The spirit of companionship that develops among volunteers can strengthen the local community spirit, and as you’d expect it will fulfill the volunteers’ goal of aiding their local needy. Scheduling this kind of event can be rather time consumung by itself, and arranging specific activities can easily take up free time that could be used in actually volunteering.

Consequently, some companies are developing initiatives encouraging their employees to give back to the community through volunteer activities. One of the more significant examples is Adaptive Marketing LLC of Connecticut who developed shopping and financial benefits programs such as BusinessMax to consumers.

Initiatives like these used to be annual, limited activities - but this has come to be seen as the minimum of effort. Shoe recycling programs and more energetic efforts like tree planting events - these and other activities have been arranged by Adaptive Marketing for its employees. When Adaptive Marketing began central organization individual volunteers’ tasks grew into events, with specific dates, locations and times posted early to make time management easy for those signing up. The volunteers will want a choice between projects. Staff from Adaptive Marketing, the firm who developed the financial benefits program BusinessMax, can select from a great many volunteer events. There’s so much to be done; working with children, lending a hand to environmental programs, or improving the area’s aesthetic through artistic projects to list just a few that have already been tried. The result is that Adaptive Marketing volunteers are presented with opportunities to use their time as efficiently as they can and love their time volunteering.

Commonly a company sponsored charity initiative - getting involved with a homeless shelter or assisting at a local school - is either done on a regular schedule or as a one-off event. There are those who claim they don’t have the time, but even they can arrange the public library’s sale of used books or a Saturday morning spent litter picking in the park. We’re sure you know a number of tales of firms supporting the people who live around them. The activities of the staff at firms such as Adaptive Marketing spread precious good feeling in their home town. Helping around your hometown can make you feel like a better person - which is just the sort of feeling to leave employees motivated in both their daily work and their volunteer activities.

As head of the info-commerce firm Intelius, Naveen Jain strives to be the best employer for his employees. What can give better evidence to this than his company being named by different institutions as one of the best workplaces in Washington? In 2008, Puget Sound Business Journal has selected Intelius as a finalist for its 2nd annual Washington’s Best Workplaces program. Naveen Jain prides on his company’s endeavor to create an open working environment for its employees “where they can exercise their creative freedom and grow professionally.” Furthermore, the company cited its unique corporate culture, which is demonstrated by its open-door policy and its practice of embracing employees as an integral part of the company. The same program also recognized the Bellevue, Washington-based company in 2007. Meanwhile, Washington CEO has selected Intelius as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Washington State 2008. The publication ranked Intelius 22nd on the list of medium-sized companies that were given honor. The firm was chosen after a panel of HR professionals reviewed the responses from about 20,000 employee surveys conducted among 308 companies in the Washington state. The selection was based on criteria including performance standards, leadership, hiring and retention, work environment, training, rewards and recognition, corporate culture, and responsibility and decision making. Naveen Jain expressed his excitement over such recognition considering that his company has received both honors in the same year. About Puget Sound Business Journal Puget Sound Business Journal is a weekly newspaper publication of the American City Business Journals that features articles about business people, events, and issues in the greater Seattle, Washington area. Additionally, the Business Journal provides daily updates through its Website and email alerts. About Washington CEO Washington CEO was a business magazine publication in Washington. In 2008, Minneapolis-based Tiger Oak Publications acquired Washington CEO. The latter now operates under the name Seattle Business Monthly. Sources: http://www.etag.net/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doFN723I7FU http://www.naveenjain.name/