• Happy National Volunteer Recognition Day!

    Happy National Volunteer Recognition Day!

    It’s been said that “you have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you,” and here at Matter, we agree! With five different offices across the US, each of our offices are involved in the Matter Helping Hands initiative, which aims to give back to local communities through volunteering. In honor of National Volunteer Day, we chatted with our volunteer office leads about their favorite volunteer opportunities, the importance of this program, and how local efforts are impacting communities across the US! Here’s what they had to say…

     

    What does volunteering mean to you?

    Volunteering is so good for the soul and I love to see how my efforts can truly impact the lives of others and can just bring a smile to someone’s face. If I can make one person smile a day, I feel like I had a pretty good day.  Even if it’s just paying it forward at the drive-thru and paying for the person’s coffee behind me or helping an older man/woman load their groceries into their trunks, any extra effort you make, can go a long way to others.

     – Danielle Conlin, HR Manager, Newburyport

    How has volunteering impacted your local community?

    Boulder is a tightknit community and as such, it really works together to give back through days dedicated to cleaning up the local reservoir to walks and runs to help end homelessness. We love being a part of the efforts to make Boulder one of the best places to live!

    – Kaitlyn Ethier, Senior Account Executive, Boulder

    What was your favorite volunteer organization and why?

    My favorite volunteer organization has definitely been the RISPCA (Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). I’m a crazy animal lover (and so is the rest of the Providence office), so being able to help out at a local animal rescue organization is more than just fun, it’s meaningful and rewarding. Being able to greet all the loving adoptable dogs and cats isn’t too bad either, of course! We’ve volunteered with the RISPCA twice in the past year, and I’m already looking forward to going back soon!

    – Gina Fergione, Assistant Account Executive, Providence

    What does volunteering mean to you?

    Volunteering has always been a big priority for me and it has been such a great experience being able to lead the Helping Hands effort in our office. Participating in volunteer events gives me the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of others in a positive way and give back directly to my community. Through volunteering I have been introduced to organizations I never knew existed and gotten to know the incredible people who lead them, which I am very grateful for.

     – Kelsey Williams, Assistant Account Executive, Portland

    If you could work for any nonprofit, who/what would it be and why?

    If I could work for a non-profit I would love to support the Doctors Without Borders organization. Doctors Without Borders provides aid to families and children suffering from natural disasters, famine, and those seeking safety from political unrest. I’ve always admired the courage its volunteers have to venture to even the most remote areas to bring help to those who need it the most.

    – Miriam Brito, Assistant Account Executive, Boston

    Tell us a little more about the Helping Hands Initiative.

    Giving back to our community has been a core tenet for our CEO,Scott Signore, and Matter long before we formalized our Helping Hands initiative. But now we’re more organized and effective, and our passion for doing the right thing is only growing stronger every year.

    – Mandy Mladenoff, President of Matter

    We’re already halfway to our agency goal of 1,000 hours of volunteering before the end of the year with many great events in the queue including the Jeanne Geiger Walk Against Domestic Violence (Newburyport), the 5K/Home Run for the Homeless at Coors Field (Boulder), American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure and Grow Portland, among others! Please join us in commending our fantastic employees and office leads who continue to make this initiative an office-wide success! Stay tuned for more volunteer updates throughout the year!

    Matter

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  • How Doing Good in Online Video Can Help Your Brand Do Well

     

    I find all too often that companies are using online video as a means to hammer home their services, products, values, and messaging- and just that. We all know the stats about how video is an engaging way to showcase what your business can do, but unless you’re the creator of an exciting new consumer tech product or are offering a deal that’s almost too good to be true, who is going to share your visual message with their friends? In a digital world where social media is king, you need to be continuously thinking about the connection your video is making to basic human emotions. I believe that these philanthropic initiative videos have incredible shareability.

    There seems to be a trend we’ve been noticing here in the office where videos that showcase a brand’s effort to do good in its community are able to trigger that warm and fuzzy feeling to its audience. I think brands need to stop thinking of Facebook feeds as a place where it can just upload glorified TV commercials, with hopes that people will flock to its website and buy more stuff. Taking a stance on a social issue and contributing to a good cause is equally or maybe more powerful. Notice how in the Tim Horton’s video they never mention how inexpensive the coffee is, or how good the muffins taste? Sammy the Explorer never talks about how Hurley’s surfboards are going to help you ride out that wave that is 10 feet overhead. They just want you to see that they’re making an effort to brighten an unsuspecting person’s day, or make the world a better place.

    I think a company should first think about who are its consumers, and what they care about. Do they care about the environment? Poverty? Then, create a video that showcases how your initiative affects people; how it makes them feel. It is crucial to focus on the emotions of the people in the video, without littering it with your company’s logo and branding. Even at the end, directing the audience to a microsite where they can learn more about your cause seems to be the way to go. Just don’t try and sell them anything just yet.

    My main takeaway from these volunteering/philanthropic brand videos is that it’s equally as effective to win people through their hearts, and not necessarily the lowest price point or clever slogan. Make viewers feel good on the inside, and they’ll be forever yours.

    Matter

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