The Companies That Care Community of Caring Exchange is a membership forum created to bring like-minded companies, not-for-profits, and government groups together to share ideas, discover resources and develop collaborative programs benefiting individuals and communities alike.

The purpose of the Exchange is two-fold:

• To educate organizations about how to be a Company That Cares, share best practices, and weave the 10 Characteristics into the organization's fabric and culture.
• To facilitate business/community/government collaborations for the purpose of strengthening our communities and society. Exchange members gain direct access to their choice of business, community, and government collaborations to strengthen communities and society in ways that cannot be done as effectively alone.

Join the Community of Caring

Education Opportunities
Companies That Care Exchange will offer the following educational benefits:

• Organization to organization mentoring
• Stepping Stones Seminar Series
• Semi-annual teleconferences with nationally recognized experts
• A listserv for members to consult and collaborate with each other
• Tools and programs to develop each of the 10 Characteristics
• First Monday lunch and learns

The Exchange Calendar lists all the upcoming events.

Tell us what topics you'd like the Exchange to address. Send an email to exchange@companies-that-care.org.

Opportunities for Collaboration
The Companies That Care Exchange will facilitate business/community/government collaborations by communicating opportunities to members. Participation in the collaborative activities is always optional.

Companies That Care Exchange will facilitate collaborations by:

• Communicating community needs to Exchange members via a listserv Serving as an information conduit between local and national government officials and Exchange members keeping Exchange members informed about legislative issues affecting businesses and providing opportunities for collaborative advocacy
• Maintaining a dialogue with local and national community organizations to identify opportunities for support (i.e. hands-on volunteers, board participation, financial funding, equipment, etc.) and communicating opportunities via listserv
• Sharing Exchange members' requests via listserv for assistance with specific community or government initiatives
• Developing and implementing Exchange-driven annual initiatives focused on specific community needs. (During the Exchange's annual strategic planning process, the Exchange Steering Committee will develop plans for annual initiatives.)

Who Should Join the Exchange?
All employers are welcome and encouraged to participate in the Exchange. A diversity of employers increases the value of the Exchange to its members because of the opportunities to share experiences and learn from each other. Exchange members include employers that are:

• Publicly held or privately owned
• For-profit or not-for-profit
• Small, large or medium-sized
• Located anywhere in the world
• Corporations and organizations that aren't technically known as "companies" such as academic institutions, service firms, health care delivery systems, unions and government entities

Participants from Member Organizations
Our unique membership embraces multiple, diverse people within each organization who, through their job responsibilities, contribute to the organization's "caring platform" by providing services that support the goals of enabling individuals and communities to thrive.

People with the following job responsibilities benefit from participating in the Exchange:

• Human Resources
• Community Relations
• Government Relations
• Investor Relations
• Organizational Development
• Corporate Foundation
• Work/Life
• Diversity
• Corporate Communication

In some organizations, the job responsibilities listed above may be combined and handled by a single person. In other organizations, multiple people may be responsible for each of the job functions. Regardless of your organization's size or structure, the Exchange will be beneficial to everyone who participates.

Exchange Steering Committee
The Exchange is led by the Exchange Steering Committee that is made up of a cross-section of volunteer Exchange members who serve for a two-year term. The primary responsibilities of the Exchange Steering Committee are to:

• Set the overall strategy for Exchange initiatives including education and community initiatives
• Develop the Calendar for Exchange activities
• Integrate the activities of local Exchanges with national goals and initiatives

If you would like to serve on the Exchange Steering Committee, please contact marcikoblenz@companies-that-care.org.