The past decade has fortunately seen a rise in the amount of companies across a range of different sectors looking to support animal rights causes. We’ve seen a strengthened understanding, particularly in the clothing and food retail industries, that animals have an inherent worth – a value that is entirely separate from their usefulness to humans. Animal rights are no longer considered a philosophy. In the words of one of the biggest animal welfare charities, Peta, it is “it is a social movement that challenges society’s traditional view that all nonhuman animals exist solely for human use.”
It’s great to see the increasing numbers of cosmetic retailers and pharma companies that have committed not to conduct animal testing, and the clothing producers that have banned the use of fur. But what more can be done to champion the animal welfare cause? And how can the tech sector specifically contribute to this growing movement? There’s certainly a lot of opportunity here. Let’s explore the topic further.
How Can the Tech Sector Contribute to the Fight Against Animal Abuse?
There’s no doubt that the Tech industry has been booming over the past decade, and the recent pandemic period has seen unprecedented levels of innovation in the sector. Recent research has shown that the UK tech sector has grown tenfold over the past 10 years, with similar trends being seen across the globe, most notably in the States and in Central/Eastern Europe.
Tech companies certainly employ some of the brightest young talents that the world has to offer. So wouldn’t it be great if their collective skills and experience were put to good use, to support causes such as the fight against animal cruelty? At Tech to the Rescue, this is exactly what we’re trying to encourage. Our goal is to match IT companies with not for profits that are trying to solve a particular digital challenge.
Example: Anima International and Stratoflow
One example of such a partnership is that between Anima International (Otwarte Klatki), an animal rights charity, and Stratoflow – a Salesforce consulting company, certified as a Salesforce partner.
Stratoflow stepped in to support Anima International with its data storage. The charity was getting by using Excel spreadsheets, but these quickly became insufficient for their data scaling needs. Stratoflow equipped the organization with a robust data-management platform. The charity’s Head of IT, Agnieszka Olszak, was so impressed that she spoke about the introduction of recurring payments and Blink transactions during a webinar organized by Tech to the Rescue. She shared her experience from creating a basic spreadsheet to register income and outgoings, to developing the first crowdfunding campaigns, hiring a manager, and creating a WordPress website to scale-up their campaigns and improve the efficiency of its volunteer work.
The Importance of Empowering Tech Employees to Engage in Pro-bono Projects
IT Employers can reap many benefits from empowering their employees to engage in charitable initiatives that support animal welfare. While the Covid-19 pandemic created temporary uncertainty in the job market, the IT sector seemed to weather the storm, and if anything, has come back stronger. In an increasingly candidate-driven job market, it’s important for tech companies to go above and beyond in what they’re offering their top talent, and we can see that company culture and values are playing an increasingly important role in both staff recruitment and retention.
According to Bain & Company’s Time. Talent. Energy study, an employee who feels engaged and inspired is 125% more productive than the average staffer. They’re also far more likely to stay with a company for longer. So what can you, as a tech employer, do to drive your staff’s engagement in pro bono projects?
- Firstly show them that you’re invested in giving back to society through pro-bono projects. In joining Tech to the rescue, you’ll have the opportunity to use your team’s experience and skills to support worthwhile charitable initiatives from across the world.
- Secondly, embed pro-bono work in your values and make sure that every employee, from their first interaction with your company (usually at interview stage) knows about this.
- Thirdly, conduct regular surveys into the charitable causes that your employees want to support. If these selected charities haven’t already joined Tech to the Rescue to benefit from free digital support, encourage them to do so.
- Finally, play a leading role in supporting animal welfare and other charitable initiatives by encouraging other IT companies in your network to join the mission. Helping to spread the word is vital in ensuring that we achieve our goals.
What’s brilliant about Tech to the Rescue projects is that you’ll be able to see the impact of your team’s work. Charities will stay in touch with you to let you know what results they’ve achieved following your input, which you can then pass on to your staff.
