The year 2020 posed unique challenges and presented new hurdles to many, so we decided to set up a “charity taskforce” in order to better provide ongoing support to charities and projects we care about. This dedicated team will champion charities and community projects as well as regularly reviewing what initiatives we’re supporting. Currently, we’re providing toys to Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital.
In early 2022, BrightLocal held a fundraiser for Ukraine—a virtual event gathering the brightest minds in local SEO together for a one-day conference.
Through our fundraising efforts, and thanks to the generosity of the local SEO community, our families and friends, we raised over $100k to buy medical supplies and aid for the people of Ukraine… and then we drove there to deliver it ourselves!
Watch our mini-documentary ‘From UK to Ukraine’ to find out more.
In 2019 we began working with C-Level to balance our carbon footprint. The beneficiary of this is Plan Vivo, which believes “that action should be taken to aid communities on the forefront of the climate crisis.” With C-Levels and Plan Vivo’s fantastic initiative, we’re able to protect and restore indigenous forests to compensate for our carbon footprint. For full transparency, we’re pleased to share with you our impact report.
The effects of the climate crisis have been felt worldwide, but the Philippines is among the countries most affected by global warming. To help combat these challenges — including rising tides, typhoons, and plastic pollution — BrightLocal’s Philippines team has participated in tree planting activities, as well as helping with creek cleans and providing supplies to fellow volunteers.
FareShare is a UK charity that fights hunger and food waste by redistributing food industry surplus that would otherwise be wasted to those who need it most. FareShare Sussex relies on donations: “Every penny donated to FareShare Sussex goes directly to helping us get food out to vulnerable people. For example, a £10 donation will enable us to provide enough food to make 40 nutritious meals for hungry people across Sussex.”
A Ukraine-based charity, Lifelovers helps to combat loneliness and boredom among the elderly. The Lifelovers project provides hot lunches, medicine, and activities like Argentine tango and cinema outings to elderly people to ensure they are able to find joy and continue to be “an active part of the modern world”, no matter their age.
Make Change Count is a Brighton-based campaign supported by local businesses, such as BrightLocal, with the aim of helping rough sleepers get the support they need, as well as helping to prevent homelessness.
A big part of our community support in the Philippines involves working with schools to create better environments for their pupils. So far we have supported three schools by donating materials and repairing classrooms, building fences to keep the school safe, and providing resources such as printers to help supply reading materials.
To help disadvantaged young people reach their full potential, we provide local scholarships to promising students in need of some support. Currently, we are supporting three students to achieve degrees in nursing, political science, and veterinary science. With these scholarships we hope to empower young people to achieve their dreams and then, when they’re in a position to do so, to pay it forward and support their community.
In Lewes, UK, the town where BrightLocal began, we supported the local food bank by buying its sponsorship at a grassroots football tournament. This meant we were able to give promotional opportunities to the food bank so it could distribute information and gather donations before, during, and after the event. Through the sponsorship, we were also able to put funds into the local youth soccer club that organizes and runs football training and matches for over 250 children.
Founded by Kirsty Hulse, ROAR! Together is an online accelerator course designed to supercharge the success of women in SEO through group coaching, webinars, guided meditations, and a community aspect. In 2020, SEO Aleyda Solis ran a giveaway, providing scholarships to women in SEO. We were able to sponsor six scholarships, with a total of 51 women being awarded free training courses to help level the gender playing field in SEO.
To support and encourage our set of beliefs, we introduced the Big Heart Awards in April, 2020. Each month, UK and Ukraine team members nominate their colleagues for instances where they’ve demonstrated a belief, from openness to problem-solving, respectfulness to enthusiasm, enjoying work to generosity, and more.
At the end of each month, we have two winners, who each get to pick a charity of their choice to donate to. These charities are all close to the hearts of our team, so please take a moment to have a look at the organizations we’ve supported so far and give a little something if you’re able.
