Boston is a legacy city.
It’s not just the historic buildings marked by the Freedom Trail, or the life-saving research that emerges from laboratories across the Charles River in Cambridge. It’s even more than the athletic talent that has looked up at the Green Monster while up to bat.
Boston is also a legacy city in how its people give back.
According to Fidelity’s Geography of Giving report — which notes the findings of the financial firm’s tracking of grant dollars and disbursement — Boston is the number one city in the United States when it comes to charitable giving. In particular, the city ranked highest in three particular areas: arts and culture, the environment and animals, and health.
In honor of April being National Volunteer Month, Built In highlighted three Boston tech companies that go above and beyond when giving back.
For more than 170 years, MassMutual has helped people secure their future and protect the ones they love. The mutual life insurance company is run for the benefit of its members and participating policy owners.
Describe how your company gives back to its communities. What impact do these efforts have on both those in need and employees themselves?
MassMutual gives back in many ways, starting with supporting our employees' deep commitment to community service. The company supports our annual Live Mutual Week of service, provides 24 hours of volunteer paid time off to full-time employees and through the MassMutual Foundation's matching program, provides up to $6,500 per employee annually, based on volunteer hours tracked and personal contributions made to eligible nonprofits.
Through the MassMutual Foundation, we're proud to support a variety of organizations focused on building communities' financial resilience. In our hometown of Springfield, we fund the Way Finders City of Homes program, Tech Foundry and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, among many others. In Boston, recent grantees include Daily Table, EMPath and Boston Medical Center's Economic Justice Hub, while Union Capital and NeighborShare are two organizations we've helped bring to both cities.
On a personal level, I love to run, and fighting cancer is important to me. In 2024, I ran the Boston Marathon to raise money for Dana Farber. The MassMutual Foundation matched my contributions, making an even bigger impact on this cause that matters to me.
How do these community outreach efforts bolster your company's mission and/or culture?
At MassMutual, our company purpose is helping people to secure their futures and protect the ones they love. And helping others is how we come together as a MassMutual community, too. In 2023, we introduced our first Live Mutual Week, an annual companywide week of service inspired by our legacy of mutuality that brought together employees for onsite, offsite and virtual volunteer opportunities. It's a way to bond with colleagues while connecting with — and giving back to — the community.
As for personal volunteering experiences, when the company supports employees' interests and what's important to them, it strengthens our team culture and makes people more engaged. Happy employees are better employees. And happy, fulfilled people are better leaders of positive change in the world.
What advice would you offer to leaders at other organizations interested in implementing more volunteer opportunities? Which efforts have had the biggest impact at your company?
Once you plan your first company or team volunteer event, commit to consistency. Whether that's once a month or once a year, stick to it. The first event often gets a lot of buzz, and then the second and the third are the hardest to keep going. Make it part of a regular cadence.
The other key is a degree of employee choice. At MassMutual, employees are able to volunteer for and/or donate to a variety of eligible nonprofits that align with their specific passions or interests. That element of choice is a change I've seen implemented during my own tenure here, and the flexibility has empowered our employees to really get involved and support what matters to them.
Even within my own team, we're all supportive of different causes. In just the last year, my team members have volunteered for mentoring programs, animal shelters, local school boards, nonprofit industry boards and more. MassMutual gives us the chance to give back to our communities in ways that resonate with us.
Wasabi is on a mission to store the world's data by making cloud storage affordable, predictable and secure.
Describe how your company gives back to its communities. What impact do these efforts have on both those in need and employees themselves?
Wasabi is committed to acting on its corporate values by being stewards of the community and world. In the Boston community, where Wasabi is headquartered, we support a range of initiatives. Wasabi partners with the Boston Bruins Foundation to create athletic and educational opportunities for girls and young women in New England, such as through Girls Hockey Day.
Additionally, Wasabi sponsors the Red Sox Foundation's Run to Home Base event supporting veteran charities while actively elevating Wasabi veterans around such causes. Beyond Boston, Wasabi launched Red Hot Beats with Liverpool FC, a program committed to high-quality events in the community for children based around addressing mental health through tools such as music, arts and sports.
Wasabi's volunteer efforts give employees a sense of fulfillment, knowing they are part of a company that makes a positive impact. Beyond this, they can engage with the greater community in ways they might not otherwise do.
How do these community outreach efforts bolster your company's mission and/or culture?
Our community outreach efforts align closely with Wasabi's values of humility, ownership and togetherness. Through volunteer work, Wasabi team members are able to recognize the importance of contributing to the well-being of others while taking the initiative to make a difference. Additionally, volunteering highlights togetherness amongst our team and communities and reinforces collaboration and shared responsibility.
What advice would you offer to leaders at other organizations interested in implementing more volunteer opportunities? Which efforts have had the biggest impact at your company? Leaders should look to align volunteer initiatives with your company's values and mission to ensure that the efforts feel authentic and resonate with employees. Additionally, prioritize partnerships with local organizations that have a big impact since they create meaningful connections between employees and their community.
Simply Business makes small business insurance simple and accessible.
Describe how your company gives back to its communities. What impact do these efforts have on both those in need and employees themselves?
Simply Business hosts an annual employee trek, a hallmark event for our non-profit partnerships in the U.S. and U.K. The event is a key part of our culture, fostering positive energy, leadership, and a sense of purpose in our mission to support and serve small business owners. In 2024, I was selected to join the Global Trek Team, where we completed a five-day, 42-mile mountain trek through the breathtaking Istrian Peninsula in northern Croatia. Through this event, we raised awareness and funds for two charities across our global markets: Sky's the Limit in the U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting aspiring small business owners from underrepresented backgrounds and minority groups which offers support and mentoring to young, underrepresented entrepreneurs, and The Prince's Trust in the U.K., which advances inclusive entrepreneurship. Both nonprofits ensure that young entrepreneurs, regardless of background, have equal opportunities to build sustainable small businesses.
What I found uniquely rewarding about this giving back trek was how much I received in return. In 2023, I unexpectedly and suddenly lost my mother. She worked in nonprofits for the majority of her career and always told me, 'Whenever you feel down, do something for someone else.' Getting the opportunity to volunteer and serve others helped me through my grief. While hiking on these treks, I had the opportunity to observe the natural world and see that everything within serves another living being. A fruit tree doesn't grow fruit for itself but to feed and sustain all the living beings that come into its presence. I truly believe the secret to life lies in serving others. This is what I've found so remarkable about Simply Business's mission to give back – we come together to serve and make a difference in young entrepreneurs' lives, and in return, we are given so much: friendship, camaraderie, and the challenge to push ourselves beyond perceived limitations. Simply Business's trek is more than just a trek; it's a manifestation of our core value of serving others.
How do these community outreach efforts bolster your company's mission and/or culture?
Simply Business's community outreach efforts are not just philanthropic endeavors; they are an integral part of our identity and success. Simply Business created a virtuous cycle where giving back strengthens our mission to serve small businesses, and which in turn strengthens and enhances our company culture. Simply Business's mission centers on supporting and serving small business owners. Community outreach, especially initiatives like the global team trek and partnerships with organizations like The Prince's Trust and Sky's the Limit, directly embody this mission. We are not just providing insurance; we are actively investing in the success of entrepreneurs.
What advice would you offer to leaders at other organizations interested in implementing more volunteer opportunities? Which efforts have had the biggest impact at your company?
To build effective volunteer programs, leaders must align opportunities with company values, provide diverse options and empower employee-led initiatives. Strategic partnerships and a culture of giving are vital, alongside measuring impact and leading by example. Importantly, these initiatives unite the company, fostering camaraderie and shared purpose. At Simply Business, our annual trek exemplifies this cycle of giving, benefiting both our customers and our employees, strengthening our community from the inside out.
