&Barr CSO 2023 Community Impact Report

By: Erin Gutknecht, VP – Public Relations

2023 was our first full year since &Barr launched our Corporate Social Opportunity (CSO) program, and we’re proud to reflect on all we accomplished together. We’ve compiled our efforts into a 2023 Community Impact Report, which we’re excited to share as we kick off a new year!

You’ll find in our 2023 Community Impact Report totals of our time, talent, and treasure, including hours donated through volunteer work, hours invested in the future of our industry, hours served on nonprofit boards of directors and committees, and financial donations to nonprofits.

Our hope is that our efforts will inspire other companies to join us as we give back in gratitude for all we’ve been given through our agency’s success. If your company is considering a CSO program, we’re happy to help. A few tips we offer from our program are provided below.

• Each quarter &Barr Team Members receive eight hours of Volunteer Time Off (VTO).
• We ask that our Team Members use half of the time to volunteer with nonprofits in our CSO program, and the other half they may choose volunteer work that aligns with their own personal passions.
• It can be hard to choose what to support because there are so many worthwhile causes, but an organization can’t say yes to everything. Consider your mission, values, and vision, as well as any legacy support, and it can become clear which causes and nonprofits naturally align with your organization. For &Barr, we designed three pillars — Past, Present, and Future — then reviewed our legacy support and clearly selected our six nonprofit recipients. With a goal of quality over quantity, fewer focus areas allow opportunities to make a greater impact.

For more information on how &Barr structured our CSO program,  read our blog announcing its launch.