In 2007, a Rochester-area company relaxed its dress code to give back to its community in a big way. Employees of ConServe, an accounts receivable management agency, are allowed to wear jeans to work if they donate $10 to a local charity.
On February 5, ConServe’s Jeans for Charity program celebrated the fundraising milestone of raising $1 million in donations since its inception. Hillside’s Special Santa annual holiday giving project has been a recipient of their tremendous generosity since the beginning, receiving $48,000 from ConServe over the years.
ConServe’s Jeans for Charity program perfectly illustrates how seemingly little things can add up to make a big difference. “A $10 a month employee donation is really significant when coupled with an organization that’s collecting all of that and giving these bigger impact gifts,” says Meghan Callan Wagner of Hillside Children’s Foundation. “It really matters because it can make an employee feel like they’re part of something much bigger and more impactful.”
ConServe CEO Mark Davitt has been committed to giving back to the community since founding his company 35 years ago. Good corporate citizenship is at the core of ConServe’s mission statement, and their employees routinely support local non-profit organizations through monetary gifts, in-kind donations, volunteering and sponsorships.
By dressing down in blue jeans for Hillside Children’s Foundation and other worthy charities, ConServe’s generous employees prove that a giving spirit is always in fashion and that there’s no dress code for fundraising success.