No Imagination Needed - It's Easy to Be a Caring Company

We know there are lots of caring companies in this community -- so we invite you to join us in participating in Imagine Canada's Caring Company Program.

Digital Echidna has had a long history working with Imagine Canada, and we're proud to have officially become a participant in Imagine Canada's Caring Company Program, and we encourage you to take a look at the program and see if it's right for your business.

After all, we believe that the principles behind the program are right for our community in general.

The Caring Company Program is billed as Canada's oldest and leading corporate citizenship initiative. There are more than 90 Canadian businesses that participate in the program.

In the words of Imagine Canada: Imagine Canada recognizes each one as a community investment role model. They lead by example with their commitment to:

• donate a minimum of 1% of pre-tax profit to community organizations;
• champion and sustain at least one community investment project; and,
• publicly report their community investment activities."

We're not here to say that we're this wonderful company that's going above and beyond the call of duty. Far from it -- we do what we do because we believe in the causes we support. More importantly, we have a number of employees that genuinely want to make a positive difference -- and we do so quietly, effectively, and with the intent of letting the causes we support receive the lion's share of the limelight.

So why am I writing this? Because we want to encourage other companies to get involved and show how easy it is to make a difference. You may think "I'm only doing a little bit here and there," but all of those little things add up.

At Echidna, we have our core causes that we support: kids, the arts, accessibility, and the environment. We're proud to lend our people, our time, and our talents to causes like:

• Growing Chefs
• Business Cares
• Ability First
• London Fringe Festival
• London Health Sciences Foundation
• United Way
• Rogers Sports Celebrity Dinner
• Regional HIV/AIDS Connection
• Ronald McDonald House
• Friends of the Coves

And we're just about to announce a new partnership with a marquee local event that aligns nicely with our CSR focus!

We're proud to have staff members dedicating their time on local boards and council advisory committees. And those are just the official roles -- we have staff volunteering in many ways, on their own time, for causes that they're passionate about.

We far exceeded the one-per-cent threshold. And I'm pretty sure that many of you do too.

Trust me, I know how uncomfortable it can be talking about yourself and the causes you support. We'd be happy to stay out of the spotlight completely -- but we applied for this designation because we feel it's important to let other companies know how easy it is to make a difference when you're in it for the right reasons.

Choose causes you and your staff believe in, make an effort to get involved, and get involved because it means something to you -- not because you want publicity or pats on the back -- and being a Caring Company is just a natural extension of who you are.

I invite you to learn more about the Caring Company Program. We know there are a lot of amazing companies in this city that are making a difference. Let's show everyone how Corporate Social Responsibility isn't a "responsibility" but simply a way of life.