs are supplies; the printers are free.

Here is one more reason that blogs are important. Had I not visited Perry's blog for a totally different reason that had nothing to do with Xerox, I would not have discovered this program. Now I need to get to work on my application for a printer.

Fundraising Online Made Easy

As my regular readers know, I believe that businesses who give back to their communities not only are doing the right thing, but are enacting business best practices. Recently, I interviewed Brittany, the Ambassador of Awesome, at Firstgiving, an easy place for anyone to raise funds for any charitable cause. Here is that interview:

Q. Brittany, tell our readers something about yourself?

At Firstgiving, I currently take care of our online social networks and write for our blog. I feature a Fundraiser of the Week on our blog and work to showcase all the amazing work that the fantastic individuals who use our site are doing.

Q. What is Firstgiving?

Firstgiving is a website where anyone can come and make a personalized fundraising page for any non-profit that is registered with GuideStar, a national registry of non-profits. Once your page is created, you can send out an email to all your friends, family and members of your online community to let them know that you have created a fundraising page for an organization.

We also provide widgets/badges for fundraisers to promote their campaign on their blog or various social networking sites, such as MySpace or Facebook. People set up fundraising pages for a variety of reasons: to fundraise for a race, commemorate a special event, wedding, or use it to organize a raffle.

Fundraising for charity in lieu of receiving gifts for special occasions has become a popular idea and some kids are even asking their parents to do it. The possibilities are pretty much endless. You can set up your page to do anything you want.

Q. What does Firstgiving hope to achieve?

We want to make online fundraising easy for people and eliminate the feeling that it’s difficult to fundraise for charity. Since online fundraisers typically raise two to three times more than fundraisers that use traditional methods, it makes sense for people to do it online. We get to see a lot of small non-profits benefit from our service, which excites and inspires us everyday. We also believe that if fundraising is easier to do then more people will do it, and so we strive to make everything as seamless as possible.

Q. How does Firstgiving.com work?

Anyone can come to our site and click the “Start Fundraising” button and go from there. You get to categorize your campaign (sporting event, in memory of someone, personal occasion, etc) and then personalize your page. Also you can add tags so that you can connect to the pages of other fundraisers that share similar passions/goals. After the page is personalized, fundraisers can email out their Firstgiving url with a personal message using our email importer powered by Plaxo.

We also provide a fundraising widget or badge so individuals can promote their campaign on the Internet via their blog or social networking pages. As money is raised, the funds are sent directly to the non-profit, which eliminates the worry to find out where the money needs to go or how it is going to get there. Since we work with GuideStar, we have all official information and it adds a level of trust with our fundraisers because we only work with registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.

Q. How can readers be assured that their donations will benefit the charities they choose?

Since each fundraiser sets up their own specific page and donors donate to that page, supporters are only in contact with the charity/fundraiser they choose to support. Also, since Firstgiving sends all money donated directly to the non-profit there is never a worry that the money won’t get there. We use GuideStar, and have access to all the official addresses of the non-profits that people raise funds for.

Q. Any other final comments?

If you want to read more about our fundraisers and the fantastic work that they are doing you can visit our Community Blog. It’s our place where we feature fundraising tips, highlight the events that we attend, and the amazing individuals that inspire us each day. I believe that their stories and their achievements define our success more than anything else, so check it out and get ready to smile.

Chamber, Meet Your Local High School

What do high schools and your Chambers of Commerce have in common? The answers are jobs and  careers. Both exist to assist their "members" in furthering their careers.

For the past three years, I have been privileged to be a part of two Chambers' Job Shadow Days, a mentoring experience for high school students. This year, I took the lead on the Avon Chamber's Education Committee. Since neither the Chamber nor the High School had participated in the past, my job was to launch the program.

Today, the first annual Avon Chamber of Commerce Job Shadow Day is taking place. I just returned from the high school, where about a dozen Juniors were sent off to spend the morning with Chamber members at their jobs. The students will return to the high school at noon for pizza, soda and sharing.

If your Chamber doesn't sponsor a Job Shadow Day or if it does and you haven't participated as a mentor, here are a few of the benefits for the Chamber, the high school and mentor businesses:

1. The Chamber gets to give back to their community by reaching out to students.
2. By doing so, the Chamber's Brand Image is enhanced and their Brand Name is spread through a community of students and parents who may know nothing about the Chamber's work.
3. Businesses that participate receive the same Brand advantages.
4. Furthermore, those businesses get to influence students and spread word of mouth about what they are looking for in workers.
5. And if they have part-time work available, they get to meet potential employees or future employees who may come to work for them after completing their education.
6. The High School reaps Brand rewards, as well, enhancing their chances of increasing their reputation and more practically, passing future bond referendums.
7. Students get a reality check and, perhaps for the first time, get an understanding of what having a job looks like.
8. Some students get a mentor for life; someone not a parent or a teacher who they can talk to about their careers.
9. Students get a clearer picture of what choosing a career means.

Putting this kind of program together and managing it take lots of work and about six months worth of meetings and planning each year. For me, I love participating in Job Shadow Day and get rewarded by meeting bright students and maybe helping one or two of them in some small ways.

How do your Chambers or Rotaries reach out to students? Do you see any value in doing so? Do programs such as these help businesses/students?

If you would like to learn more about organizing a Job Shadow Day in your community, feel free to call or to e-mail me. I have lots of materials I can share.