Company Holiday Celebrations: Party with a Purpose

By: Zach McCue, Citizen Action Coordinator

This season, Clean Ocean Action is offering tips on how to green your holiday. Here is the tenth of twelve in COA's '12 Days of Green Giving' series.

Plymouth Rock Assurance at
Seaside Sunset 2013

Every year, Clean Ocean Action holds our annual fundraiser, the Seaside Sunset.  COA welcomes supporters, volunteers, partners, and of course corporate sponsors to attend the event.  Year after year COA is thrilled to see more companies helping to sponsor the event and turn the night into a team building event.  Most notably, Plymouth Rock Assurance has supported Seaside Sunset the last few years and treated their staff to a night of drinks and dancing to benefit ocean protection. With great food, music, and giveaways, many companies have the chance to support Clean Ocean Action while having a great time out of the office.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Many non-profit or charity organizations have holiday functions that tie a fundraiser to the holiday season.  It may be too late for this year, but for next year think about encouraging your office to have their holiday outing supporting a local charity or non-profit.  Not only will having an office outing at a fundraising event relieve your office manager of the logistics and cost of hosting your own party, it will also set an example of service and giving to employees and their families.  Year after year the relationship between your office and the organization (and your respective staff) will grow, making your annual company outing just like home at the holidays.

Another fun way to create a more environmentally-friendly workplace is to consider greening your company birthday and holiday celebrations.  At Clean Ocean Action, instead of exchanging gifts for staff birthdays or a “Secret Santa” for the holidays, we all contribute a modest amount of money to donate to another nonprofit organization.  Each staff member writes a favorite nonprofit on a slip of paper and we draw the winner from a hat.  COA makes a donation in honor of our 'crew' to that organization.

Whether it’s a cocktail reception, green gift exchange, or open bar with live music, consider a charity fundraiser during holidays to party with a purpose with your company!