Most people feel that they have a moral responsibility to do good. They feel that, unless they do good, they won’t be able to achieve greatness themselves. This is true not just for individuals, but also for every business in the country, believes Peter Zieve. And it seems that he is right about this, since so many businesses now engage in a campaign to help local people all over the world.
Peter Zieve Provides Examples on How Businesses Make an Electroimpact on the World
Walgreens started an initiative that hired disabled people. Within five years, companies all over the country did the same. Indeed, it even became a movement in Europe. Another example is found in Starbucks who broke the news in 2014 that they would offer all employees on 20+ hour a week contracts free access to an Arizona State University college degree.
Friends of the Children, based in Oregon, provides educational and emotional support to at risk children from kindergarten to college. 85% of children they work with now finish high school. 93% avoid breaking the law and going to juvenile hall.
Of course, Peter Zieve understands that companies do not engage in philanthropy for the fun of it only. It is a type of politics because it gives them tremendous publicity as well as recognition. A company like Starbucks can herald that they have educated people in virtually every major city in the country, from Mikilteo to Seattle. This is something that regular individuals don’t get from volunteering. At times, they may be featured in a blog for doing something good in the world of sports, for instance, but they generally do it for the sheer joy of doing good.
Peter Zieve on Why People Volunteer
According to Zieve, people volunteer because they want to be kinder and gentler. They also volunteer because they know that, without their efforts, the big business programs would never succeed either. There are numerous personal reasons to volunteer as well, including feeling a need to pay back favors obtained and help received in the past. However, the reality is also that nobody is able to make it through life without some sort of help, whether that is the Bank of Mum and Dad or a local charity that supports them. This means that every individual technically has some sort of debt to repay. But a more positive way of looking at that is that every individual has a reason to pay it forward and to give back.
There are lost of benefits on a personal level to being charitable. It fulfills a responsibility, yes, but it also makes people happier. This was confirmed by a Harvard Business School that found not just that people were happier if they gave, but that happy people are also more likely to give more. A positive spiral of happiness and kindness, in other words.
For Peter Zieve, the beauty is that everybody has something to give. Whether it is time, money, old clothes, tinned foods, or a helping hand, it all benefits the community.