There are a few themes you will see over and over as our philanthropy program begins to develop and mature.

Strategic Philanthropy

Thinking about giving strategically (financially, through in-kind giving and volunteers) means considering the value added to your business through philanthropic initiatives.
-Center for Corporate Citizenship
At NetSuite, rather than think about how our philanthropy can add value to our business, we focus on how our business can add value to our philanthropy. This distinction makes all the difference in the world because it allows us to look at our corporate assets and identify where we are uniquely and best qualified to create social impact.

Focus on Core Competencies

NetSuite's people are a really good at many things, primarily building software to run businesses and helping customers implement that software. When we look at our philanthropy, we want to remain focused on what we do best.

Leverage the Resources You Have

It is pretty easy to imagine all the cool things a company could do with more money, more time, or more stuff. We want to focus on the resources we have and leverage them to the greatest possible social effect.

Focus on the Social Impact

As we build our programs, we interested in the end result. For the most part, philanthropy programs create social impact through intermediaries (grantees, etc.). Often there are many layers between the giver and the impact-- many different places things can go wrong and go right. By focusing on the impact, we focus on minimizing the potential problems between us and the social impact that is our ultimate goal.