3 ways this B Corp puts purpose before profit - making life better for people, planet and communities | 3 goals helping us live up to the B Corp standard
Did you know a B Corp Certification is the only certification measuring an organisation’s entire social and environmental performance?
So, it demands commitment, passion and hard work to make the cut.
Which we love.
Because the truth is, even before becoming #BCorpCertified in 2015, we (very proudly) lived like one.
Putting people, purpose and social good before profits has always been at the heart of everything we do at Raisely (more about that here).
Why we certify
What the B Impact Assessment does for us - and every business in the B Corp community - is to hold us accountable.
It keeps us focused on giving back more than we receive.
It makes us constantly examine our practice, performance and positive impact.
And it provides a high standard to which we can aspire and improve.
3 ways we’ve made our B Corp better for people, the planet and our communities
Despite the upheaval of the past 12 months (or maybe because of it), Raisely has remained laser-focused on doing more good work.
As we head into our 7th B Corp Month, here are a few of our initiatives helping us walk the B Corp talk.
1. People: Pro Bono hours, an Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP) and peer-to-peer matching
Pro Bono hours
Every team member can now take 3 paid days (22.8 hours) a year for volunteering - on us.
Employees can donate their skills or time to a charity close to their heart. Of course, the cause still needs to align with Raisely’s values. The important thing is they aren’t losing out financially while doing this good work.
Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP)
Our ESOP program gives all our staff the opportunity to buy shares in Raisely.
This gives employees a stronger voice within the organisation. And, it creates more of a team atmosphere, rather than an ‘us and them’ culture.
Because let’s face it: without good people, we can’t do good things.
That’s why we believe those who create value at Raisely should also share the rewards.
Peer-to-peer matching
Our fundraising platform beautifully supports the peer-to-peer campaigns of hundreds of organisations.
Yet, we knew we could do even more by actually participating as individuals.
Today, we challenge everyone at Raisely to take part in a peer-to-peer fundraiser at least once a year.
The benefits?
🌎 We get real-world user experience of our fundraising platform - so we can make it even better for our customers.
🏦 Plus once every financial year, Raisely matches all the donations (up to $500) a team member receives in their peer-to-peer campaign. So, if an employee has raised $500 from their network, we’ll put in another $500. Winning!
Jordan, our Head of Customer Success, got on board straight away and has spilled all her (fundraising) secrets here.
Meanwhile, Marjon, our Account Executive, has also taken part in her own Feel The Magic challenge.
2. The planet: how we’re treading lightly
We’re one of over 500 B Corps who committed to Net Zero by 2030 and in 2021, we achieved Net Zero for the second time!
We conducted our annual Carbon Audit to see exactly where our emissions were coming from and we're extremely proud to say we’ve reduced our carbon footprint across every part of our organisation last year!
You can read more about our carbon audit here, but suffice to say, we still have more work ahead of us in this space.
3. Impacting communities who need it
Our customers fundraise for all sorts of causes.
Climate, disability, human rights and health - all are working hard to raise money for worthwhile causes.
So, it was interesting to dig a little deeper and unearth exactly where those funds are ending up.
We reviewed 900+ customers and discovered that of the money generated on Raisely in 2020:.
- 60% was directed to underserved populations
- 40% benefited developing economies
- 56% was for causes working towards SDG 1.4 (that being equal rights to economic resources, basic services, property ownership and finance)
- 64% went to organisations with a goal to empower or promote social, economic and/or political inclusion in underserved communities (SDG 10.2).
This was verified by B Lab, too.
It certainly gave us a little spring in our step, knowing what a positive impact our customers were having on the communities who need it most.
3 goals we’re striving for
It’s been a whirlwind ride for the Raisely crew.
Last year alone, we catapulted from 9 employees to 32!
As any organisation knows, rapid growth can push values, culture and operations to the sidelines.
So, we called in an expert consultant from Lab17 to help us redefine our values, how we want them to impact the world around us and to bring them back to the centre of everything we do.
Consulting guru, Steph, helped us reset our values through a series of workshops and start exploring new avenues for better mentoring, support and collaboration.
We came up with the following 3 goals to strive for…
❤️ 1. Be true and humble
We acknowledge that we aren’t perfect and don’t always get it right. We are on a journey and want to invite others outside of Raisely to join us as we advocate for inclusive and respectful treatment of others.
⚡️2. Move swiftly towards excellence
We are constantly learning and want to grow as we seek new ways to improve the wellbeing of people and planet. We advocate for an extremely high standard of quality and value for our customers.
📣 3. Amplify others
We exist to help others succeed. We will continue to prioritise purpose over profit in the decisions we make. We aim to develop solutions that grow our customers’ capacity for success.
Why a B Corp’s values, actions and behaviour matter
Having a Certified B Corporation Fundraising Platform means a lot to us.
And we are immensely proud of what we help our customers achieve.
Considered, well-communicated values allow us to set clear expectations about how our team should manage themselves and others.
Whether that’s how we behave, treat one another or make hard decisions, our values are our moral compass.
They help us create a great culture and, ultimately, advance towards our mission of helping charities raise money online.
And that means our customers (and the Raisely team) can focus on improving the well-being of people, the planet and our communities.
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Content marketing lead at Raisely.