Social Good Connect was created as a result of a growing need for closer collaboration between the private, public, and third sectors.

Find out more here : https://socialgoodconnect.org/

Recently,  Social Good Connect spoke to Lynsey Davidson, who manages HR at banking data firm Direct ID.

Why did you sign up with Social Good Connect?

It’s the right thing to do and it’s a decent thing to do. it’s a great way for companies to give back.  We heard about Social Good Connect through the Scottish Business Pledge and collectively it felt like the right time to sign up. Whenever we’d talked about helping the community before, it was never easy to agree on a cause.

The brilliant thing about Social Good Connect is the variety of causes you can get involved with. It’s such a personal choice and the platform makes it easy for every single one of our employees to find a whole host of charities and ways to help that we’d never thought about. What’s really important to one person might not be the thing their colleagues are most passionate about. This way everyone gets to choose how to give back.

Why was now a good time for you to join?

In 2020 our firm grew. Business was strong, and we now have 33 people and are still hiring. It’s a good time to give back; it’s been such a challenging year for so many and we feel in a fortunate position to be able to offer our help. We’re based largely in Scotland but we have employees all over the UK and a couple abroad too. All of us could sign up to Social Good Connect and make a difference, because you can offer micro-volunteering opportunities to help people remotely and having that option really suits how we’re set up. We can help people from wherever we are.

What do you like about the Social Good Connect concept and the way it works?

Its simplicity and the sheer variety of ways it gives you to help people.  The personal digital matching service is great. It’s very easy to navigate. It’s beneficial for those both giving and receiving the help and you can help a much wider spread of people than you’d probably imagined.

What would success with employee volunteering look like?

I’d like to see the bulk of our employees involved and sharing their experiences with the rest of the team. We currently have over a third of the team signed up after just a few weeks. Three of the registrations have led to applications and we already have one volunteering placement underway. We’d also like to volunteer as a team in some way, as part of our teambuilding work.

What would you say to other businesses thinking of signing up?

It’s rewarding for your employees as well as the people you’re helping, and it’s 100% worth doing. It brings your team together and is clearly beneficial to employees as well as the communities you’re helping. It’s the first digital platform I’m aware of that does what you do, and you’ve opened our eyes to just how many different opportunities there are in so many different settings. Volunteering isn’t just about helping people with shopping or taking people to the beach, it can be about skills-based help such as solving social media or tech issues for charities or individuals.

Being a technology-focused firm, we have employees with a raft of skills across the tech spectrum. Many are transferable and advantageous to people and companies with less tech expertise or focus. It’s great to be able to help!

Want to get involved?

Interested in finding out more about how Social Good Connect can help you give back to communities no matter where your employees are based? Get in touch with our Business Engagement Manager, Sarah, to find out more!