Although “Corporate Philanthropy” is normally associated with massive global brands, that’s not stopping this local Atlanta Animation and Graphic Recording studio from giving back to the community.
Since 2018, The Sketch Effect’s “Drawing Good” program has donated tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of service, and dozens of projects to Atlanta-area non-profits.
Photos – The Sketch Effect ©
“A few years ago, we dreamed up what ‘Drawing Good’ could be, selected three local non-profits we felt passionate about, and have been supporting them ever since,” says Founder & CEO William Warren.
The non-profits are Love Beyond Walls, which advocates and supports Atlanta’s homeless population, The Good Samaritan Health Center, which provides holistic healthcare to the city’s neediest, and Refuge Coffee Company, which offers mentorship and job training to the refugee population in Clarkson, Georgia (and also serves great coffee).
The Sketch Effect
The “Drawing Good” program is simple, consisting of three components.
The first is “give,” which quite simply is a cash donation from annual profits to each of the three organizations.
“Charitable giving is something my family and I do on a personal level, so it had to be part of my business as well,” said Warren. “We like to make a big deal of it with our team. Everyone gets excited that we can just write these big checks and give away money. It’s an amazing privilege.”
The second component is “serve,” which sends the entire Sketch Effect team out of the office for a day of community service with each non-profit partner. The team has pulled crops on the Good Samaritan urban farm, made meals for the homeless with Love Beyond Walls, and served a “Friendsgiving” lunch to the refugee population in Clarkston with Refuge Coffee Company.
“I love the service days because we get to step out of our normal day-to-day, spend time with these amazing people, meet a real need, and have a ton of fun,” says Sketch Effect COO Meg Harrison. “Plus, it’s great for our team culture.”
The final component is “draw,” in which The Sketch Effect donates one pro-bono project, per year, to each partner. The work is treated as real client work (with the exception that the final invoice is for zero dollars).
“This is our greatest way to magnify the impact these amazing organizations are having,” says Warren. “We’ll do what we do best, which is making animated videos, illustrating, or sketching, to help them do what they do best.”
These donated projects have been used for capital campaigns, other fundraising, education, events, marketing, social media, and other purposes all of which further the mission of each of these organizations.
“We are for-profit, but we are also FOR Atlanta,” says Warren. “And ‘Drawing Good’ is how we show that.”
