Monday was a happy day for us at Red Argyle. Monday was giving day, we made our annual financial contribution to charity. We’re extremely proud and thankful for our team who worked hard this year and made it possible to support Red Argyle’s charitable efforts.
For those that are not familiar with the setup, we’ve endeavored to emulate Salesforce’s 1/1/1 integrated philanthropy program. Basically, give 1% of the company’s equity/time/product to charity. This is such a core part of Salesforce’s DNA that the entire first half hour of the main Dreamforce keynote was focused on this.
When Tom and I founded Red Argyle, we knew it was important to start things off right and committed to the model. Since then, Red Argyle has been supporting two organizations with our 1% monetary donations. The first is the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and the second is Foodlink in Rochester. Both of these organizations are food banks. They collect, process and distribute wholesale food to over 500 food pantries in upstate New York. In 2013, estimates are that between the two they have processed 43 million pounds of food.This year, we were able to subsidize the cost of approximately 40,000 pounds of this. That’s two tractor trailer loads or about 16,000 meals. We also had the pleasure of hosting two volunteer days where our staff helped with food processing at the facilities.
Isn’t it amazing what 1% can do?!?
So What’s Next?
We’re excited to see what 2014 brings and how our relationship with these two fine organizations continues to flourish. Beyond that, we encourage you to consider adopting an integrated philanthropy initiative for your organization, or even a personal one. Not only is giving back to our communities a great feeling, it’s also the right thing to do. When philanthropy is no longer a question but a given it happens frictionlessly, and as you grow the giving can grow along with it.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Salesforce 1/1/1 integrated philanthropy model and consider taking the pledge, check it out here: http://www.salesforce.com/company/foundation/
Did you take the pledge or does your organization already participate? Leave a comment and share your story! Thanks for reading.
