Tag: millennials

Millennials and CSR: An Infographic

This infographic was created as a supplement to my dissertation proposal defense last weekend.  It provides a high level overview of the significance of corporate social responsibility in the recruitment and engagement of millennial employees.

This infographic was created as a supplement to my dissertation proposal defense last weekend.  It provides a high level overview of the significance of corporate social responsibility in the recruitment and engagement of millennial employees.

Millennials and CSR

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GIVE Pgh: My Experience Building a PWA

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As a tech for good fellow with Net Impact, I was tasked with creating an impact project that would reach at least 250 people. The impact project I created is a progressive web app (PWA) called GIVE Pgh. The purpose of this app is for simpler charitable giving to non-profit organizations in the Pittsburgh area. The app will feature a new non-profit organization each month allowing users to donate through the JustGiving donation platform. This app aims to showcase the lesser known charity organizations in the Pittsburgh area that get overlooked.

The GIVE Pgh app aims to address the lack of support for smaller and lesser known charitable organizations in Pittsburgh. According to the 501c3 registry from the IRS, there are over 4,000 tax exempt or non-profit entities in the area. However, there are only a handful that get continuous recognition from the larger fundraisers throughout the region.

The GIVE Pgh app uses the JustGiving donation platform to provide simple and secure charitable giving. The simple donation integration API was used to achieve this. The app was developed with the GoodBarber app builder. The entire process was spent developing and designing the application. In addition, time was spent working with the JustGiving development team to get all the branding and necessary information for the app.

The GIVE Pgh app was published on April 29th, 2018. I have tested the app, but would like it to be tested by potential end users. The app has been downloaded by people in my personal network and I am awaiting feedback. I plan to take all feedback received and make adjustments to the app if necessary.

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With the help of the feedback from users, the GIVE Pgh app will give smaller charitable organizations the opportunity to have their missions spread across a different demographic. This exposure will help raise funds to continue to carry out the visions of these organizations.

The GIVE Pgh app will be sustained past this fellowship by becoming a non-profit organization. Currently I fund this project out of pocket as a progressive web app. However, I would like to upgrade the app from a PWA to a native application that would be available in the Google Play store for Android and the Apple App Store. I understand this is not an easy feat, however, I plan to file tax exempt status for GIVE Pgh and collaborate with interested people to grow this impact project.

There was a lot to learn during this process around patience, expectations, and the complexity of app building. Building an app, even if it is a progressive web app, is time consuming and takes both financial and technical wherewithal.

Continue reading “GIVE Pgh: My Experience Building a PWA”

The Best Apps to Make an Impact

As of this year, there are over 2.8 million apps for Android users and about 2.2 million  apps for Apple iOS users. Whether you a2imagesre using the App Store or the Google Play store, you can’t help but notice the large number of replicated applications from astrology apps to credit score tracking apps.  There are literally thousands of budgeting apps and there over one hundred different period trackers.

That being said, out of all these apps, there are only a handful that promote or aid in  the social good.  Not to say ‘a handful’ as in a few, but in the context of the millions of apps available. A few of my favorites are Share the Meal, CharityBox, and One Today.

Share The Meal  is a project from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) that allows their users to donate with the click of a button to help fight world hunger.  CharityBox, on the other hand, allows you to search within the app and donate to a charity of your choosing.  Finally, One Today focuses on current projects of non-profit organizations, giving their users the opportunity to donate the project of the day.

Our phones are a major part of our lives from the moment we wake up to the alarm on A green leaf with a heart shape on a computer circuit board / green it / green computing / csr / it ethicsour phone, to what we read on our phone before we go to bed, and everything in between.  Using our phones to make simple, yet meaningful contributions to the world we live, on  a local or global level, is a great opportunity that more people should engage in and support.

Deloitte’s Millennial Survey 2017: Accountability and Influence

Deloitte has posted the results of their sixth annual Millennial Survey this year revealing less optimism and more apprehension.  As a result of a tumultuous political season last year and economic disruption including Brexit, millennials are less ambitious in bailing on current employers.  Instead they are seeking stability in what seems like a time of uncertainty.

Despite the obvious downturn of the 2017 survey results from those of 2016, the desire for millennials to work for a socially responsible organization has anything but diminished.  Their outlook on the current state of social impact among businesses is favorable. However, there is a desire for larger, multinational organizations to make more of an impact on social issues on a global level.

Many millennials feel accountability for the issues in the world around them.  Given that it may not be feasible for the average individual to make a global impact, employees seek to make an impact through their employers. Employer sponsored CSR initiatives including corporate volunteering, community outreach events, and charitable donations give employees the feeling of empowerment and influence.  These opportunities allow millennials, and any other socially conscious employees, to make tangible impacts locally.

According to the 2017 the survey administered by Deloitte, 59% of millennials believe they are at least fairly responsible for protecting the environment.  However they are realistic in the scope of their impact with only 38% of millennials believing they will have a significant level of influence on the world around them.  Overall, 77% of the participants have engaged in some charitable activity from fundraising to volunteering.

Millennials appear to have a preference to work for organizations that are socially responsible with respect to the world around them including the community and the environment. Although they are aware of their limitations of impact, millennials seek out opportunities to contribute to a good cause through their employers.  It is in the workplace that millennials feel they are the most accountable and can have the most influence.