While December is traditionally a month of giving, many organizations—and the people that work within them—will be feeling the pressure to cut back on spending due to predictions of a global economic recession, rising energy bills in Europe, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

A YouGov study monitoring attitudes to the cost of living crisis across Western Europe found that no fewer than 80% of people in each country surveyed have either made cuts or believe they will have to do so. In Italy, it’s as high as 93%. In the US, 28% of Americans are relying on their savings more than usual to survive.

Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center estimates that the global poverty rate, which had been in steady decline this century, is likely to have increased to 10.4% instead of sinking to a new low of 8.7%, as previously expected.

It’s in times like these when charities are a particularly vital resource, yet this is often when philanthropic budgets are slashed. Charities need help now more than ever as they face a storm of rising costs and rising demand.

That’s why Samsara for Good—a global group of Samsara employees committed to giving back—is planning to strengthen its charitable initiatives in recognition of the challenges that many charities currently face.

Education, homelessness, crisis, and sustainability: How we helped in 2022 

Our priority in 2022 was to create a global Samsara for Good team made up of colleagues with different skill sets and backgrounds from a variety of Samsara locations, while bringing structure to our mission. 

Today, members of Samsara for Good range from Legal to Sales, from Atlanta to Amsterdam! We then set four focus areas to deliver the most impact: education, homelessness, sustainability, and the war in Ukraine.

Since leading Samsara for Good back in March this year, we have supported several worthy charities, including:

• Partnered with Airbnb to raise money for Ukrainians. Airbnb matched Samsara employees’ monetary donations by 100%, resulting in $51,000 USD raised—equal to 1,648 nights of safe refuge.

• Matched employee donations totaling $85,000 since January, which enabled each Samsarian donation made to their chosen charity to be doubled.

• Repurposed 50 retired Mac laptops for Afghans Building Alliances for Humanitarian Development (ABAHD) which they’ll use to enable education, language skills, and job applications.

• Donated 10 retired Mac laptops to the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta to be used for resumes and job applications, as well as 19 Samsara dash cams and 19 vehicle gateways to ensure the safe transportation of the kids from school to the clubs.

• Commenced a TutorMate program with Innovations for Learning whereby our employees read with disadvantaged children once a week, with 10 employees assigned to a local school in the UK and 20 in the US.

• Donated additional Samsara devices to non-profits across our geographies, including FareShare, a charity supported by Marchus Rashford that tackles hunger and food waste. Samsara dash cams, vehicle gateways, and temperature sensors are being implemented in FareShare vehicles to support them in creating efficiencies and improving safety as they transport food.

• Donated funds to Hogar y Futuro in Mexico City to purchase playground equipment for homeless children and their families.

“[Samsara’s] laptops will be donated to the Afghan refugee families that have been resettled in the Central Valley in the Sacramento area. A lot of the families will utilize them for day-to-day activities as well as filling out their asylum applications. It will also allow them to seek better jobs and better communities in the long term. They are going to make a huge impact on these families. We can’t wait to distribute these and we are very grateful.” Maryam Mojadidi, Afghans Building Alliances for Humanitarian Development 

“We’ve had 10 wonderful Samsara volunteers helping struggling readers at a school in Bethnal Green [London] and since October have completed over 20 hours of reading. Thank you Samsara for all your dedication and support.” Anna Ansted, Corporate Partnerships Manager, TutorMate 

It’s been absolutely fantastic to partner with all of these charities that are doing so much good. I’ve had the privilege to speak to some incredible people who are quite literally risking their lives to help others. They’ve inspired me and the team to work harder to make Samsara for Good a long-term and increasingly impactful venture. 

Our Q4 focus for 2022: Homelessness in our communities

This focus was especially close to our hearts. As a Workplace Manager, I, like my colleagues, am more and more aware of the homelessness that surrounds our offices in the cities in which we operate. As we went into winter, we believed that we must give back to the homeless community that’s right on our doorstep.

Partnering with 9x non-profit organizations globally, we donated over $15,000 through Samsarians donating, Samsara for Good donations, and match funding. In each main office, we also collected items that the organizations were in need of such as warm clothing, gifts for children, and health products.

Samsara: Where we value winning—and giving—as a team 

What attracted me to working at Samsara was the culture and the people. Part of this was the company's commitment to giving back and making a difference. Our mission, and how we help clients, is to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of the operations that power our global economy. We genuinely care about supporting clients to make the world a better place and we do it together, as one big team. 

Leading the Samsara for Good initiative with my colleagues has shown me how much our employees want to give back—not only to customers but to the wider world. In all of the activities we do, whether it's engineering a fleet management product or running an office holiday market, we tend to ask ourselves, “How can we can pay it forward?”

Working with charities and hearing some of their stories has sometimes been emotionally overwhelming but it’s so rewarding to feel that we are part of something bigger. The team has felt such a sense of achievement and it’s a wonderful thing to be able to meaningfully contribute to the communities in which we live and work.

I’m excited to see what Samsara for Good can achieve next year as we recruit more leaders and members. To find out more please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can also check our careers page to view open roles and learn more about life at Samsara.