Engaging employees through GitHub Gives 2020
Toya East @toyae
Program Manager, Hubber Giving, GitHub Social Impact teamMay 10, 2021 //
Hubber Giving is a year-round program that engages “Hubbers,” or GitHub employees, to give back to their own communities. Each December, the Social Impact Team holds GitHub Gives, one of two capstone events for employee engagement each year. GitHub Gives is a month-long, company-wide challenge to raise funds for those in need.
We’re honored to announce that this past December we raised over $2 million for nonprofits! As 2020 brought the onset of a global pandemic, racially-motivated violence, political uncertainty, and more, we’re so thankful for the generosity and perseverance of employees to reach such a milestone. From large nonprofits like Black Lives Matter and Gendered Intelligence, to local organizations like Transgender Law Center and Asian Americans Advancing Justice to Los Angeles, together, we were able to give back globally.
Celebrating giving with employees
Not only did we raise funds, but we had fun doing it! We kicked off the month with a virtual celebration, beginning with a warm welcome from our Chief Operating Officer Erica Brescia, followed by a spin session by DJ Jazzy Jeff. Then we heard from our partner nonprofits, The Talent Tap, Hack the Hood, and the Institute of Social Opportunity, about how important it is to support local organizations. These three organizations empower underserved students, early-career individuals, and young people with disabilities with professional training, employability, and resources to secure bright futures. We’re proud to partner with them and others with similar goals.
To maintain momentum, it was important for us to engage employees not only with a fun event, but to keep a steady flow of communication and activities throughout the month. Two additional company events created buzz and added to the excitement of reaching a company-wide giving goal. Our Employee Resource Group (ERG), The Blacktocats, hosted a virtual cooking lesson and our Sales Team led a virtual happy hour. The events were held alongside weekly company-wide updates that shared progress toward our goal and provided information about nonprofits in need of our support.
Supporting nonprofits, together
During the month, over 1,139 nonprofits were supported by Hubbers around the world. Curious where the more than $2 million in donations went? The top five nonprofits by the number of individual donors in December were Black Lives Matter, Coded by Kids, Black Organization Project Inc., Arrabon, and the West Side Justice Center.
Stay tuned here for more learnings and milestones about our employee engagement activities!
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