It isn’t surprising that people want more from the companies they work for and buy from. Recent research has spotlighted this as a ‘Millennial’ trait and certainly, we are seeing this more today thanks to the various platforms’ companies have to promote this notion.
However, I do believe regardless of our birth year it is human nature and we all at some point will be seeking more meaningful and impactful work.
Much of what we do with our Personal Branding work at Delightful is to help people connect with what it is beyond the paycheck, what they love in their work and how to center this within their professional lives. Regardless of where they are in their career, they are seeking a meaningful legacy.
A history of community servants
I come from generations of community servants; from veterans to teachers, avid volunteers to exchange student hosts, conservationists to small holding farmers. When Mel and I discussed growing Delightful from a two-person shop to where we are today, without question we knew we wanted to build a company that provided more than a paycheck. It was vital that our business incorporated our innate human desire to do good for our community.
What does social responsibility mean to us?
Social responsibility to us means that we not only provide a great place for our employees to work, we also commit 3% of our company profits to non-profit organizations throughout our community.
As a company this year we are supporting six community organizations that connect people to services, support children and families experiencing homelessness, provide access to all to the arts, ensure all babies and children are safe and dry, and protect and preserve our natural environment.
You can read about each of the organizations Delightful Communications is supporting through financial and volunteer contributions this year.
Here are the 6 organizations we are supporting this year:
Neighborhood House: Strong Families. Strong Communities
Birthday Dreams: Bringing joy, hope, and dignity to homeless children with the gift of a birthday party.
Seattle Theatre Group: Art Connects Us.
WestSide Baby: Keeping children safe, warm and dry
Humble Designs: Furnishing Homes for families and veterans transitioning from homelessness
Great Peninsula Conservancy: Protecting our lands and waters for generations to come.
Keeping true to our Delightful principles
Volunteering is also central to our company values. Our team volunteers individually with organizations that they feel excited about and as a team regularly throughout the year. Team Delightful in the past few months has fulfilled orders at WestSide Baby, hosted a birthday party in a family shelter, shopped for holiday gifts and most recently we spent the day at Birthday Dreams creating birthday boxes for children in our community.
We are also committed to using our expertise in modern marketing and digital PR to help non-profit organizations to reach their goals through pro-bono work. Our colleague Simone recently completed a marketing strategy for Fixing Cafe, an organization committed to reducing waste by connecting people with broken items to those in their community that can fix them. And this year we are proudly partnered with Washington Women in Need on bringing a women’s empowerment conference to our area. More on that in the coming months.
If you have followed our personal journey you may know a year ago Mel and I purchased an 11-acre protected wetland marsh, which we aim to one day make available for other non-profits and community groups to use for educational purposes.
Our social and environmental commitment is core to our business, not because it is popular with millennials, but because it brings us the true fulfillment we are seeking as humankind.
What brings you fulfillment? What will your legacy be?
“True happiness… is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” ―Helen Keller
Ashley Seffernick – Director of Operations, Delightful Communications
Don’t forget to: subscribe to The Personal Brand Lab, follow @Delightful on Twitter, like the Delightful Facebook Page, and join us on LinkedIn.
Thank you to the Delightful team for all you do. Birthday Dreams is honored to be included on the list. We are grateful for every birthday smile your team has made possible. Thank you for your support. We are looking forward to many events together.