{"id":43348,"date":"2016-01-13T17:04:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T16:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.small-improvements.com\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2016-01-13T17:04:52","modified_gmt":"2016-01-13T16:04:52","slug":"lets-do-some-good-an-experiment-in-giving-back-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/blog\/lets-do-some-good-an-experiment-in-giving-back-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s do some good – an experiment in giving back"},"content":{"rendered":"

What a year! Small Improvements collected $2.9m in license revenues in 2015, that’s an increase of 70% compared to the year before. We’re doing great, and it’s time to give back.<\/p>\n

I believe everyone should use their influence, no matter how small, to make the world a better place. We’ve been supporting many non-profits for years by donating free or half-price SI licenses<\/a>, we’re paying our taxes without looking for odd loopholes, and we’re storing our surplus buffer on an ethical bank<\/a> — but we felt we can do more. Last year we collectively spent 2% of our annual revenues to charities of our choice.<\/p>\n

It was so well received by everyone involved that we’ve decided to do it again, donating $60,000 this time!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Personal donation budgets<\/h2>\n

Our company is all about the team, so we asked each of our 20 employees to individually nominate the charities for their “donation budget” of\u00a0$3,000. To keep the process simple, everyone could only nominate up to three charities with a minimum donation size of $500. We kept the process anonymous, and our office manager collected the list and removed all names.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Donations went to amazing organizations around the world, and today we’re proud to share the list of recipients:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a>ACLU<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/aclu.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alameda Food Bank<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.alamedafoodbank.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Amnesty International<\/td>\n\u00a02000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.amnesty.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anticorruption Hungary<\/td>\n\u00a03000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/k-monitor.hu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00c4rzte ohne Grenzen (M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res)<\/td>\n\u00a03500USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BGKoleda<\/td>\n\u00a03000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.bgkoleda.bg<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Black Dog institute<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.blackdoginstitute.org.au<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bowel Cancer UK<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CharityWater<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.charitywater.org\/whywater<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Child’s Play<\/td>\n\u00a01500USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/childsplaycharity.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Children.org<\/td>\n\u00a03000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/children.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
City Year<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.cityyear.org\/about-us<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ClojureBridge<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.clojurebridge.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Deutsches Rotes Kreuz<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.drk.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Die Gelbe Villa<\/td>\n\u00a0900USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.die-gelbe-villa.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Envirolaw.org<\/td>\n\u00a02000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.envirolaw.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Frauenh\u00e4user<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.frauenhaeuser.at<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Frauenrechte.de<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.frauenrechte.de\/online\/index.php<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Girl Effect<\/td>\n\u00a01500USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.girleffect.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Greenpeace<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.greenpeace.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Immigration Equality (LGBT immigration to
\nUS)<\/td>\n		\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.immigrationequality.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kinder Hospiz Sonnenhof<\/td>\n\u00a04200USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.bjoern-schulz-stiftung.de\/berlin.html<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Medico International<\/td>\n\u00a01500USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.medico.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oaktree (education)<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/oaktree.nationbuilder.com<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
OneGirl<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.onegirl.org.au<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Possible Health<\/td>\n\u00a01500USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/possiblehealth.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ProAsyl<\/td>\n\u00a02000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.proasyl.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reporter Ohne Grenzen<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.reporter-ohne-grenzen.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sapa O’Chau<\/td>\n\u00a0900USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/sapaochau.org\/<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SeaWatch<\/td>\n1000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.sea-watch.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Skateistan (health)<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.skateistan.org\/content\/our-story<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SOLWODI (Women in Kenya)<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.solwodi.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SOS Barnbyar – Help Children<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.sos-barnbyar.se<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SOS Kinderdorfer<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.sos-kinderdoerfer.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Special Olympics<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\n\u00a0http:\/\/www.austria2017.org\/de\/games-2017\/pre-games-2016<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Steirische Kinderkrebshilfe<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.kinderkrebshilfe.at<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stiftung Naturschutz<\/td>\n\u00a01500USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.stiftung-naturschutz.de\/startseite<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The surfrider foundation (world oceans)<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.surfrider.org\/mission<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WADI (Women in Iraq)<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttp:\/\/www.wadi-online.de<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WaterAid<\/td>\n\u00a01000USD<\/td>\nhttps:\/\/www.wateraid.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

The entire process was surprisingly smooth and simple, I can only recommend that other companies try this as well. Yes, it’s easier if just the CEO decides where to send donations, or to have a collective vote, but if your company is really about team work, then making everyone participate is the best way.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

All transfers have been completed by now, and we’re hoping for even more revenues in 2016 so the process will be even more fun next year! <\/span>\"(smile)\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What a year! Small Improvements collected $2.9m in license revenues in 2015, that’s an increase of 70% compared to the year before. We’re doing great, and it’s time to give back. I believe everyone should use their influence, no matter how small, to make the world a better place. We’ve been supporting many non-profits for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":5378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[51,138],"class_list":["post-43348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company-culture","tag-company-culture","tag-startup-philosophy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}