What do you think about when you picture a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative? For most, it’s volunteering at a local food bank or engaging employees in a donation drive. But some of our favorite CSR initiatives we’ve facilitated have been far more behind the scenes. One of our recent CSR projects involved helping San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) partner with a local San Diego nonprofit.

With decades of collective experience curating volunteering and community engagement opportunities, Mission Edge's Corporate Social Responsibility team curated a four-part event schedule throughout the year so the University of San Diego could expand their community impact and better help the Monarch School.

From Giving Tuesday to Thanksgiving, there is a feeling around us to give back to our loved ones and community. Not only that – many companies' budgets are closing out at the end of the year and, they’re given the freedom to donate additional unused funds. While pairing a donation with the holiday season may be a logical action, it may not be the best practice to continue year after year.

With corporate volunteering increasing since 2020, companies understand the positive correlation between employee volunteerism and employee engagement and wellbeing. We’ll discuss the benefits of consistent volunteer engagements for companies, and offer ideas for how your company can provide a more sustained impact through employee volunteering.

At Mission Edge, our expertise in Community Engagement programming places us at the forefront of understanding the intricacies of volunteering. We've compiled a series of practical tips designed to ensure your employees are well-equipped during your CSR volunteer event and that they feel wholly supported as you send them off into the world to lend a hand.

Traditionally, grantmaking is straightforward: the wealthy donate to the less fortunate to address societal issues. But here at Mission Edge, we want funders to bring an awareness of power and equity. Trust-Based Philanthropy seeks to rebalance the power dynamics in philanthropy. At its foundation, it acknowledges the reality that philanthropy has contributed to systemic inequities.

Qualcomm’s racial justice initiative sought to allocate $500,000 across 10 different organizations, each actively working to dismantle racial injustices in unique ways. Mission Edge facilitated this process, making sure the initiative was not just about financial support, but that it also brought employees together to engage in meaningful dialogues on racial justice.

San Diego Gas and Electric came to Mission Edge at the beginning of the summer wanting help with getting their interns connected to the San Diego community in a meaningful way. We partnered with SDGE to facilitate a virtual social impact project for more than 40 of their summer interns who were eager to make a difference in the community through their roles supporting nonprofit partners.

When Illumina came to Mission Edge three years ago, they wanted to facilitate a volunteer project that engaged an important cohort: interns. Their goal was to help early-stage professionals understand that community engagement is an integral part of working at Illumina. Now, for the third year in a row working with the biotechnology company, we’re creating a virtual volunteer project for Illumina’s summer interns.

Mission Edge came alongside Qualcomm to advocate for nonprofits and provide Qualcomm’s employees with the information they needed to make selection decisions. Because Mission Edge understands both corporate and nonprofit cultures, we were able to create a CSR program that truly meets the needs of local nonprofits, and helped Qualcomm select partners that fit within the giving goals of the program.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a growing trend in the business world, and for good reason — consumers want to know that the businesses they contribute their hard-earned money to are doing some good in the world.