Although every day is a great day to give back, November is a month branded on gratitude. The word gratitude may seem simple by nature, but its meaning goes far beyond saying “thank you.” Gratitude is about not only expressing thankfulness but also about shifting away from the negatives and instead dwelling on the positives in life. When we stop to evaluate our lives, there is always at least one thing to be grateful for. When it comes to giving back, sharing your appreciation with others is a powerful movement. It shows that you took a second to acknowledge what you have in life and then found a way to give a glimpse of that to someone else.
Lindsey Lavine wrote an article on Entrepreneur.com expressing the value of community involvement from companies. She states,
[blockquote author=”http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226974″]Companies that encourage community involvement distinguish themselves from their competitors, and see many benefits, including loyal customers and happier employees. According to a May 2013 study by Cone Communications and Echo Research, 82 percent of U.S. consumers consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) when deciding which products or services to buy and where to shop.[/blockquote]
Based on these principles, we as a company went out this past Saturday to The Animal Foundation which is also one of our clients. The Animal Foundation is a non-profit organization that operates as Nevada’s largest open-admission shelter and pet adoption center. As a team, we volunteered at their 8 acre facility which houses more than 40,000 lost, unwanted, neglected and abandoned animals every year.
We started off by getting a tour of the facility and their different departments. Since we answer their phones and transfer people to different departments, it was neat to see all the different departments we help through our receptionist services. Overall, having a tour was extremely beneficial because it was informative, but it also gave us a different perspective on our client’s company. It allowed us to put ourselves in the shoes of our callers and relate to our callers even more.
After the tour, we then helped with a bit of the maintenance. Their staff had just trimmed their trees, so we helped clean up the branches and dispose of them. After that, we went inside and helped sort and put away some of their goodies from a previous event. Lastly, we were then able to feed the dogs treats given to us by the foundation and spend time with the dogs which was amazing!
It was an unforgettable experience, that helped us be closer to our client, understand the callers we handle for them, but after all, nothing beats the satisfaction of knowing that you did something great!
