At the heart of Cydcor’s culture is the tenet of “people helping people.” Cydcor stands behind this idea by fostering a work environment that promotes both personal and corporate philanthropy and by offering team members a paid volunteer day each year to serve a cause that matters to them. Our service mindset is grounded in the concept of servant leadership, which focuses on empowering and developing our people, building a better company, and giving back to the community.

One example of how we’ve put this mindset into practice is Cydcor’s Philanthropy Club, founded by team members to provide employees with corporate philanthropy and volunteering opportunities throughout the year. Here are just some of the ways Cydcor’s Philanthropy Club has made a meaningful impact on the community in 2019:

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March: Pizza Sale — Liberty Children’s Home

Liberty Children’s Home is a sanctuary in Belize that offers a safe, loving environment to more than 40 abused, abandoned, and neglected children — some with special needs or suffering from HIV or AIDS. At a Leaders Meeting in March, team members sold Costco pizza with all proceeds donated to Liberty to support learning, activities, medical care, facility improvements, and basic needs like electricity, clothes, and food.

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April: Crayfish Removal

Team members partnered with Mountains Restoration Trust to help preserve and protect the streams and creeks of the Malibu Creek Watershed by removing invasive, non-native crayfish. Harmful to the ecosystem of the Santa Monica Mountains, crayfish prey on native species, reduce water quality, and worsen creek bed erosion. Prior to our arrival, scientists set more than 100 traps along a stream bed in Oak Park. Cydcor volunteers removed crayfish caught in these traps and cleaned up trash along the banks. Additionally, they measured the size of caught crayfish to help record and collect data.

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May: Special Olympics Regional Spring Games

Special Olympics of Southern California provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Philanthropy Club participants volunteered at the Ventura County Special Olympics Spring Games held at Oaks Christian Highschool, featuring swimming and flag football competitions. Responsibilities included coaching, time keeping, score keeping, and cheering in the stands to show Cydcor spirit and support for local athletes.

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June: Heal the Bay

For 35 years, Heal the Bay has been mobilizing communities across Los Angeles to protect the California coastline, restore waterways, and advocate smart water policies. Cydcor volunteers gave time at a monthly Heal the Bay event to pick up trash along a Santa Monica beach. After a full morning of cleanup, the team enjoyed a group lunch in Venice, a popular beachfront community.

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July: Learn Earn Return

Learn Earn Return is a nonprofit organization focused on providing students and teachers with the necessary school supplies for a successful school year. Team members collected and donated items that might otherwise have been a heavy financial burden to students and their families, such as backpacks, composition notebooks, wide-ruled paper, glut sticks, scissors, rulers, and more.

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September: Operation Blankets of Love

The Philanthropy Club held a volunteer event for Operation Blankets of Love, a leading animal welfare and emergency relief nonprofit organization that provides food and critical supplies for more than 12,000 animals a year in shelters, in rescue groups, and with pet owners experiencing homelessness or another hardship. Cydcor volunteers collected blankets, towels, toys, and other badly needed pet supplies donated during the event.

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September: Pet Adoptions

Team members partnered with L.I.F.E. Animal Rescue, a nonprofit organization that rescues homeless or abandoned dogs and cats and places them in permanent, responsible, and loving homes. Cydcor volunteers supported L.I.F.E.’s weekly animal adoption event at a local PetSmart to help pets find their forever home.

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October: Alzheimer’s 5K

Team members joined their local Walk to End Alzheimer’s® 5K, an Alzheimer Association event held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research. Participants walking in the Westlake Village, California 5K surpassed their goal of $500 by raising $1,788. Cydcor matched donations of $500.

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November: EARTHS Thanksgiving Food Drive

Cydcor volunteers supported the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive of the Environmental Academy of Research Technology and Earth Sciences (EARTHS) Magnet School in Newbury Park, California. Individual and department donations provided holiday favorites, canned food staples, and grocery gift cards to help 100 local families in need enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.

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The contributions of Cydcor’s Philanthropy Club show the positive difference that employee-driven corporate philanthropy and volunteering can make on our schools, neighborhoods, and charities. Through community service, our team members embody Cydcor’s culture of “people helping people” by uniting behind a shared purpose, collaborating to overcome challenges and accomplish goals, and serving causes that matter.

A simple gift can speak volumes when you want to acknowledge, maintain, or strengthen a professional relationship. The gesture of gifting shows thoughtfulness, consideration, and appreciation, especially if that gift can be incorporated into a daily routine, or make the recipient’s average day exceptional.

Whether you are acknowledging the diligent dedication of your employees, or showing appreciation for a strategic work connection, gifting demonstrates personal investment in a relationship.

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Here are seven professional gift ideas that are thoughtful, practical, and memorable at the same time:

1. A bottle of wine or spirits: Wine is an excellent gift to express appreciation for an important relationship. The personality of a particular vintage, from label design, to the richness of color, to the complexity of the finish, offer authentic acknowledgment with discerning class. Likewise with spirits, such as a single-malt scotch, a traditional—but far from tired—offering. Be sensitive, however, to whether the person imbibes before selecting this type of gift.
2. A delivery of fresh fruit, flowers, or chocolate: Interruptions during the workday are a given, but who wouldn’t appreciate taking a moment to accept an aromatic or flavorful delivery? These tradition, but classic gifts are surefire winners. They cheer people up and help them power them through the rest of their day.
3. An experience: Not every gift has to come in a box. Many people prefer to do things rather than get things. Give a stressed-out coworker a certificate for a manicure, or give a busy colleague tickets to the movies so he or she can spend a fun night with a loved one. You could also give the gift of time. If you’re the boss, let your employee take an afternoon off. You could also offer your own time to that coworker who’s been begging you to train them on a new program.
4. A donation to a worthy cause: Gifting to a charity, political cause, or philanthropic organization that the person values shows you share a commitment to a cause or issue that may touch them very deeply. Give in the person's name to add a personalized touch and ensure they'll get an acknowledgement directly from the organization.
5. A travel mug: It may sound boring, but a travel mug can be a cool way to tip your hat to the hard work of a colleague, employee, or vendor. This is an especially perfect gift for anyone who spends a great deal of time on the road. They are sacrificing time that could be spent in the comfort of their home or office, or that could be spent with loved ones. If you want to go the extra mile, pun intended, spend a little more and invest in one of the very stylish, new insulated travel mugs. There are so many on the market now, that they’ve become a bit of a conversation piece.
6. A book that is personally meaningful to you: Perhaps there is a piece of literature that is your “tipping point,” a book that represents a lesson or insight that has been especially valuable to your career or personal development. Sharing the gift of a favorite book with a colleague for the purpose of inspiring their further success shows that you care, not only about them, but about their future as well.
7. A personalized item: There is an array of gifts that, while thoughtful in their own right, can also be customized to add that extra personal touch. Gifts such as pens, stationery, frames, ink stamps, and paperweights are customizable, whether it’s full name, monogram, or family crest.

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It goes without saying, but always consider a recipient’s cultural differences when brainstorming professional gift ideas; appropriate holiday gifts for coworkers show that your firm has taste, class, and manners. Something your connections will remember while laying their plans for the New Year.