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Philanthropy Nonprofit, companies benefit from giving
Reprinted from Boston Sunday Globe; July 8, 2001
by Michael Rosenwald
Holly Curtis is not quite sure how Peace At Home, the nonprofit organization she directs to help end domestic violence, would get along without a little help from some friends.
And Mike Hadley, president of iCorps Technologies, is not quite sure that his company would be such a unique place to work without helping people like Holly Curtis.
"We couldn't do what we do without their help," Curtis said of iCorps Technologies, and the other companies that pitch in at Peace At Home. Like many such groups, Peace at Home's resources — especially cash — are limited. The Boston-based organization relies heavily on help from those willing to lend a hand or write a check.
Some big area companies — Harvard Pilgrim, Fleet, and Reebok — provide financial assistance, while others, including iCorps and Schwartz Communications, offer hands-on help.
iCorps, based in Charlestown, helps out with all things technological, including building and maintaining the organization's Web site (www.peaceathome.org) and fixing computer problems. "We don't have the staff, the time or the funding to build a Web site and maintain it," said Curtis. "A Web site is critical in getting our message out."
So is public relations, which Schwartz provides whenever it's needed. Curtis remembers what life was like before Schwartz started helping, and it was not pretty, especially when Peace At Home officials were trying to put on a news conference.
"We spent all our waking hours trying to get access to people," Curtis said. "It was crazy."
The advantages for iCorps are many.
"Back when we started this company, we decided right away that we wanted to do something to give back to the community," Hadley said. "That was really important to us."
Hadley said the work brings people at his company together.
"People get into it because it's such a good cause," he said. "They put a lot of emotion, energy, and passion into it, and I think that flows over to the rest of their work."
What's important, Hadley also said, is that his employees deal with Peace At Home as if they were an actual client, not just a company they were helping when they had the time.
"Real pro bono work is treating them as if they were a real client," Hadley said. "You can't treat them second class. If your client is having a problem with their computer, you help them. They're a client."
Curtis sees this in iCorps' work.
"I never ever call them and ask them for something and hear them say, `You know, we have a lot of paying customers that we need to deal with first,' " Curtis said. "That never happens. We are treated like a client, and that does make a big difference."
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