How New Relic celebrated 21 Days of Goodness this year

At New Relic, we recently wrapped up our second annual 21 Days of Goodness, an initiative created based on a desire for more connection—to each other, to our communities, and to New Relic— through collective goodness. Beyond our commitment to more equitable access to technology through our Social Impact programs, we make it a priority to empower our employees to give back in ways that spark purpose for them. And that’s at the heart of 21 Days of Goodness. 

Broken up into three weekly themes (giving, finding your purpose, and volunteering), Relics came together throughout the campaign in the spirit of connecting outside of their normal day-to-day meetings. 

Giving Tuesday

We started with a week centered around Giving Tuesday, by giving all Relics a surprise gift of between $25 and $500 to donate to a cause they care about. All week, employees were not only sharing where they gave their funds, but sharing their “why”—and challenging each other to share theirs too. Relics were encouraged to support organizations they loved, but we also curated giving opportunities based on recommendations from our employee resource groups as well as opportunities that highlighted our Impact Fund grantees as a way to deepen our support of these incredible organizations. Over the course of the campaign, I am proud to say that employees donated more than $138,000 to causes around the world.

Finding purpose

Week two built on that spirit of giving by challenging employees to think about how these annual campaigns are a small part of giving and volunteering with intention. Through a series of exercises and activities, we empowered Relics to understand how, through personal reflection, leveraging resources and some thoughtful planning, they could take a proactive approach and have a long term impact on causes that align to their purpose.

Volunteering

The campaign culminated with our annual Day of Service, where our employees across the globe volunteered in their communities or virtually, to connect with others and give back in a way that is meaningful to them. We created more than 100 global opportunities to volunteer virtually, in person, or at home, and employees were also encouraged to find their own ways to volunteer. 

We saw Relics put their skills to good use by setting up IT help desks in senior centers and by providing advice to students looking to have careers in technology. Employees gathered to clean up their communities, write encouraging notes to young people and elders, and knit items for local organizations. They shopped for groceries and made meals, planted gardens, beautified schools, and showcased their pets to isolated seniors.

We loved seeing the ways Day of Service brought Relics together. Remote employees around the world took the opportunity to get together with other Relics living in their communities, putting together their own micro-events in places like Reno, Madrid, Baltimore, and Brisbane. People in different cities with shared passions created their own virtual projects and made time to connect and volunteer together from afar. New employees jumped right in a few days after joining New Relic and made appointments to donate blood. It was a truly collective wave of goodness, resulting in more than 3,940 volunteer hours from employees in 21 countries around the world.

As a remote-first workforce, opportunities like 21 Days of Goodness drive meaningful human connection and bring people together in new ways that help us live our values. I hope that Relics wrapped up their participation feeling a little more connected to one another, to their communities near and far, and to New Relic.