Author: Jon Umstead

You Don’t Have to Donate to Contribute

Posted on by Jon Umstead

Helping out those in need doesn’t always have to take the classic approach of donating directly to a particular cause. Sometimes a business’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program includes giving a portion of proceeds from sales to a named cause or charity.

Some businesses, such as TOMS Shoes, have a policy wherein for every purchase of a good or product sold, one of equal value is donated to people in need.

When specific disasters or tragedies occur, many businesses establish short-term programs to raise funds, goods or services specifically for relief efforts.

Texas Tough

T-shirt company Johnny Cupcakes set up one such program to raise relief funds for victims of this summer’s flooding in Texas due to Hurricane Harvey by designing and selling a special “Texas Tough” version of their collector t-shirts, then donating all proceeds to the Houston Food Bank, The Port Aransas Community Relief Fund, and the Salvation Army.

In all, they raised almost $23,000 – a drop in the bucket, but not bad for t-shirt company. Just think if 100’s of businesses did something similar.

2-for-1

The Drew and Cole Deddens Foundation’s primary sponsor, iStorm Group, recently got in on the action, creating a 2-for-1 situation by purchasing several of the Texas Tough t-shirts from Johnny Cupcakes, then handing them out as gifts to iStorm Group partners and suppliers located in Texas.

In other word, iStorm Group got to contribute to a worthy cause while simultaneously saying, “thank you and we care” to business partners. A win-win-win

If you are looking for a CSR program, you might consider doing something similar. Of course, your tax deductible donations to The Drew and Cole Deddens Foundation is always welcome and an effective means for you to give something back as well.

In either case, you don’t always have to directly donate money to a cause to ultimately make a contribution.

The Line Behind You

Posted on by Jon Umstead

The Drew and Cole Deddens Foundation, through iStorm Group, participated in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Apartment Association’s “Night Out for Outreach” event September 16. This event provided us with 2 stark reminders: how lucky we are, and how much others need our help.

Or as one of the event’s coordinators, Bruce Hellman of BRG Realty Group, said, “The line behind you is much longer than the line in front of you.”

It is easy to get caught up in our every day issues, or feel like we are having a really bad day, when in reality, our individual problems are trivial compared to others’. Outreach aims to ease that burden for people who are truly in need.

Outreach’s mission statement is, “To provide basic needs and emergency assistance to families and individuals in crisis,” and the vision statement is “To strengthen and elevate all communities by providing food, shelter and other basic needs.”

Outreach supports several programs including:

  • Rent assistance
  • Backpack giveaways
  • Food distribution program
  • Scholarships
  • Senior events

The rent assistance program grants up to $500 in rent assistance, on a one-time basis, to “bridge over a rough spot in a resident’s life and to prevent losing a resident due to an emergency”. This program’s annual budget is $41,000.

The backpack giveaway supports over 1100 school children, providing much needed supplies and a budget of over $17,000.

As Outreach’s web site says, “Hunger knows no season, never takes a vacation nor is satisfied by good thoughts.” Outreach does its part by delivering cases of food to 2 dozen pantries in the GCNK area, at a budget of $15,000.

Each year, Outreach sponsors scholarships totaling $10,000, while also providing meals and entertainment so residents of low-income senior housing.

According to the web site CityLink Center, “30.9% of Cincinnatians live in poverty – that’s more than 86,000 individuals.” Think about that – 1 in 3 people in the GCNK area live in poverty.

For them, they may very well feel the line in front of them is longer than the line behind them.

Programs like Outreach aim to change that dynamic. Obviously, it is a drop in the bucket, but we are proud to have played some small role in filling it.

Faithfully Paying it Forward

Posted on by Jon Umstead

The Drew and Cole Deddens Foundation Sponsored Alter High School Students Attending the Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference, 2017

This summer, 94 students from Alter High School and 10 chaperones attended the Catholic Youth Conference in Steubenville, Ohio, under the leadership of Mr. Ryan Mahle. The Drew and Cole Deddens Foundation sponsored several of those students, thanks to a donation from iStorm Group.

According to Ryan, the number of participants in the conference nearly doubled from last year and likely represented the largest group of the 3,000 teens that attended the conference.

The students listened to speakers, celebrated mass, experienced Reconciliation, shared in small groups and sang worship songs.

Ryan said, “The highlight for most of the teens, however, was the power of Eucharistic Adoration on Saturday night. Many described experiencing the ‘amazing grace’ that comes when our hearts are open to the Holy Spirit.”

The following are some of the quotes from students who attended:

  • “Steubenville was the most impactful experience of my entire life.”
  • “I can honestly say I had the best weekend of my life up to this point…I felt Jesus…prayer works…”
  • “I can say I truly know what love is and love IS Jesus Christ.”
  • “I finally got to feel God in my life and I couldn’t be happier.”
  • “It felt almost unreal how close I felt with my religion.”

With so many stories in the news about kids that have made bad choices or taken the wrong path, it is inspiring and heartwarming to see so many taking part in programs like this one.

We are proud to have been a part of it.

 

 

 

What does Your Corporate Social Responsibility Program Look Like?

Posted on by Jon Umstead

Let’s make it happen

Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is a way for a company, business or freelancer to give something back to the local community, charitable or environmental causes, to society or to the world at large.

According to Investopedia, “Social responsibility is important to a business because it demonstrates to both consumers and the media that the company takes an interest in wider social issues that have no direct impact on profit margins.”

Yet, studies have found that businesses with CSR programs tend to do better financially over the long haul than those without.

Perhaps karma is a factor. Through the CSR program you are saying to the universe, “I freely give this to you,” and the universe responds in kind.

But there are hard truths behind the findings

Doublethedonation.com lists several of them in their post entitled “Why Corporate Social Responsibility is Important.” 2 key takeaways include that CSR improves the public image of the company and boosts employee engagement – critical given we live in a time in which employees and customers are attracted to the “experience” as much as if not more-so than the product or service.

Forbes’ article “Six Reasons Companies Should Embrace CSR,” adds a couple more important factors: brand differentiation and long-term thinking.

Relative to long-term thinking, the article states that, “CSR is an effort to look at the company’s long-term interest and ensuring that the company’s future is… well… sustainable. Hence, that’s why I prefer the term sustainability to CSR. It is a shift from worrying about the next fiscal quarter’s financial results to the impact business decisions today have on financial (and social) results ten years from now.”

Do you need a CSR program?

Why not make the Drew and Cole Deddens Foundation a part of it? We were created by iStorm Group as a part of its CSR program, so the heavy lifting is done. Now, we invite you to join us.

Our mission is to give the gift of hope to millions of children who receive lifesaving care every year, and families with young children who just need a little help. Primary benefactors include St. Jude and Nationwide Childrens, but we also help families send kids to camp, support community family/children centered activities and a host of other things.

Contact us or donate today.