By Kat Reynolds, Veritiv Corporation
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: discover your company’s superpower.
And gift it to nonprofits!
Your company’s superpowers can include time, talent, and treasure distinct from traditional volunteerism practices. These are impactful ways to build capacity for nonprofit organizations and highlight your company as a hero. At the same time, YOUR employees showcase their talents and fulfill corporate social responsibility goals.
Although we cannot manipulate time like some superheroes., companies can ‘deploy goodness’ through people-power and paid volunteer time off. At Veritiv, we introduced this benefit in 2024 and so far, over 1,740 employees have provided 5,838 volunteer hours to nonprofits across the country. According to the Independent Sector, that effort equates to over $195,000 in superpower hours!
Superheroes all have unique talents. What service can your organization offer? As a leading provider of packaging solutions, one of Veritiv’s talents is packaging design. Each year, one nonprofit receives in-kind design and printing as part of our ‘designing goodness’ effort. For example, Veritiv designers created an eyeglass donation receptacle box for Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. One thousand custom donation boxes will be distributed in major retailers and private eyecare offices to collect eyeglass donations.
The benefits of cash donations can extend beyond dollars and cents. What if you could extend the lifecycle of a product by contributing it to nonprofits? Donating unused products not only reduces expenses for nonprofits, but also supports a circular economy and ‘delivers goodness.’ Popular donations Veritiv provides include corrugated boxes for animal kennels, personal protective equipment (PPE) items for food banks, or tape and labels to keep front offices running smoothly. Since the program’s inception, Veritiv has donated nearly $2 million worth of inventory across the U.S.
Identify your company’s superpowers and consider providing time, talent, or treasure to enhance your local communities. Segment employees based on how, when, and where they can volunteer. Every department has a different gift; what service can your team offer? Although it may not be a shield, or a hammer, what items could your company contribute to local nonprofits?
That’s your mission – I hope you choose to accept it.
