We’re pleased to announce that we are extending our matching period for all Emissaries who donate their engagement fees to the 501(c)3 non-profit of their choice through the Emissary Giving Program. As we celebrate the support we’re giving alongside our Emissaries to those in need, we wanted to highlight the organizations our Emissaries have supported, and the ways we’re giving back to our own community. If you haven’t heard, we’re helping our Emissaries help people outside of our engagements through the Emissary Corporate Giving Programs, which gives every Emissary the opportunity to donate their engagement fee to the 501(c)3 non-profit of their choice. Every time an Emissary chooses to give, we match their donation up to $250.
We’ve had Emissaries donate to a wide variety of non-profits, from a local United Way chapter to a home-brewing collective focused on funneling their success to charity, and we’d like to highlight some of our Emissaries’ favorite charities here.
Butte County Search and Rescue
One of our Emissaries based in northern California got a call anyone would dread while on vacation abroad: “There have been fires, and your house is a total loss.”
Our Emissary returned to northern California to find their neighborhood a shadow of what it was before the trip out of the country. Dozens of homes were completely destroyed by the blazes we all heard about late last year. Without time to think, the Emissary quickly jumped into volunteer mode as a member of the Butte County Search and Rescue team.
When finishing a recent engagement, our Emissary chose to pass his earnings along to the Search and Rescue as a way of giving back to an organization that held up his community in a time of great need.
Amigos Hospitalito Atitlan
Another of our Emissaries chose to support those who are a little less close to home as part of the Emissary corporate giving programs.
Amigos Hospitalito Atitlan works specifically in a region of Guatemala where there is a dense population of native Maya who have historically had little to no access to healthcare. After only ten years in operation, the hospital is already serving over 75,000 people, offering medical check-ups, chronic treatment for cases of childhood asthma, surgery, nutrition education, and more.
We were thrilled to offer our matching donation to supplement the gift our Emissary sent to the Hospitalito, and are encouraged by the impactful service they’re carrying out in a very grateful community.
Other organizations our Emissaries have donated their fees to include: the International Rescue Committee, Saint Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation, and Youth Villages. And some have supported less traditional non-profits, like Good Company Brewing – a collective of home-brewers who raise money for charity.
About Emissary Corporate Giving Programs
We’re proud to reinforce the good our Emissaries are doing around the world; giving back is in our DNA. Our philosophy is based on the idea that people innately want to be of service, and that the power of human relationships is immeasurable in its value. Our team is always seeking ways to manifest this philosophy both in our day-to-day, and for the folks we’re fortunate enough to work with.
How else are we doing this? For starters, we as a team enjoy giving our time to organizations we believe in. We have a monthly volunteering program where we visit a local New York City organization and offer our time and energy to support the work they’re doing.
Organizations like God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD), which is a staple of the New York non-profit scene, and boasts such supporters as Michael Kors, Bill Murray, Martin Short, Sheryl Crow, Bernie Williams, and many others. GLWD cooks, packages, and delivers nutritious meals to chronically ill and disadvantaged New Yorkers who find it difficult to leave their homes for meals. Joan Rivers famously used to deliver holiday dinners in-person through GLWD to New Yorkers in need every year out of a desire to help those less fortunate than she and her family.
The Emissary team regularly heads over to GLWD to help prepare the food that goes into the meals, package them, and even deliver them from time to time. Meeting the recipients of this food in their homes is always a humbling and beautiful experience for us.
We also partner with the largest volunteering organization in New York City: New York Cares. New York Cares has relationships with over 1,300 non-profits and schools in all five boroughs of NYC, which has allowed them to create a searchable database of 1,600 volunteering opportunities per month for anyone who chooses to sign up.
Some of the projects we’ve participated in include: teaching computer basics to seniors through the NY Public Library, playing sports after school with students, working with GallopNYC – an animal therapy program – and beautifying parks and public spaces throughout our city.
Our belief in the impact of peer support is what drives our business model, and our culture, and we look forward to discovering new ways to offer both value and empowerment to our community, our team, our customers, and our Emissaries.
Have colleagues you think would make great Emissaries? Send them our way, and receive $100 if they’re engaged.
