“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
INTRODUCTION
For this year’s MLK Jr. Day of Service, we are highlighting nonprofits that fight for equity.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most emblematic leaders of the civil rights movement. Dr. King’s work and Day of Service are reminders to remain focused on restoration and a just future for all.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the face of the structural inequalities that our nation contends with, and it can be hard to know how to help. With our first Engagement Guide, we are offering a range of volunteer opportunities and nonprofits directly related to Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy. Our hope is that this resource can help every employee and employee resource group (ERG) respond to King’s call: “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.”
PREVIEW
HOW TO BRING A SERVICE MINDSET INTO THE WORKPLACE
While many offices are closed for the MLK Day of Service in the United States, that doesn't mean there won't be more opportunities throughout this year to engage friends and colleagues in good work. In fact, it would be a poignant and meaningful use of your time today to think about how your employees, ERGs, and the entire team can be of service to their communities.
Bringing a service mindset into the workplace can be as challenging as it no doubt is important. One of the main hurdles that social impact and corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders must overcome is employee engagement. Whether the MLK Day of Service will be a follow-up to programming around Deed's January "Cause of the Month: Food Insecurity," or even your first touch of the year, it's important to think of this day as something fundamentally different than other days of awareness. The MLK Day of Service is an urgent reminder to build a service-minded community within your organization that is always prepared to mark these special occasions, act fast in times of social and environmental crisis, and commit to doing good over the long-term.
Deed is a workplace giving and volunteering platform that puts people first, because user experience shouldn’t stand between you and doing good. We help social impact and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) teams foster genuine human connection by empowering employees to support causes they care about together in-person and online. Backed by PayPal and a solid infrastructure of trusted payment processors, our Fortune 500 partners support +2 million nonprofits with ease. And together, our community is doing more good deeds everyday at work, at home, in our neighborhoods, and all over the world.
