Especially in a busy startup. The day-to-day tasks do a great job of getting in the way of anything non-critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything<\/em> comes as a priority over arranging a CSR initiative, and there are only so many hours in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And not to mention; we\u2019re human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We get tired. Motivation fades. Excitement dims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We get near the end of the working day and still have a bunch of priority tasks to clear. Which means that \u2018Arrange CSR!!!\u2019 task gets bumped once again to the next week. And the next, and the next\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I took over the unofficial \u2018Head of CSR\u2019 position around a year ago. And for the first 6 months I was guilty of this more than anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I really<\/em> wanted to set-up a CSR initiative, but work and life just seemed to keep getting in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And whenever I did get the time to sit down and plan something out – I found myself getting frustrated. Where do I start? Who should I reach out? Why is this so hard? What\u2019s a DBS check?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth is, it\u2019s actually very difficult to create a CSR initiative from scratch. And that\u2019s probably why my attempts for the first few months fell so flat. Or at least that\u2019s the excuse I save for my incompetence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, I got fed-up with failing, and started researching to see if there were any business out there who could help me out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when I stumbled across OnHand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d followed Sanjay, OnHand\u2019s CEO, for a while on LinkedIn and realised their app could be the help I needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Describing their app as \u201cThe all-in-one tool to engage employees in local volunteering & climate action<\/em>\u201d; sounded like exactly what I needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I reached out, we jumped on a demo, and Sanjay probably had one of easiest sales of his career so far 😅<\/p>\n\n\n\n All that remained was to convince our CEO this was a good idea, and get the team set-up on the app. Fortunately for me, none of that took any effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within a few weeks, the GoSquared team found themselves strolling out on a hot July afternoon armed with bin-bags, not-at-all-fit-for-purpose gloves, and a willing motivation to\u2026 cleanse South Bank of street litter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We got some funny-looks, some compliments, but most of all we found ourselves having a great time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scouring the streets for litter, it quickly became a competition of who could pick up more. The more \u2018exotic\u2019, the better. Matt beat us all by leaping over a wall to secure a treasure trove of trash; and nearly falling into the Thames in the process\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a couple of hours, we were each hauling huge bags of South Bank\u2019s detritus over our shoulders; feeling tired but also accomplished. Doing good feels<\/em> good. Especially when it\u2019s followed by a trip to the pub\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buoyed by the success of our first CSR mission, we soon found ourselves together again for our next one; a Dementia Awareness Training session with Newcastle Building Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It turned out almost all the team have lived experience of close-relatives with Dementia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Side note:<\/strong> that\u2019s one of those things you don\u2019t normally find about your colleagues, if it wasn\u2019t for an initiative like this. We\u2019re all human, who\u2019d have thought!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone walked away with a renewed perspective on Dementia, and rich lessons for engaging with relatives who experience it. Shout out to Jonathan from Newcastle Building Society for leading it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the space of a few weeks it felt like we\u2019d gone from 0 to \u2018wow, we\u2019re actually doing this!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that got us thinking, what else could we be doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, we all want to do good in the world. But why should \u2018doing-good\u2019 be limited to a couple of hours per month for a CSR activity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if we could start integrating that value into our company mission; better yet, our actual platform?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when the \u2018seeds\u2019 of EcoSend<\/a> were first planted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At GoSquared, we help our clients send great emails. But, as it turns out, emails have a cost. Depending on the size and content, every email sent can emit up to 4g of carbon. That means the 300 billion emails sent every day can emit up to 12,000 metric tonnes of carbon per year. That\u2019s the same as burning over 28,000 barrels of oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scary, huh? Bet you didn\u2019t think that was a thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither did we. But as we brainstormed and researched together, we realised we were faced with both challenge and opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, our platform contributes to carbon emissions. Every marketing platform does. But what if we took it upon ourselves to change that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of seeing carbon emissions as \u2018just one of those things\u2019 of running a software platform, what if we decided we didn\u2019t want to be just another carbon-emitting platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because it\u2019s easy to follow the crowd. It\u2019s easy to ignore a problem when everyone else is ignoring it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what if we simply decided that wasn\u2019t good enough; what could that look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so, after a day spent huddled together in an office in Marble Arch, \u2018EcoSend by GoSquared<\/a>\u2019 was born. The world\u2019s first carbon-conscious email marketing platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The journey is only beginning for us here, and we\u2019re well aware we still have a lot to figure out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But unlike the first days of my CSR attempts, these aren\u2019t just good intentions. We\u2019re actually walking the walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GoSquared forest was officially inaugurated in August with its first 300 trees<\/strong>, ready to offset a whopping 24,000kgs of carbon emissions per year<\/strong>. Real things are happening! Holes are being dug and trees are going into them (I have the certificates to prove it 😉).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This really is just the beginning. We have a ton of ideas for EcoSend. Gamifying the platform, so the better emails you send the more trees we plant. Tree-plant badges. Live emissions calculators. Incentivising in-app alternatives to email. And so much more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step by step we want to integrate our values and desire to do good for the planet into our platform. This won\u2019t happen overnight, but it will happen. Feature-release by feature-release, initiative after initiative, we\u2019ll get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s an example: for September we kicked off our first eco-incentivised Customer Success initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, every company offers incentives to their clients for testimonial reviews, case study calls, re-engagement Training etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re no different, but we\u2019ve thrown out the old processes – no more gifts or corporate drinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agree to give us a testimonial, or jump on a re-engagement call? You\u2019ll now get your very own corner in the GoSquared Forest, fit with a branded certificate and details about the program & trees-planted. 🙌<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please do watch this space, and please do hold us accountable to our lofty aims. We know we have a lot to learn. We desperately want to do the right thing, and we can only do that by taking feedback on board and adapting as we learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So keep tabs on us.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe answer to our (CSR) prayers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hunting for litter-treasure in South Bank<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Image-from-iOS-7.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Image-from-iOS-8.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe momentum starts to build!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/https-cdn.evbuc_.com-images-289494519-934307226773-1-original.20220428-085805.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Birth of EcoSend<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Screenshot-2022-09-14-at-12.08.38.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe start of a new (re-new-able?) chapter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gosquared.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Screenshot-2022-09-14-at-12.10.04.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHelp us grow the forest!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n