BNI Foundation

The BNI Foundation

The mission of the BNI Foundation is to create a conduit between Business and Education to meet children's educational needs.

The two major programs of the BNI Foundation include the Business Voices™ Initiative and our Givers Gain™ Grant Program. Since its inception in 1998, the BNI Foundation has raised over $3 million for charities globally. 

 

Business Voices™

The BNI Foundation has a long, proud legacy of helping out where schools have needed extra funding for projects not provided for by school districts or state funding. A pivotal factor of our philanthropic work was the creation of the Business Voices™ initiative to provide even more to the schools which have the greatest needs. 

Our initiative pairs BNI members and concerned, engaged and motivated corporations, service clubs and community groups with schools and educational organizations to help them find the resources they need to have maximum impact on the kids of our communities.

BNI is Ground Zero for this initiative, which is rapidly expanding to include many collaborative partners. Within the Business Voices movement, we agree that BNI represents our rally cry: Bureaucracy Not Involved!

Support looks different depending on what the schools or educational organizations identify as their greatest challenges. In some communities, poverty is one of the top challenges. Kids need food to eat or socks and underwear to wear! In other communities, it may be bullying, eating disorders, or alcohol use. That is why we recommend listening to what the schools, and even the students, identify as their unique challenges. Wherever there are young people, there are ways they will benefit from having us in their stories.

We call this work cause networking — and who better to lead the way with cause networking than the world’s largest, most successful networking organization?

Listen to BNI Podcast Episode #625 to learn more about cause networking! 

 

How To Get Involved

Contact the BNI Regional Office to learn how you and your BNI Chapter can get involved! In BNI Oregon & SW Washington, we support our local community through completing projects and volunteering.

Click here to find additional resources.

 

Current Projects

2019-2020 Business Clothing Drive

BNI Oregon & SW Washington is collecting gently used business clothing for students who can not afford to purchase professional work attire in Oregon! All donations will be donated to Young Entrepreneurs Business Week (YEBW)

BNI Members, please bring your gently used business clothing to your BNI Leadership Mindshare in December and/or January! To find out event details for your upcoming Leadership Team Mindshare, go to the BNI Events Calendar

Or, you can drop off your gently used business clothing at our drop-off site in Beaverton, Oregon: 

You can drop off your clothing during regular business hours. Please note, the store is closed on Holidays. 

The UPS Store

8630 SW Scholls Ferry Road

Beaverton, Oregon 97008

Click here for complete hours and directions! 

What type of clothing qualifies?

Please consider bringing the following gently used items: 

- Professional Work Pants

- Blouses

- Woman's Flats or Heels

- Men's Suede or Dress Shoes

- Blazer

- Pencil Skirts

- Ties

- Button-Up Shirts

- Pantsuits 

- Professional Romper 

Please consider donating items that do not fall under this list to another local charity! Here are some local charities...

- Simple & Just

- Goodwill 

Questions? 

Contact Mary Burleson, Regional Communications Coordinator, at [email protected] or at 503-621-3284. 

 

Previous Projects

Local Chapter Gives Back

The BNI Umpqua Valley Chapter located in Roseburg, Oregon collected socks for their local DHS. They are the first chapter in the area and they are committed to helping the community! 

Toy Drive

Together, BNI Members and their families collected household items, gift cards and toys for a family that lost their house and the majority of their possessions in the 2018 Camp Fire. 

Charity Golf Tournament

Together, BNI Members and their families raised over $1000 for Randall's Children's Hospital during the third annual BNI Charity Golf Event. 

Volunteering at Young Entrepreneurs Business Week 

BNI Members donated over 100+ volunteer hours at the YEBW Summer Camps. They helped advise students, provide coaching, conduct mock interviews, and assist at a formal etiquette dinner. 

We want to highlight the following business professionals who went above and beyond to serve the students: 

- Troy Ruhlymr, Vanguard Employment Services 

- Paul Kuthe, Tributary Coaching 

- Robin Schuckmann, BNI Oregon & SW Washington 

International Networking Week 

100+ Local Business owners attended the BNI Portland Networking Mixer where 100% of the proceeds were donated to Young Entrepreneurs Business Week75+ Local business owners attended the BNI Vancouver Networking Social where 100% of the proceeds were donated to Bridge the Gap

Clothing Drive 

BNI Members collected gently used business clothing for students who could not afford to purchase professional work attire in Oregon! All donations were donated to Young Entrepreneurs Business Week (YEBW)! Over 20+ bins of clothing were collected! 

 

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