Associate-Centered CSR: Communities in Schools Charleston

At Blackbaud, we believe in the power of individuals to be agents of social good. When people participate in their communities through volunteering, philanthropy, and civic engagement, good things happen. One of the most impactful ways of serving one’s community is through nonprofit board or committee work. Volunteering at this level provides an opportunity for individuals to lend their experience, expertise, and other personal or professional skills to an organization looking to make this world a better place. To help encourage this type of service volunteerism, we actively match colleagues’ skills, interests, and passions with organizations that could greatly benefit from their service.

Amy Chase, one of Blackbaud’s VPs of professional services, recently joined the board of Communities in Schools Charleston (CIS) and is serving in the role of chair for its Development Committee. Amy’s work at Blackbaud taps into her various career experiences—working at nonprofit organizations, consulting, volunteering and project managing—as she manages multiple teams of business analysts, project managers, developers, architects and consultants who help create solutions that fuel nonprofit missions.

Amy wanted to give back to an organization where she could fuse her professional experiences and skills together with her service to an organization assisting children and education. “Serving on the board of CIS has given me an opportunity to make an immediate impact by supporting its development efforts in private-, corporate-, foundation- and event-based giving while allowing me to also build relationships with other board members and staff that are equally committed and passionate about programs for improving school dropout rates in Charleston,” said Amy.

“The hardest positions to fill on a nonprofit board are the development committee positions, says Jane Riley-Gambrell, former executive director, Communities in Schools Charleston. “Executive and development directors often have to get creative to attract talent to this portion of the team so  when someone like Amy comes along, it is a nonprofit’s dream. In her short time on our board, she has hit the ground running, accepting the development chair role, providing our development director with much needed support and knowledge as well as helped the board learn more about necessary steps for long-term success within the organizations development department. We are beyond thrilled to have her talent and skills on our team.”

Established in 1989 to implement dropout prevention programs, the mission of Communities in Schools is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Now celebrating its 28th year, Communities in Schools Charleston has grown to serve nearly 10,000 students in 19 Charleston and Berkeley County Schools, using an evidenced-based comprehensive approach to bring community services to students, their families, and schools.