The Power of Partners
On February 26th, 2007, National Corporate Philanthropy Day, the Salesforce.com Foundation kicked off the Power of Us Partner Program with the 'The Power of Partners' Summit in New York City with Premier Partners Vertical Response, Blue Wolf, Thiekos, CRM Fusion and AppExtremes, all embracing the integrated philanthropy model in honor of National Corporate Philanthropy Day.
Power of Us
The Salesforce.com Foundation’s, Power of Us Partner Program is one of the most ambitious and groundbreaking programs in corporate philanthropy to date. The objective of the program is to assist salesforce.com partners who are interested in giving back and connecting them with salesforce.com nonprofit customers who need their expertise. Partners must give at least two of the four pillars of the salesforce.com 1% model -- time, equity, product or environmental stewardship -- in order to join the Power of Us partner program. The Foundation is reaching out to partners to implement an integrated philanthropy model similar to the Salesforce.com Foundation's unique 1/1/1/1 model to help serve the nonprofit sector and facilitate the donation of their services through existing nonprofit customers.
The Power of Partners: A Summit Bringing Together Business and Nonprofits
At "The Power of Partners", salesforce.com business partners described how they are making their products and services accessible to the nonprofit organizations that are using donated salesforce.com products. The event was held in conjunction with National Corporate Philanthropy Day, which is aimed at building awareness of philanthropic achievements, sharing the benefits of corporate giving, and inspiring businesses across the country to engage further in philanthropy.
Inspiring visions for improving the world were shared by Robert Thurman of Tibet House, Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund, and Barbara Chang of NPower New York. The ability to achieve these visions was amplified by the contributions of the business community. The Power Partner Panel hosted by Suzanne Dibianca showcased business leaders Vertical Response, Blue Wolf, Thiekos, CRM Fusion and AppExtremes as the audience learned how these businesses are contributing their expertise to help nonprofit organizations achieve their social goals.
Salesforce.com Foundation - "Doing Well, While Doing Good"
The Salesforce.com Foundation is guided by a unique vision, the 1/1/1/1 model, which signifies that 1% of product, 1% of employee's time, 1% of equity and being 'one' with the earth will combine to make an effective impact on the global community. Since being founded in 1999, the Foundation has been responsible for donating Salesforce applications to more than 1,600 nonprofits, donating 40,000 hours of volunteer work by employees, giving millions of dollars in grants to help the community and working to become carbon neutral. The Salesforce.com Foundation focuses much of their activities and donations on the use of technology and especially how it relates to youth development.
The Power of Us - A Roadmap for Corporate Philanthropy
The Power of Us partner program was created to grow Salesforce.com Foundation's community benefits exponentially by increasing the number of companies committed to a similar method of corporate social responsibility. The prospect of adopting a philanthropic model that will be embraced by employees, customers and investors alike is a daunting task for any company. Many companies look to salesforce.com and the Salesforce.com Foundation as an example because of their ability to "do well, while doing good." With the Power of Us, the Salesforce.com Foundation is committed to mentoring companies to successfully incorporate integrated philanthropy into their business model.
"Since the inception of the Salesforce.com Foundation, we realized that there was a wealth of committed salesforce.com partners with the desire, means and resources to make a meaningful impact on the nonprofit community," said Suzanne DiBianca, executive director at the Salesforce.com Foundation. "The Power of Us partner initiative allows our existing partners to get involved quickly and in a meaningful way without having to spend time or money setting up their own Foundations. Facilitating this kind of giving increases the impact on the nonprofit customers of salesforce.com -- these donated services and products are what leveraged giving is all about."
"After I read Marc Benioff's book, Compassionate Capitalism, in 2004, I became involved with the Salesforce.com Foundation and learned how I could successfully integrate philanthropy into my business, just as salesforce.com had," said Jason Masciarelli, CEO of Theikos, Inc, a Premier Consulting Partner of Salesforce.com. "With the help of the Salesforce.com Foundation, our company has donated over $150,000 worth of professional services to nonprofit organizations. However, the true benefit we have experienced as a company is the pride we have in knowing what we already have given back to the community and what we plan to give in the future."
Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, a respected leader in corporate philanthropy, has written two books on the topic. Compassionate Capitalism (Career Press, 2004) was the first-ever best practices guide for corporate philanthropy. Benioff recently release The Business of Changing the World (McGraw-Hill, 2006, www.thebusinessofchangingtheworld.com), a collection of essays by twenty business leaders, including Michael Dell, Mike Eskew, Steve Case and others, that cover how their companies and organizations have implemented an integrated approach to philanthropy.
For more information on National Corporate Philanthropy Day, please visit the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)'s website at http://www.corporatephilanthropy.org/day/. In addition, the CECP awarded salesforce.com with the 7th Annual Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award for Small Company.
