I’m proud to be a resident of the Bay Area. It’s been about a year since I moved back here, and the city has so recharged me that now I can’t believe I ever left. No place on earth is fueled as singularly from the electricity of entrepreneurism, a belief in the power of good ideas and the confidence to risk everything to see these ideas through. It’s an energy that wakes me up in the morning and keeps me caffeinated all day.
Of course I could go on for hours about the qualities that make San Francisco and its environs amongst the most popular destinations in the world, but there’s something in particular I love about this town: its long tradition of philanthropy.
Last year, I wrote about the tensions that have arisen in San Francisco because of the increasing gap between rich and poor (and keep in mind that poor can be a very relative term in this town). This concern was inevitable in a place where the dominance of the tech elite is visible everywhere - from Google buses to skyrocketing rents - and the lesser-haves and have-nothings are struggling to stay afloat.
Unfortunately, several CEO’s exacerbated the raw feelings with insensitive comments about the city’s hoi polloi, lighting up all sorts of fiery reactions. What I noted previously was that the blowback was unfortunate, as the tech community is largely civic minded and often extraordinarily generous when it comes to corporate giving.
I was reminded about this city’s priority around philanthropy by the San Francisco Business Times’ recent announcement of its top 83 Corporate Philanthropists in the Bay Area in 2015, representing company donations of a combined $263 million in cash to local charities and organizations last year.
Many of the companies you’d expect to be on this list do indeed take a prominent spot. Google is No. 1, with $39.63M in Bay Area cash giving in 2014. Plenty of other tech darlings are recognized as big hometown givers: for example, Cisco is No. 5 at $14.30M; Salesforce is No. 6 at $12.43M; Intel is No. 8 at $9M.
But what I also loved seeing on this list were the unusual suspects. A neighborhood-oriented deep dish pizza franchise, Patxi’s Pizza, was No. 78, giving $197,637 in 2014, for example. Launched in 2004 by entrepreneur Bill Freeman and his pizza expert friend Francisco “Patxi” Azpiroz, Patxi’s Pizza serves its communities with much more than pizza. Like many in the restaurant industry, the Paxti leaders surely understand that engaged employees are particularly important in the restaurant industry, and community service is a morale booster that can consistently improve engagement across the board. Beyond that, employees feel a sense of pride working for a company that cares about being a leader in their communities.
**Read more about restaurant philanthropy in my recent blog, “I’ll Have That With a Side of Corporate Philanthropy Please.” **
Nutiva was another nice surprise, No. 66 at $310,847. A fellow B Corps business, Nutiva is a nutrition company dedicated to revolutionizing the way the world eats, and its social responsibility ambitions are baked right into its mission. The company offers paid time volunteering to allow its team members to make a difference in the community, and it donates 1% of sales to causes that support: sustainable farming, food & environmental activism, trees & gardens, and healthy communities.
Amidst the aftermath of the Great Recession, nonprofits need donations more than ever. The 83 companies on this list get that and are walking the talk. That said, I believe that giving should always be supplemented by volunteering, above all by supporting employees with inspiring volunteer opportunities that motivate them to be ambassadors of goodwill and positive change.
And on this front I see so much engagement and innovation taking place in San Francisco. As one of thousands of examples, there’s SF.citi, otherwise known as the San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation, a nonprofit that leverages the power of the SF technology community around civic action. For one thing, the organization is linking its 900 members to volunteer programs in San Francisco’s 116 public schools, starting with low-income schools in the city’s southeastern quadrant, with one goal being to expose kids to careers in technology. School principals are asked what they need in the classroom, and SF.citi is partnering with the San Francisco Education Fund - which has been connecting volunteers to schools for the last 50 years - to further ensure that its efforts yield real impact.
Purpose-filled work is the mantra in smart HR offices these days. As Salesforce Foundation’s Suzanne DiBianca noted in a recent interview, “We’re seeing companies competing based on who has the best CSR strategy and who makes their employees feel good on a community service level. It’s becoming core to corporate company culture and ultimately, that’s helping not-for-profits grow and achieve.”
Good managers understand that what motivates employees more than ever is a sense that what they’re doing matters, and that they’re working for companies that prioritize community impact.
“The promising thing about today’s CSR landscape is that it’s growing and it’s becoming a movement,” says DiBianca (whose company, Salesforce, is No. 6 on the list) . “It’s moving away from the marketing department and entering HR. In Silicon Valley young graduates and employees are accepting jobs depending upon whether a company has a CSR initiative in place.”
I always like to shine a spotlight on good corporate citizenship, so here are the top Bay Area company givers by name. Thanks to these 83 San Francisco angels, and may you inspire others to reach your heights as well:
1. Google/ $39.63M
2. Sobrato Org./ $22,67M
3. Chevron/ $20.48M
4. Wells Fargo/ $20.03M
5. Cisco/ $14.30M
6. Salesforce/ $12.43M
7. PG&E/ $12.19M
8. Intel/ $9M
9. Bank of America/ $8.48M
10. Citigroup/ $8.16M
11. JPMorgan Chase & Co./ $8.14M
12. Genentech Inc./ $7.13M
13. SanDisk Corp./ $7M
14. Oracle/ $5.24M
15. Applied Materials/ $4.52M
16. Safeway/ $4.41M
17. Adobe Systems/ $3.25M
18. Fremont Bank/ $2.92M
19. MUFG Union Bank/ $2.89 M
20. Levi Straus & Co./ $2.83M
21. Gap/ $2.6M
22. Bank of the West/ $2.32M
23. Visa Inc./ $2.27M
24. The Clorox Co./ $2.2M
25. U.S. Bank/ $2.02M
26. Lam Research Corp./ $1.97M
27. Deloitte/ $1.95M
28. Charles Schwab Corp./ $1.94M
29. Clif Bar/ $1.5M
30. Amgen/ $1.5M
31. Morrison & Foerster/ $1.23M
32. Workday Inc./ $1.21M
33. NetApp Inc./ $1.19M
34. Zynga/ $1.1M
35. Microsoft/ $1.1M
36. Autodesk Inc./ $1.03M
37. SAP/ $1.01 M
38. McKesson Corp./
39. KPMG LLP/ $958,645
40. Yelp/ $778,809
41. The Sports Basement/ $771,802
42. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC/ $762,063
43. CSAA Insurance Exchange/ $707,182
44. KLA Tencor Corp./ $690,811
45. TMG Partners/ $631,734
46. PriceWaterhouseCoopers/ $619,486
47. Heffernan Insurance Brokers/ $605,715
48. City National Bank/ $560,204
49. Mechanics Bank/ $549,269
50. Zendesk/ $541,000
51. Twitter/ $49,668
52. Heritage Bank of Commerce/ $465,832
53. Bayer HeathCare LLC/ $460,650
54. The Northern Trust Co./ $452,000
55. Bank of Marin/ $428,866
56. Sereno Group/ $421,012
57. Hanson Bridgett LLP/ $399,943
58. TE Connectivity/ $399,000
59. DPR Construction/ $386,072
60. Nelson Family of Cos./ $383,738
61. SVB Financial Group / $364,455
62. Vodafone Americas/ $362,400
63. Rocket Fuel/ $351,483
64. W.L. Butler Construction Inc./ $331, 792
65. Jamba Inc./ $329,994
66. Nutiva/ $310, 847
67. Cupertino Electric/ $289,757
68. Boston Private Bank and Trust Co./ $288,848
69. Summit State Bank/ $287, 957
70. CA Technologies/ $270, 778
71. Varian Medical Systems Inc./ $264, 853
72. Shartsis Friese LLP/ $253,010
73. Advent Software Inc. / $249,017
74. Nibbi Brothers General Contractors/ $230,581
75. CREDO Mobile/ Working Assets / $227,052
76. Webcor Builders/ $219,791
77. Brocade Communications Systems Inc./ $212,557
78. Patxi’s Pizza/ $197,637
79. Swinerton Builders/ $180,988
80. W. Bradley Electric Inc./ $164,469
81. Plant Construction Co. LP/ $153,589
82. Presidio Bank/ $148,496
83. Ghilotti Bros./ $106,453
Also read:
Sports Win the World Through Community Involvement ProgramsDon’t Let This One Thing Sabotage Millennial Interest in Your Corporate Philanthropy
How To Boost Corporate Philanthropy Without Quitting Your Job