Corporate Volunteering: Uniting Corporate CSR and Community

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Jun 21, 2011 12:00 PM ET

Taiga Company blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Compa…

Ghandi said, "The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others" and while the business world has traditionally recognized, to some extent, the social impacts of their decision making,  not all organizations have seen the value in proactive community engagement.    However, the growth in social and eco awareness has made the link between business sustainability and a thriving community more visible today than it ever has been before.  Companies are more directly tied to the sustainability of the community in which they operate.  As a result, executives are left questioning the role of business in community and how to build the relatedness of a corporate sustainability plan in relation to community.

Business sustainability is noted as providing solutions to complex problems; specifically in business and community development.  It can create solutions sparked by unusual pairings.  Consider the proposition that a business can grow by partnering with a nonprofit, NGO, or the like, to not only address business sustainability concerns but also solve and improve community issues.   Options available for stakeholder engagement and community involvement include corporate volunteering.   Engaging employees in corporate volunteer programs transforms the corporate vision into tangible, qualified action.  By tying corporate sustainability initiatives to day to day processes, it makes a corporate sustainability plan more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility.   The vision is experienced differently with an emotional link formed between the employee, the organization, and community. Click here to continue reading.  

Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".