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THIRD PLACE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES AGREEMENT – TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These Terms and Conditions are made a part of and incorporated by reference into the Agreement made by and between the named Client hereto and Third Place, Inc. (“ThrdPlace”).

1. Definitions.

a)      “Active User” means, in a given calendar month, a user established on the Software with a designation of “active” at any time during that month.  Client has the ability to determine who is an Active User.

b)     “Affiliate” means a party that partially (at least 50%) or fully controls, is partially or fully controlled by, or is under partial (at least 50%) or full common control with, another party.

c)      “Client Content” means any and all written matter, materials, graphics, photos, audio clips, video clips, links, or illustrations that Client and its Active Users submit, post, display, and transmit including (i) content authored by Client or any of its users and (ii) content which Client has licensed or obtained from third parties.

d)     “Client Data” means proprietary or personal data regarding Client or any of its users under this Agreement.

e)      “Confidential Information” means any non-public information of ThrdPlace or Client disclosed by either party to the other party, either directly or indirectly, in writing, orally or by inspection of tangible objects, or to which the other party may have access, which a reasonable person would consider confidential and/or which is marked “confidential” or “proprietary” or some similar designation by the disclosing party.  Confidential Information shall not, however, include the existence of the Agreement or any information which the recipient can establish: (i) was or has become generally known or available or a part of the public domain without direct or indirect fault, action, or omission of the recipient; (ii) was known by the recipient prior to the time of disclosure, according to the recipient’s prior written documentation; (iii) was received by the recipient from a source other than the discloser, rightfully having possession of and the right to disclose such information; or (iv) was independently developed by the recipient, where such independent development has been documented by the recipient.

f)      “Content” means each and all of the following: written matter, materials, illustrations, and web-based courses authored by ThrdPlace, and instructor-led training provided by ThrdPlace.

g)      “Implementation” means implementation, deployment, and/or training relating to the Software.

h)     “Initial Term” is the initial term of the Agreement, as set forth in the initial Order.

i)       “Intellectual Property Right” means any patent, copyright, trade or service mark, trade dress, trade name, database right, goodwill, logo, trade secret right, or any other intellectual property right or proprietary information right, in each case whether registered or unregistered, and whether arising in any jurisdiction, including without limitation all rights of registrations, applications, and renewals thereof and causes of action for infringement or misappropriation related to any of the foregoing.

j)       “Order” means a Product purchase in a schedule, statement of work, addendum, or amendment signed by both parties.

k)      “Products” means any and all ThrdPlace Content, Services, work product resulting from Services, and Software.

l)       “Renewal Term” means a period following the Initial Term for which the Agreement has been renewed.

m)    “Service” means any service rendered by ThrdPlace specifically to Client, including, but not limited to: (i) hosting of the Software; (ii) hosting, delivery, and/or distribution of Content; (iii) provision of customer and/or technical support for the Software; (iv) Implementation; (v) development of Software functionality specially requested by Client; and/or (vi) any consulting service.

n)     “Software” means any and all of ThrdPlace’s proprietary web-based applications, including, without limitation, all updates, revisions, bug-fixes, upgrades, and enhancements thereto, as well as applications that have been modified in any way by Third Place at the request of a client.

o)     “Subscriber” means an Active User who is an employee, member, or customer of Client or one of its Affiliates that accesses the Software for a flat fee.

p)     “Term” means the Initial Term plus all Renewal Terms

2. ThrdPlace Obligations.  In accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement, ThrdPlace will: (i) make the Products available on a non-exclusive basis to Active Users via the Internet; (ii) maintain appropriate safeguards for protection of Client Data, including regular back-ups, security and incident response protocols, and application and infrastructure monitoring; (iii) not access, modify, or disclose Client Data, except as compelled by law, to prevent or address service or technical issues, or if otherwise permitted by Client.

3. Use of Services.  Client may only use the Products for its own lawful, internal business purposes.  Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and solely for the Term, ThrdPlace hereby grants to Client a nonexclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferable limited license to access and use the Software ordered and paid for by Client solely as set forth in Documentation and this Agreement.  Client shall not: (i) use or deploy the Software in violation of applicable laws or this Agreement; (ii) create any derivative works based upon the Products; (iii) reverse engineer, reverse assemble, decompile or otherwise attempt to derive source code from the Software or any part thereof (except to the extent that such restriction is not permitted under applicable law); (iv) make the Products available to any unauthorized parties, including without limitation, competitors of ThrdPlace; (v) submit Client Data or Client Content that contains viruses, worms, spyware, disenabling codes, “lock up” codes, Trojan horses, or other malicious content; or (vi) perform, or release the results of, benchmark tests, penetration tests, security scans, or other comparisons of the Products with other software, services, or materials.  Should unexpected or inappropriate use of the Software (e.g., improperly formatted or constructed Client Content; extraordinary bandwidth usage; uploaded files that contain viruses, worms, spyware, or other malicious content; load tests, security scans, or penetration tests conducted without notice, etc.) result in denial of service with respect to the Software, ThrdPlace may disable the implicated Client Content and/or deny access to Client’s portal as necessary to remedy the issue.  Client will be responsible for Active Users’ compliance with the Agreement and liable for Active Users’ breach thereof.  Client will ensure that it has obtained all necessary consents and approvals for ThrdPlace to access Client Data for the purposes permitted under this Agreement.  If Client is in breach of this section, ThrdPlace may suspend Services, in addition to any other rights and remedies ThrdPlace may have at law or in equity.

4. Services.  Each party agrees to: (i) provide the resources reasonably necessary to enable the performance of the Services; (ii) manage its project staffing, milestones, and attendance at status meetings; and (iii) ensure completion of its project deliverables and active participation during all phases of a Service project.  The parties acknowledge that failure to cooperate during a Service project may delay delivery of the Service.  If there is a delay, the party experiencing the delay will notify the other party as soon as reasonably practicable, and representatives of each party will meet to discuss the reason for the delay and applicable consequences.  Changes beyond the scope of an Order and/or a party’s delay in performing its obligations may require an amended Order.  At the end of a given Service project, Client shall either accept or reject the project based on whether the deliverables for that Service project have been performed in substantial and material accordance with the applicable Order.  Any of the following shall be deemed acceptance of a Service project: (i) failure to provide written notice of objections to ThrdPlace within twenty (20) days of project completion; or (ii) with respect to an Implementation, use of the implemented Product in a live environment for a total of twenty (20) days.

5. Support.  During and After Implementation is completed, ThrdPlace shall provide technical support as needed.  If Client requests support for features not currently supported by ThrdPlace, a new agreement will be reached on scope and fees for those requests. Client agrees to promptly provide ThrdPlace with sufficient documentation, data and assistance with respect to any reported errors, and to reasonably cooperate with ThrdPlace, in order for ThrdPlace to comply with its support obligations hereunder.  In no event shall ThrdPlace be responsible or liable for any errors, bug or other problems caused by hardware or software not provided by ThrdPlace.

6. Fees and Payment.  Client shall pay all fees according to the billing frequency set forth in the applicable Order.  Payment of fees will be due within 30 days after the date of the invoice, except where this Agreement expressly prescribes other payment dates.   Except where otherwise stated, all fees set forth in an Order are in U.S. dollars and must be paid in the currency set forth in the Order.  Late payments hereunder will incur a late charge of 1.5% (or the highest rate allowable by law, whichever is lower) per month on the outstanding balance from the date due until the date of actual payment.  In addition, Services are subject to suspension for failure to timely remit payment therefor.  If any travel is required to effect any Services, Client shall reimburse ThrdPlace for pre-approved, reasonable expenses arising from and/or relating to such travel, including, but not limited to, airfare, lodging, meals, and ground transportation.

7. Term and Termination.

a)      Term.  The Initial Term is set forth in the Order.  Following the Initial Term, the Agreement may be renewed by mutual agreement of the parties for one or more Renewal Terms.

b)     Termination for Cause.  Either party may immediately terminate this Agreement if the other party materially breaches its obligations hereunder, and, where capable of remedy, such breach has not been materially cured within forty-five (45) days of the breaching party’s receipt of written notice describing the breach in reasonable detail.

c)      Bankruptcy Events.  A party may immediately terminate this Agreement if the other party: (i) has a receiver appointed over it or over any part of its undertakings or assets; (ii) passes a resolution for winding up (other than for a bona fide scheme of solvent amalgamation or reconstruction), or a court of competent jurisdiction makes an order to that effect and such order is not discharged or stayed within ninety (90) days; or (iii) makes a general assignment for the benefit of its creditors.

d)     Effect of Termination.  Immediately following termination of this Agreement, Client shall cease using all Products.  ThrdPlace will maintain a copy of Client Data for no more than six (6) months following termination of the Agreement (the “Post-Termination Retention Period”), after which time any Client Data not retrieved will be destroyed.  During the Post-Termination Retention Period, Client may utilize its login credentials to view and download its Client Data.

8. Confidentiality.  Each of the parties agrees: (i) not to disclose any Confidential Information to any third parties except as mandated by law and except to those subcontractors of ThrdPlace providing Products hereunder who agree to be bound by confidentiality obligations no less stringent than those set forth in this Agreement; (ii) not to use any Confidential Information for any purposes except carrying out such party’s rights and responsibilities under this Agreement; and (iii) to keep the Confidential Information confidential using the same degree of care such party uses to protect its own confidential information; provided, however, that such party shall use at least reasonable care.  These obligations shall survive termination of this Agreement.  If either party breaches any of its obligations with respect to confidentiality or the unauthorized use of Confidential Information hereunder, the other party shall be entitled to seek equitable relief to protect its interest therein, including but not limited to, injunctive relief, as well as money damages.

9. Intellectual Property.  As between the parties, ThrdPlace will and does retain all right, title and interest (including, without limitation, all Intellectual Property Rights) in and to the Products.  Client retains all ownership rights to Client Data and Client Content.  Client hereby grants ThrdPlace a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to access, display, publish and use Client Data and Client Content in connection with performing its obligations hereunder.  Client will ensure that it has obtained all necessary rights, consents, approvals, and clearances for ThrdPlace to access, display, publish and use Client Data and Client Content for the purposes permitted under this Agreement.

10. Indemnification.

a)      Indemnification by ThrdPlace.  ThrdPlace agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Client from and against any and all third party claims and causes of action, as well as related losses, liabilities, judgments, awards, settlements, damages, expenses and costs (including reasonable attorney’s fees and related court costs and expenses) (collectively, “Damages”) incurred or suffered by Client which directly relate to or directly arise out of the violation or infringement of any third-party Intellectual Property Rights by Client’s authorized use of the Products.  The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to the extent the Damages relate to or arise out of: (i) Client Data; (ii) Client Content; or (iii) unauthorized or negligent use and/or alteration of the Products.

b)     Indemnification by Client.  Client agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ThrdPlace from and against any and all Damages incurred or suffered by ThrdPlace which directly relate to or directly arise out of the violation or infringement of any third-party Intellectual Property Rights by Client Data or Client Content.  The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the extent the Damages relate to or arise from ThrdPlace’s use of Client Data or Client Content in violation of this Agreement.

c)      Indemnification Procedures.  To obtain indemnification, indemnitee shall: (i) give written notice of any claim promptly to indemnitor; (ii) give indemnitor, at its option, sole control of the defense and settlement of such claim, provided that indemnitor may not, without the prior consent of indemnitee (not to be unreasonably withheld), settle any claim unless it unconditionally releases indemnitee of all liability; (iii) provide to indemnitor all available information and assistance; and (iv) not take any action that might compromise or settle such claim.

d)     Infringement Cures.  Should the Products or any part thereof become, or in ThrdPlace’s reasonable opinion be likely to become, the subject of a claim for infringement of a third party Intellectual Property Right, then ThrdPlace shall, at its sole option and expense: (i) procure for Client the right to use and access the infringing or potentially infringing item(s) of the Software free of any liability for infringement; or (ii) replace or modify the infringing or potentially infringing item(s) of the Software with a non-infringing substitute otherwise materially complying with the functionality of the replaced system.  If (i) and (ii) are not reasonably available in ThrdPlace’s reasonable opinion, ThrdPlace may terminate the Agreement in which case Client shall receive a refund of prepaid, unearned fees.

e)      Exclusive Remedies.  The remedies set forth in this section shall be exclusive with respect to any infringement claim hereunder.

11. Warranties; Disclaimers.

a)      Mutual Representations and Warranties.  Each party represents and warrants to the other party that, as of the date hereof: (i) it has full power and authority to execute and deliver the Agreement; (ii) the Agreement has been duly authorized and executed by an appropriate employee of such party; (iii) the Agreement is a legally valid and binding obligation of such party; and (iv) its execution, delivery and/or performance of the Agreement does not conflict with any agreement, understanding or document to which it is a party.

b)     Additional ThrdPlace Representations and Warranties.  ThrdPlace warrants that any and all Services provided by it hereunder shall be performed in a professional manner consistent with prevailing industry standards, and that the Software will perform substantially in material accordance with the Agreement and applicable Documentation provided by ThrdPlace.

c)      Disclaimers.  TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THRDPLACE DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT (EXCEPT FOR THE INFRINGEMENT INDEMNIFICATION PROVIDED HEREUNDER) AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE PRACTICE.  EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS AGREEMENT, THE PRODUCTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” AND CLIENT’S USE OF THE PRODUCTS IS AT ITS OWN RISK.  EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS AGREEMENT, THRDPLACE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCTS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR COMPLETELY SECURE.  THE PRODUCTS ARE SUBJECT TO LIMITATIONS, DELAYS AND OTHER PROBLEMS INHERENT IN THE USE OF THE INTERNET AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS, AND THRDPLACE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DELAYS, DELIVERY FAILURES, OR OTHER DAMAGE RESULTING FROM SUCH PROBLEMS.

12. Liability.  EXCEPT FOR: (i) A PARTY’S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS; (ii) BREACH BY CLIENT OF SECTION “USE OF SERVICES”; OR (iii) A PARTY’S GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR WILLFUL MISCONDUCT:

a)      Liability Cap.  EACH PARTY’S MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, WILL BE LIMITED TO THE TOTAL FEES PAID OR PAYABLE BY CLIENT TO THRDPLACE HEREUNDER FOR THE TWELVE-MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE THE CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE.  THE EXISTENCE OF MORE THAN ONE CLAIM SHALL NOT EXPAND SUCH LIMIT.  THE PARTIES ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE FEES AGREED UPON BETWEEN CLIENT AND THRDPLACEARE BASED IN PART ON THESE LIMITATIONS, AND THAT THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ANY ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.  THE FOREGOING LIMITATION SHALL NOT APPLY TO A PARTY’S PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENT.

b)     Exclusion of Consequential Damages.  NEITHER PARTY WILL BE LIABLE FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, LOSS OF DATA, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, PROVIDING REPLACEMENT SOFTWARE (EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN SECTION “INFRINGEMENT CURES”), OR ANY OTHER INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF IT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

13. Communications.  Neither party shall issue any press release using the name of the other party as a customer or provider without the other party’s consent (not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed).  Notwithstanding the foregoing, ThrdPlace may list Client’s name and logo alongside ThrdPlace’s other clients on the ThrdPlace website and in marketing materials, unless and until Client revokes such permission.

14. Miscellaneous Provisions.

a)      Governing Law; Jurisdiction.  This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California and the federal laws of the United States of America, without regard to conflict of law principles.  ThrdPlace and Client agree that any suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or with respect to, this Agreement or any judgment entered by any court in respect thereof shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts of the State of California located in the County of Los Angeles, and each of ThrdPlace and Client hereby irrevocably accepts the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of those courts for the purpose of any suit, action or proceeding.

b)     Force Majeure.  Neither party will be liable for any failure or delay in its performance under this Agreement due to any cause beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation acts of war, acts of God, earthquake, flood, weather conditions, embargo, riot, epidemic, acts of terrorism, acts or omissions of vendors or suppliers, equipment failures, sabotage, labor shortage or dispute, governmental act, failure of the Internet or other acts beyond such party’s reasonable control, provided that the delayed party: (i) gives the other party prompt notice of such cause; and (ii) uses reasonable commercial efforts to correct promptly such failure or delay in performance.

c)      Counterparts; Facsimile.  This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts and in facsimile or electronically, each of which shall be an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

d)     Entire Agreement. This Agreement contains the entire understanding of the parties in respect of its subject matter and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings (oral or written) between the parties with respect to such subject matter.  The schedules and exhibits hereto constitute a part hereof as though set forth in full herein.  Purchase orders submitted by Client are for Client’s internal administrative purposes only, and the terms and conditions contained in those purchase orders will have no force and effect.

e)      Modifications.  Any modification, amendment, or addendum to this Agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties.

f)      Assignment.  Neither party may assign this Agreement or any of its rights, obligations, or benefits hereunder, by operation or law or otherwise, without the other party’s prior written consent; provided, however, either party, without the consent of the other party, may assign this Agreement to an Affiliate or to a successor (whether direct or indirect, by operation of law, and/or by way of purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all or substantially all of the business or assets of such party, where the responsibilities or obligations of the other party are not increased by such assignment and the rights and remedies available to the other party are not adversely affected by such assignment.  Subject to that restriction, this Agreement will be binding on, inure to the benefit of and be enforceable against the parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns.

g)      No Third Party Beneficiaries.  The representations, warranties and other terms contained herein are for the sole benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns, and they shall not be construed as conferring any rights on any other persons.

h)     Aggregated Data Use.  Without limiting the confidentiality rights and protections set forth in this Agreement, ThrdPlace has the perpetual right to use aggregated, anonymized, and statistical data (“Aggregated Data”) derived from the operation of the Software, and nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting ThrdPlace from utilizing the Aggregated Data for business and/or operating purposes, provided that ThrdPlace does not share with any third party Aggregated Data which reveals the identity of Client, Client’s users, or Client’s Confidential Information.

i)       Suggestions.  ThrdPlace shall have a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license to use or incorporate into the Products any suggestions, ideas, enhancement requests, feedback, recommendations, or other information provided by Client or its users relating to the operation of the Products.

j)       Responsibility for Third-Party Offerings.  The Software may contain features capable of interoperating with third-party applications.  To use such features, Client may be required to obtain access to such applications from a third-party provider.  ThrdPlace shall not be responsible for Client’s access to, or operation of, third-party applications not offered or sold by ThrdPlace to Client.

k)      Export Controls. Client understands that the use of ThrdPlace’s Products is subject to U.S. export controls and trade and economic sanctions laws and agrees to comply with all applicable such laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the trade and economic sanctions maintained by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”).

l)       Severability.  If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, such provision shall be changed by the court or by the arbitrator and interpreted so as to best accomplish the objectives of the original provision to the fullest extent allowed by law, and the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

m)    Notices.  Any notice or communication required or permitted to be given hereunder may be delivered by hand, deposited with an overnight courier, sent by facsimile or mailed by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid to the address for the other party first written above or at such other address as may hereafter be furnished in writing by either party hereto to the other party.  Such notice will be deemed to have been given as of the date it is delivered, if by personal delivery; the next business day, if deposited with an overnight courier; upon receipt of confirmation of facsimile delivery (if followed up by such registered or certified mail); and five days after being so mailed.

n)     Independent Contractors.  Client and ThrdPlace are independent contractors, and nothing in this Agreement shall create any partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative or employment relationship between Client and ThrdPlace.  Each party understands that they do not have authority to make or accept any offers or make any representations on behalf of the other.  Neither party may make any statement that would contradict anything in this section.

o)     Subcontractors.  ThrdPlace shall not subcontract any Services without Client’s prior written consent, unless: (i) the subcontractor will have no access to Client Data; or (ii) ThrdPlace’s agreement with the subcontractor includes obligations at least as stringent as those set forth in this Agreement concerning the protection of Client Data and Confidential Information.  ThrdPlace shall be responsible for its subcontractors’ performance of Services under this Agreement.

p)     Headings.  The headings of the sections of this Agreement are for convenience only and do not form a part hereof, and in no way limit, define, describe, modify, interpret or construe its meaning, scope or intent.

q)     Waiver.  No failure or delay on the part of either party in exercising any right, power or remedy under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right, power or remedy preclude any other or further exercise or the exercise of any other right, power or remedy.

r)      Survival.  Sections of the Agreement intended by their nature and content to survive termination of the Agreement shall so survive.

This summer, from June 29-July 1, PPS will be co-hosting the final Future of Places conference in Stockholm, Sweden – a beautiful and inspiring city that is a model of sustainable, walkable, high-quality urban living.

Organized in partnership with Ax:son Johnson Foundation and UN-Habitat, Future of Places is a series of three linked meetings to promote the importance of public space and Placemaking at the monumental United Nations global summit, Habitat III, in 2016.

Applications are now being accepted for an invitation to this year’s meeting, and the Call for Papers will be open until April 15th. The conference is free, but participants must cover their own travel and lodging expenses. Let your voice be heard during this important moment for the Future of Places worldwide!

A Crucial Moment for Global Action

Exciting things have happened since the first Future of Places meeting in 2013! One of the most promising developments occurred this past July, when the United Nations Open Working Group (OWG) included the first-ever stand-alone goal on Sustainable Cities as part of a final set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 11, known briefly as the “city goal” reads:

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Though it still needs to survive a final selection process in September 2015, the ratification of this goal would mark “the UN’s strongest expression ever of the critical role of cities in the world’s future,” as Citiscope’s Neal Peirce explains. That’s a big deal!

Also included in this final report of the SDGs is a proposed target dealing specifically with the issue of public space:

By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, particularly for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

If this recommendation gets built into the global development agenda, it will have enormous implications for cities everywhere, and it can transform the lives of millions of people all over the world!

Stockholm: A City for People

While the conference is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, observing the everyday life and culture of Stockholm is in itself an unforgettable experience. In recent decades, the city has made many bold (and initially-unpopular) decisions that helped transform the city into the well-loved place it is today. Other major cities across the world have begun to adopt successful Swedish-based programs, such as its pioneering Vision Zero approach. To get a taste of what you’ll see firsthand at Future of Places, check out this brand new video from our friends at Streetfilms, Exploring the Streets of Stockholm. We hope to see you there!

Streetfilms now segments their longer videos into short excerpts to make it easier for advocates to share individual topics. The chapters of this film are “The Walkable City,” “Owning a Car in Stockholm,”  “Bicycling in Stockholm,” and “Going Beyond Vision Zero.”

Check out this infographic by Ocean Conservancy highlighting the incredible work of the Trash Free Seas Alliance. Talk about power of collaboration! – thrdPlace

Source: Ocean Conservancy

Who says employee volunteerism doesn’t pay? America’s Charities did the math and found that an employee volunteer program could actually save companies $1,000 to $6,000 per employee. We think that’s a good enough reason to start giving back in your community! – thrdPlace

The Business Case for Employee Volunteer & Skills Giving Programs

What if I told you that having an employee volunteer program could potentially save you money – say $1,000 to $6,000 per employee. Would you start one?  Or if you have one, would you take it more seriously? 

The average employee turnover rate of all U.S. industries is 15.1%.  In some cases, this turnover is healthy for your organization because you’re losing low performers (i.e. problem staff or those not willing to improve) and this can positively impact everything from employee engagement to productivity and profits. But what if the employees leaving your organization are top performers?

Replacing top performers can cause service disruptions for your customers and requires a substantial amount of financing, extensive training, employee workload balancing, and handling cultural shifts. None of that sounds good, but how exactly does it impact your company’s bottom line?  Well, for jobs paying $75,000 a year or less (which is about 9 in 10 U.S. workers), the typical cost of turnover is 20% of the employees’ salary.  For top-level employees it can cost closer to 150% of the employees’ salary. But let’s focus on employees that make $75,000 or less. For each of those employees leaving your organization, it’s costing you about $15,000.

Increased Employee Engagement Helps Reduce Turnover

A PwC study revealed, “Employees most committed to their organizations put in 57 percent more effort on the job—and are 87 percent less likely to resign—than employees who consider themselves disengaged.”  According toGallup’s research, companies with engaged workforces have higher earnings per share (EPS):

Work units in the top 25% of Gallup’s Q12 Client Database have significantly higher productivity, profitability, and customer ratings, less turnover and absenteeism, and fewer safety incidents than those in the bottom 25%.

Organizations with an average of 9.3 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee in 2010-2011 experienced 147% higher earnings per share (EPS) compared with their competition in 2011-2012. In contrast, those with an average of 2.6 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced 2% lower EPS compared with their competition during that same time period.

So where do employee volunteer and skills giving programs factor in? It’s an excellent, relatively low-cost way to engage and retain employees.

Keep Employees By Engaging Them Through Volunteerism

Employees quit their jobs for many reasons (salary and benefits topping the list), but the majority of reasons are actually something employers can control.  HumanResources.about.com sites the following as 10 critical reasons why employees quit their job (in no special order):

Bad or nonexistent relationship with boss

Bored and unchallenged by the work itself

Lack of relationships/friendship with co-workers

Opportunities to use skills and abilities

Contribution of work to the organization’s business goals

Autonomy and independence

Meaningfulness of work

Organization’s financial stability

Overall corporate culture

Management’s recognition of employee job performance

Instituting an employee volunteer and skills giving program can help your organization address all ten of these.

Camaraderie

(addressing #1 and 3 from list above)

Organizing group days of service provide co-workers (and their bosses) an opportunity to work together and get to know each other outside the walls of the workplace. There is no corporate hierarchy when it comes to hands-on volunteer activities like filling afterschool snack bags for low-income children or building a house with Habitat for Humanity.  Such activities permit employees from different departments and different levels of seniority the chance to share experiences together and interact on a deeper level, resulting in stronger relationships when they return to the office. In UnitedHealth Group’s 2013 Health and Volunteering Study, “64 percent of employees who currently volunteer said that volunteering with work colleagues strengthened their relationships.”

Corporate Culture & Meaningful Work

(addressing #2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 from list above)

It’s well known that employees want to work for companies that care. In fact,Cone Research found that 79% of people prefer to work for a socially responsible company.  When strategically integrated with your company’s business goals and values, involving employees in a mix of volunteer work, skills giving, workplace giving programs, and matching gift opportunities gives employees a sense of purpose, and makes them feel more connected to the community and your company-wide social responsibility efforts.

Additionally, volunteer programs – particularly those with pro bono and skills giving opportunities - provide a meaningful way for employees to put their abilities to use, and give them a chance to grow and develop professional skills. Many online platforms and communities, like Catchafire andMovingWorlds, make it easy for companies and their employees to connect their skills with nonprofit needs.  According to a Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey, “91 percent of surveyed corporate human resources executives believe that pro bono service would add value to training and development programs, and 90 percent agree that contributing business skills and expertise to a nonprofit can be an effective way to develop leadership skills.”

All of this effectively reinforces beliefs and behaviors most valued by your company, empowers employees to grow and do things for which they are most passionate, infuses pride and loyalty in employees, and contributes to a stronger, more skilled workforce.

Employee Recognition & Financial Stability

(addressing #8 and 10 from list above)

Based on results from the State of the American Workplace report, Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees (about 70% of American workers) cost the U.S. between $450 billion to $550 billion each year in lost productivity. They are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away.

Engaged employees are happier, healthier, and perform at a higher level. UnitedHealth Group’s 2013 Health and Volunteering Study indicates that “People who volunteer report that they feel better emotionally, mentally and physically,” and research from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business shows that employee volunteering is linked to greater workplace productivity and satisfaction. Jessica Rodell, author of the research, says, “Overwhelmingly employees who volunteered gave more time and effort to their jobs, were more willing to help out their colleagues, talked more positively about their companies and were less likely to do detrimental things like cyberloaf or waste time on the job.”

When employees perform well and contribute to business goals, this gives management more reason to recognize those employees’ efforts. In the 2014 Millennial Impact Report, “More than half (53%) of respondents said having their passions and talents recognized and addressed is their top reason for remaining at their current company.” When companies recognize employees for good work, it reinforces that behavior and sets the foundation for a pattern of positive performance in the future. A case study of an employee recognition program established by The Walt Disney World Resort showed “a 15% increase in staff satisfaction with their day-to-day recognition by their immediate supervisors. These results correlated highly with high guest-satisfaction scores, which showed a strong intent to return, and therefore directly flowed to increased profitability.”

Monetizing Volunteerism

There are a variety of ways to structure an employee volunteer program and a wide range of volunteer activities to offer, including day of service events, ongoing volunteer opportunities throughout the year, skills giving and pro bono services. Choosing the right mix ultimately depends on what your employee interests and company goals are.  I won’t delve into that right now, but a good resource for that is HandsOn Network’s guide, “Developing Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs.”

When it comes to measuring employee volunteer and skills giving programs, companies typically track things like the number of hours volunteered, employee participation rates, types of services delivered and to whom, and employee values such as satisfaction and skill development.  But did you know volunteer time can be monetized?

Volunteerism is a difficult concept to monetize because the myriad ways volunteers contribute are not always measureable.  But in looking at what is quantifiable, Independent Sector estimates, an hour of volunteer time in 2013 was worth $22.55 per hour. Derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ database of job functions and mean wages, this calculation is a way to estimate how much money a nonprofit saves from not having to pay someone for a service that your employees instead perform voluntarily.  So if 50 of your employees each volunteer 8 hours to a nonprofit throughout the course of a year, instead of reporting that your company volunteered 400 hours, you can share that your company’s volunteerism saved a nonprofit approximately $8,856. That’s a significant business contribution to the community, and a value your Board and other important stakeholders are more likely to comprehend and appreciate.

Investing in Employee Volunteer & Skills Giving Programs is Good Business Sense

Let’s go back to our example of the company with 50 employees and an average of 5 employees leaving each year (a 10% turnover rate). According toVolunteerMatch, “The most successful Employee Volunteer Programs (EVP’s) invest an average of $179 per employee per year in employee engagement.”  VolunteerMatch notes, “That data includes some of the biggest companies in the world. The range for investment by excellent EVPs is actually $18 to $800 per employee per year. Eighteen dollars per year could be doable, even for a small mom-and-pop outfit. Another thing to remember: most companies spend far more than $179 per employee on training costs – this type of engagement both reinforces and supplements employee development.”

This means, for the company with 50 employees, it would cost a total of $900 to $8,950 a year to implement an employee volunteer program for all employees combined.  That’s a pretty low cost to absorb when you consider that it would cost the company roughly $15,000 to replace just one of those employees ($75,000 to replace five).

Employee volunteer and skills giving programs have steadily been moving towards the center of many corporations’ social responsibility initiatives over the last decade. This surge in interest in volunteerism coincides with the dire need many nonprofits have for support. However, only 59% of companies surveyed in CECP’s 2014 Giving in Numbers report, provided paid-release time volunteer programs in 2013 (up from 51% in 2010), and 50% of companies provided pro bono service programs in 2013 (up from 34% in 2010). While these trends are certainly encouraging, it shows there are still a significant number of companies missing out on the benefits of employee volunteer programs.

More than ever, charities are better positioned and interested in partnering with companies and engaging with corporate employees.  However, as a survey respondent stated in America’s Charities 2014 Snapshot Report: Rising Tide of Expectations, “Companies shouldn’t look at their work with nonprofits as transactional events but rather as building a relationship with a trusted ‘go to’ partner that is working to achieve mutual goals.”  Through employee volunteer and skills giving programs, companies have the opportunity to help build nonprofit capacity and empower employees to give their time and talent. And all of this is good for the company’s employee retention and bottom line.

Source: Sarah Ford America’s Charities 

Last month, the UN announced a new initiative which shows how the private sector is mobilizing to achieve development goals at a local and global level. The Ritz-Carlton, a founding partner of the initiative, has had a long history of giving back to its communities through its Community Footprints projects. We love to see this collaboration between the public and private spheres!

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Becomes First Founding Partner Of Impact 2030

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has become the first Founding Partner of IMPACT 2030: The Global Initiative for the Advancement of Corporate Volunteering. IMPACT 2030 will be introduced at the United Nations on Friday, December 5, 2014 on “International Volunteer Day” where The Ritz-Carlton and the fellow Founding Partner companies will showcase the meaningful difference their employees are making locally, nationally and internationally through corporate volunteering.

IMPACT 2030 is a global private sector led collaboration created to mobilize corporate volunteers to contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Initiative’s partner companies recognize that a commitment to corporate volunteering — when used in concert with the United Nations, peer companies, and philanthropic and nonprofit organizations — is a powerful tool to address critical social and environmental issues and inspire the private sector to positive action.The focus areas for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s social and environmental responsibility program, Community Footprints, are hunger and poverty relief; child well-being; and environmental responsibility, and are key components of the company’s culture of corporate social responsibility.

“Through IMPACT 2030, the power of many will be the force that will allow us to make a significant impact,” said Herve Humler, President and Chief Operations Officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. “In communities where we do business, we will be collaborating with corporate partners and other stakeholders to help address critical issues”. He is joined at the United Nations on International Volunteer Day by Sue Stephenson, the company’s vice president of community footprints and Vice Chairperson of the Executive Committee for IMPACT 2030, to recognize and celebrate the dedication and impact being made by Ritz-Carlton employee volunteers.

On the day, the Community Footprints teams at The Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts across the globe will participate in volunteer activities in their communities. Through the combined efforts of all of the Ladies and Gentlemen, the Community Footprints teams will reach out to 100 communities in 28 countries and territories throughout the world on this day.

A sample of the Community Footprints projects that The Ritz-Carlton Ladies and Gentlemen are participating in with their local partner community organizations on International Volunteer Day include –

At The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Center, planting and helping conserve the Ghaf tree, a rare desert plant species of culture and ecological significance.

At The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, volunteering to renovate FamilyHouse, a center supporting children and families in a low-income community in the cancer treatment and recovery process.

At The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, preparing and distributing over 1,200 lunch boxes in support of Hong Chi Association, a non-profit organization in Hong Kong that helps people of all ages with intellectual disabilities and their families.

At The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin, the hotel’s Ladies and Gentlemen will host interview skills classes for young students at Bildungswerk-Kreuzberg, helping them improve their social skills and guide them through mock interviews.

At The Ritz-Carlton Corporate Office in Chevy Chase, Maryland, the team will participate in a Succeed Through Service literacy coach program to help the young students at Cardozo Education Campus improve their reading skills.

Source: The Ritz-Carlton

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina knows that creating community impact can happen in your own backyard. The company’s garden is not only a lovely oasis for employees but also an instrument to increase employee engagement and community change. Last year employee volunteers harvested over 100 pounds of produce from the garden for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle! We love seeing companies such as BCBS paving the way as stewards in their local communities. – thrdPlace

A Successful Growing Year at the BCBSNC Community Garden

Tucked away on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina campus in Durham is a small garden oasis!  Set next to a public picnic shelter and edged by beautiful woods, the BCBSNC Corporate Garden is a wonderful space to enjoy your lunch break or to visit during weekly workdays, Tuesday and Thursdays.  It has been another successful growing year in this unique space.

What looks to many to be a quiet backyard garden, is in fact producing a lot of wonderful, local food for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle!  As part of the Nourishing North Carolina grant program, BCBSNC funds the garden completely and donates all produce to the Food Shuttle.  The vegetables, harvested by staff and volunteers, are then distributed by the Food Shuttle to Urban Ministries of Durham. Occasionally this year, our Durham Urban Agriculture Interns were also able to harvest the garden bounty for additional community partners in the Lyon Park/West End neighborhoods.

A Bountiful Harvest

During the 2014 spring season, volunteers harvested forty pounds of organic, fresh vegetables; including: cucumbers, beans, peas, greens, herbs and early tomatoes.  During the summer months, when afternoon workday temps were in the triple digits, BCBSNC volunteers harvested an additional seventy-five pounds of melons, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers and kale.  This fall season has also been good to us!  The garden season will extend until the winter holidays begins and volunteers have already been busy cutting over thirty pounds of fresh lettuce, mustard greens, collards, kale, late tomatoes, sweet potatoes and loads of carrots.

Growing Both Skills and Veggies

When volunteers are not busy harvesting seasonal goodies, the garden is also a common destination for BCBSNC department groups to receive urban agriculture training.  Through our BCBSNC coordinator and partner, Lauren Scott, employee teams can sign up their departments for a hands-on workshops.  Workshops this year were held monthly, beginning in April and continued through September. Groups helped the garden to complete larger projects like building “tater towers” and building “bean teepees” (right).  They also participated in composting demos and receive instruction on organic gardening at home.  All workdays this year were led by IFFS employee Eliza Bordley, who oversees all Durham Agriculture programming.

Bracing for the Cold

With the winter weather and frosty nights fast approaching, the BCBSNC garden is beginning to slowly wrap up for the 2014 growing year.  During the months of December, January and February the garden will be getting a yearly face lift!  Bed space will remain the same inside of the garden fence, but the pathways and entrances to the garden will be reconfigured to be more conducive to handicapped volunteers, young children and large groups.  Look forward to a fresh new look for our BCBSNC Corporate garden this coming spring, with new beds, signage and lots more vegetables.  Workdays will start back in the garden beginning in late March 2015.  If you are interested in helping out, [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you out there when we begin to thaw!

Source: Inter-Faith Food Shuttle

More participation in volunteer programs means more positive community change! The key to employee engagement is through establishing effective communication, maintaining sustainable volunteering, and supporting passionate employees. Check out the article below for more advice on how to create a volunteer culture in your company. – thrdPlace

Increasing Participation in Your Volunteer Program

A question that corporate philanthropy leaders and volunteer program managers ask me all the time is this: “How can we increase and improve volunteer participation in our program?”

Ensuring that your company has a high volunteer participation rate is one of the missions of my company, Causecast.  So we make it a priority to help our clients get to the promised land of high employee buy-in.

Sometimes getting started is the hardest part.  That’s why we encourage our clients to make the first steps of volunteering as inviting as possible.

What does that look like, exactly?  My friendChris Jarvis, of Realized Worth, recommends a first stage of volunteering that is a highly social, accessible, low barrier to entry event or experience.  This is something that’s well organized, feels “safe” (you can show up without needing anything and do it as a part of a group), and requires no long-term commitment.

Above all else, spend time on the front-end explaining why your company is participating in this event and why it matters, and time on the back-end gathering feedback.  “A lot of folks spend so much time making sure the event is well organized that they shortchange the why,” Jarvis notes.  “We value ourselves on our productivity, so clearly outlining the why is essential.”

The brief and debrief (e.g., Was the event what you expected?  What did you get out of it?) is important for your employees and for your own information gathering.   One company I spoke with recently reflected on an event they had hosted to celebrate their two-year relationship with a nonprofit.  Their original goal was to connect their employees to the social impact of their giving, thus increasing their engagement and involvement. Along the way they continuously took inventory of the skills-based assets their employees brought to the table, to ascertain the best matches for opportunities and above all to connect their employees’ passions to the organizations that could best leverage those passions.  Going through a regular process of intentional reflection helped them steer their program in a direction that led to high participation and impact.

But let’s also talk about the kinds of volunteer opportunities that are available to your employees.

Make sure that any volunteer opportunities you offer spring from carefully nurtured relationships with nonprofits across the country.  And verify that your online platform is populated with all of the information needed to sign up for fresh volunteer opportunities, and that it’s easy for employees to search and secure the volunteer initiatives that best suit their interests.

While searchable opportunities are important, you should be aware that standard usage rate for this kind of warehoused data is poor – usually hovering around 7%.  Only group volunteering has high rates of participation, and of course one must schedule those sorts of events.  After all, no nonprofit is sitting around waiting for 50 people to show up.  As a company, you really don’t get much if any employee engagement benefit from employees volunteering on their own.  Engagement comes from engagement with other employees, not with a nonprofit alone, and certainly not with software. Your best bet is to work with a vendor that offers concierge-style service, with ongoing support that helps employees and companies build on their volunteer work and deepen and broaden it over time.

Beyond that, I encourage our clients to “deputize” their own employees to be internal cause advocates and motivate others to volunteer.  As with the rules of storytelling, which I discussed in a previous post, your employees are going to be the best advocates for getting involved.  When Kim from IT asks me to show up to an event because it is supporting a cause she has personal experience supporting, it’s going to be harder for me to say no or cancel at the last minute.  No one can argue with Kim; her energy, enthusiasm and excitement – what Jarvis refers to as “the 3 Es” – are the keys to getting others on board.  “That’s the secret of the social capital exchange,” notes Jarvis.  “If I flake on a volunteer opportunity, I make a withdrawal from the social bank account that I have with this other person.”

While most companies don’t utilize their employees in this way, we admire the companies that do.  For example, one corporate giant assigns “community impact leads,” employees passionate about causes that serve as visionaries on the front line.  We find this to be excellent nourishment for volunteer programs and a perfect pairing with the kinds of tools that Causecast offers.

A client that works with both Causecast and Realized Worth, Canadian-based energy company Emera, offers another example of how to create a volunteer network of empowered employees. It starts with their Community Engagement Council, manned by employees who manage the governance strategy around the company’s volunteering program. The council interfaces with Community Engagement Team Leads who are out in the community acting as liaisons with signature nonprofits and other community organizations with whom employees may volunteer. Meanwhile, the company’s community leaders are tasked with overseeing quarterly events around these nonprofits and mobilizing engagement amongst Emera employees.

“We’re excited to have created a formal structure that organizes the engagement process around volunteering at Emera,” notes Marley MacDonald, Emera’s Communications Assistant. “By developing a broad base of responsibility, we’ve removed the pressure from one person to manage the process of community engagement, we’ve created a trigger mechanism to ignite further engagement amongst our employees, and we’ve bolstered support to employees already involved with our volunteer program.”

Emera further increases volunteer participation by offering a Dollars for Doers program as well as Fundraising Matching. These funds can be used towards any charitable activity that employees are involved with, which works wonders for engagement. “Most employees are surprised that they can donate their dollars for doers and matching funds towards their child’s soccer team to help purchase new jerseys, for example,” says MacDonald. “Employees really appreciate this support.”

Support the Kims of your company – give them all of the resources that they need.  Regardless of whether Kim’s cause is the company’s main cause, get behind the Kims with programs like Dollars for Doers and with tools like robust volunteer management platforms so that she feels that her passions are honored and will be more likely to get behind the bigger initiatives of the company.

In short, think less about quick hits for one-time volunteer opportunities and more about creating a culture of reinforcement that doubles down on your employees’ passions and keeps the momentum of their initiative going.  Jarvis calls this a “gardening effect,” where you continuously feed and water your existing efforts, checking in with your employees, nurturing what’s working and weeding out what isn’t.

I call it sustainable volunteering.  It’s the antidote to sputtering efforts that take promising shape but die a quick death.  And it’s the key to igniting engagement and keeping the momentum going.

In short, keep these tips in mind to supercharge your volunteering program:

Create sustainable volunteer programs.  Understand the who, what and how – and make sure your employees do, too.  Brief, debrief and repeat as needed.

Focus on effective vs. efficient communication.  Good stories are your volunteer program’s best friend, so encourage a culture of shared volunteer experiences.

Deputize the Kims of your company.  Make sure your evangelists feel supported and empowered

Source: Ryan Scott Causecast 

As noted in the video below, most furniture is built on an assembly line. This has some appeal if you don’t see yourself keeping it for a long time, as it’s generally not built to last. Brass Tacks woodworking, based in Kansas City, Missouri, takes a much different approachbuy inflatable giant water slide, building […]

Read more on MAKE

Check out these 50 companies honored for their community engagement! We’d love to see more community-minded businesses recognized for the good work that they do. – thrdPlace

The Most Community-Minded Companies of America: The Civic 50

The Civic 50, an initiative of Points of Light, in partnership with Bloomberg LP, honors the 50 most community-minded companies in the nation each year as determined by an annual survey.Benchmarking and sharing the best practices of community engagement offers companies that participate in The Civic 50 a roadmap for using their time, skills, and other resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business. The Civic 50 will help translate good intentions into sound business practices for years to come.The Civic 50 winners are selected based on four dimensions of their U.S. community engagement program:

Investment: How extensively and strategically the company applies its resources to community engagement, including employee time and skills, cash, in-kind giving and leadership.

Integration: How a company’s community engagement program supports business interests and integrates into business functions, or how it “does well by doing good.”

Institutionalization: How the company supports community engagement through its institutional policies, systems and incentives.

Impact: How a company measures the social and business impact of its community engagement program.

This series, penned by Points of Light Corporate Institute, exclusively for CSRwire Talkback, will examine best practices and highlight shining stories of some of the top ranking companies each year. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment or connecting with us on Twitter.For more information, visit Civic50.org or email [email protected].

How can policymakers conduct randomized trials and incorporate them into their policymaking? Over the summer, Oliver Hauser, a PhD student at Harvard, worked at the Behavioural Insights Team in London (@B_I_Tweets), sometimes called the “nudge unit.” Yesterday at the Cooperation Working Group that I co-facilitate with Brian Keegan, Oliver shared with us the work that the nudge unit has done before opening up the conversation for discussion.

At Harvard, Oliver works with the Harvard Business School and at the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard. He is also author of a recent Nature article: “Cooperating With the Future.” Oliver’s research focuses on cooperation and pro-sociality, and he often works with organizations using randomized experiments and using the term “Behavioural insight,” when he uses research from behavioral sciences applies it in the world.

What are Behavioral Insights?

Over the last ten years, books have been coming out all over the place, all about behavior change, and how we can use insights on them for management and government insights. A few years ago, the to-be-elected prime minister of the UK government, David Cameron, read Thaler and Sunstein’s book “Nudge” and subsequently created the Nudge team when he was elected.

“What are the typical things that these books will tell you about?” Oliver asks. He shows us a photo and asks “Was Mahatma Gandhi older or younger than 100 years old when he died? How old do you think he was?” He then asks the same question for Einstein, asking if he was older or younger than 50. It turns out that if you ask lots of people this question, they tend to use the earlier number as a reference point. In the case of Gandhi, most people down-adjust from 100. In the case of Einstein, they up-adjust from 50. Oliver is interested in charitable giving and in this context, a question worth asking might be “what is the last number someone saw before deciding how much to donate?” It may potentially have a big influence.sumo wrestling suits for sale

Oliver next asks us two questions: “You want to buy a toaster that costs $100. You are told that the same toaster is being sold for $50, but it is a 20 minute drive away. Would you travel to get the discounted toaster?”

“You want to buy a television that costs $3000. You are told that the same television is being sold for $2,950, but it is a 20 minute drive away. Would you travel to get the discounted TV?”

People often the first question yes and answer no to the second question, even though the savings is the same. This example shows that we are not perfectly “rational” (in the economic sense) but often take context and other cues in the environment into account when making decisions. This should not be forgotten when designing systems or institutions that people interact with. “Behavioural insights” is a catch-all term for much that has been published in the behavioral sciences that should inform the way we build these systems and institutions.

Who are the Behavioural Insights Team?

The BIT, Oliver notes, was set up to ask if similar things might be the case in people’s interactions with government. It originated in No. 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office, where they had access to government. Recently, they were slightly spun out. 1/3 is owned by government, 1/3 is owned by NESTA, and 1/3 is owned by the employees. Uniquely, BIT’s team comprises of both policymakers and researchers.

When the Behavioural Insights Team first came out, the public was skeptical. Three to four years later, the media loves them — they’ve saved the government money while helping the people make better decisions for themselves.

Oliver spent his time as a Research Fellow in the British Government, helping with research on pro-sociality, charitable giving, and behavioural economics questions. While there, he was able to apply research that he was reading, testing those results in a real-world context at a national scale. It’s not always possible to do research, because the team’s primary mission is to do good, but it is also possible to publish in peer reviewed journals.

EAST Principles

The Behavioural Insights Team has created a fairly simple but intuitive model to help people think about the kinds of interventions they build and how they work: Interventions should be Easy, Attractive, Social, and Timely (the “EAST” framework). To illustrate these, Oliver shows us a trial they ran on the “Tax Return Initiative” with HM Revenue and Customs. Famously, they tried to prime people to be more honest on tax payment. They ran an RCT including a link directly to the tax form rather than a link to the website. In a randomized trial of approximately 2,000 people in each group, click-through rates were 23.4% compared to 19.2%. In more recent study of tax forms in Guatemala, they have carried out several million observations.

Next Oliver talks about the idea of randomized controlled trials in government. The goal of these trials is to get at the difference between people who receive a treatment and people who don’t. One way is to compare to previous years, but a more successful way, without the confounds and endogeneities, would be to create a control group and a treatment group, randomly splitting a study population into sub-groups. After a period of time, you look at how many people have been affected by the treatment, giving you the ability to make causal claims — the only difference between these groups is the change made in the treatment relative to control.

Examples of Behavioral Insights in the world

In a study, the goal was to get London investment bankers to donate one day of their salary to charity. Many of them are hyper rational people, and although they might be altruistic, the question can they be nudged. In one investment bank, they had a history of getting about 5% of bankers to donate to each other. In the banking world, many traders are locked off from each other, which made it possible to send different interventions to different parts of the company:

one group received the typical email from the CEO (5% donated)

another group also had a celebrity DJ walk around the floor (7% donated)

one group of bankers received sweets (11% donated) (Oliver is interested in this because he thinks the unconditional sharing of the chocolates before requesting a donation tap into people’s sense of reciprocity)

another group received a personal email that mentioned the person’s name from their line manager (12%)

sweets + personal email (17%)

This randomized trial raised £500,000 in one day for charity.

Question: what is the theory involved in this? Maybe it wasn’t reciprocity but instead social image, or some other motivation?

Oliver: normally, I combine lab research with field research, which allows to get at these fine-grained questions. In time, it may be possible to start doing that kind of work also in field experiments. Oliver is now talking to some large charity fundraisers to find out if it might be possible to get at some of these deeper answers. Think of the results from these projects as testing “principles” (i.e. does a tested lab manipulation derived from theory also apply in the real world?) rather than theories — perhaps/hopefully we’ll get there eventually.

To illustrate the idea of “Social” in the EAST principles, Oliver tells us about another example, showing how presenting information about social norms can be influential. When taxpayers were told that “9 out of 10 people who have a debt like yours in your local area pay their taxes,” a greater number of them paid taxes than received no social information.

Question: “did you lie to them?” Oliver: I come from the econ view, so I don’t use deception, and government definitely can’t use deception. That makes it challenging to roll out these programs, especially in areas where tax payment is low, and alternative interventions may have to applied.

Implementing RCTs in Government

Oliver describes to us how these things come together in government: often the team will pick an existing policy that the government is planning to implement. When possible, they then work with government to create a sequential roll-out over multiple years into an RCT. By delaying the roll-out of a program, it becomes possible to create control groups in places that haven’t yet received the program. 

In policy contexts, Oliver tells us, transparency is important, and the BIT publishes trial protocols before they run an experiment, on online databases such as the American Economic Association’s RCT Registry. This encourages transparency and is one defense against “p-value hacking” and fishing for results in lots of co-variates: the researchers need to explain clearly how their methods answer the specific policy questions set out in the study.

In the cooperation working group, we often invite people to share their in-progress work. The rest of the conversation, sadly, can’t be reported because it concerned (very interesting!) research that has not yet been published.

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“reward your employees with time off for volunteer work, and they’ll reward you with better work all around.”

Check out these 3 reasons about how providing time off for volunteering can positively impact your business. At thrdPlace, we believe that giving back to the local community results in happier employees and a more successful business. We would love to see more businesses prioritize employee volunteerism and follow the example of companies such as SAP, Patagonia, Microsoft, PWC, and Timberland.  -thrdPlace

Reward Your Employees With Time Off for Volunteer Work

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

I’m not just being a Scrooge. With recent hot IPOs such as Alibaba and the inevitable discussion of the Silicon Valley “perks arms race” that always seems to accompany this kind of news, it got me thinking about the perks that really matter.

At Charitybuzz, we have periodic volunteer days where we get out of the office to paint an elementary school or pack groceries for New York’s homeless. Our staff loves having the time off to give back, but it’s also become an incredible source of bonding that brings us closer as a team. Given our mission, volunteering makes sense. We raise money for non-profits, so we attract employees who are passionate about giving back.

Related: Getting Employees to Volunteer and Give

But I think a volunteerism perk can be just as important, if not more important, for a company whose day-to-day business is less philanthropic. Companies such as SAP, Patagonia, Microsoft and PWC are already doing this. Timberland employees get up to 40 paid hours per year (an entire work week!) to devote to volunteer work. If your company isn’t offering paid time off for volunteering, here are some reasons why you should consider it.

1. Passionate people are passionate people 

In other words, employees who are passionate about something outside of work (their favorite cause or volunteer side gig) are more likely to be passionate at work. A volunteerism perk will help you attract passionate people who will bring that same passion to your company’s mission.

2. Happy employees = happy bottom line

Countless studies over the past decade have shown that people derive more happiness from experiences than from material things. When this experience involves giving back or helping others, the happiness quotient is upped even further, hence the well-documented “Helper’s High.”

Related: 6 Ways to Do Well by Doing Good

Between this happiness effect and the general refreshment that comes from a few days out of the office, the infusion of positive energy you get from a volunteerism perk far outweighs a few days of absenteeism from work.

3. It’s the ultimate millennial perk

Maybe you’ve heard of them. One day, we’re espousing their virtues and the next, we’re griping about their quirks. The fact is, they’re here to stay and as the rate of baby boomer retirements increases, we need them more than ever.

What we’re learning about millennials says a lot about the best ways to attract and retain them. Study after study shows that they want to buy from and work for companies whose missions and values they believe in. Other research shows that, compared with previous generations, millennials value experiences over material possessions.

Combine the happiness derived from an inspiring volunteer experience and the appeal of working for a company that gives back, and paid volunteer days look like the ultimate millennial perk — not to mention a social-media recruiting tool that runs itself. Imagine the social currency of an Instagram post about a cool volunteer gig with paid time off generously provided by #yourcompany.

So while I’m not advocating you ditch the traditional holiday bonus (in all my years in business, no one’s ever given one back), this piece of advice is my gift to you: reward your employees with time off for volunteer work, and they’ll reward you with better work all around.

Source: Coppy Holzman Entrepreneur