Together we succeed

Reflecting on the last five weeks, there are times I underestimated how strange this lockdown experience would be, both on a professional and personal front. It has certainly taken some time to get used to conducting my typical in-person meetings over video conferencing and not getting to interact with my colleagues across Sage’s cloud native medium segment teams.

That said, it’s been a delight to get to see a different side to my colleagues as their home life continues in the backgrounds of our meetings. I’ve enjoyed getting to virtually meet their spouses and children, hearing about new recipes that they’ve been concocting in the evenings, and supporting each other in the best ways we can.

Speaking of support, in these trying times, giving back is more important than ever. Sage Foundation has always been focused on unifying Sage colleagues, partners, and customers in a program of social change philanthropy. Through the Foundation’s efforts, we help tens of thousands of people each year in our local communities through more than 1,000 charities. Of course, the current social distancing measures have impacted how we go about doing that. I’m excited at the efforts I’ve seen from the Sage Foundation to launch a program called “Charity Begins at Home” that identifies new ideas for volunteering, community engagement, and wellness for our Sage colleagues that don’t require person-to-person interactions.

I’ve also been heartened to see how many of our Sage Intacct customers and partners all around the country are moving quickly to provide aid and expand on relief efforts. For example, Meals on Wheels has set up a COVID-19 Response Fund to help protect at-risk seniors amid the virus outbreak. With physical schools closed, DonorsChoose.org has launched a “Keep Kids Learning” program to empower teachers to get materials directly to students. Along the same lines, Room to Read is matching donations at this time so that children still have access to literacy education even while their schools are closed. Meanwhile, food deliver leader Grubhub has created a Community Relief Fund so that users can round-up their order totals to “Donate the Change” and all contributions will go to charitable organizations that support drivers and restaurants impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

These are just a few examples of the incredible initiatives our customers are doing. We’d love to hear about and share additional programs set up by Sage Intacct and Sage People customers or other encouraging stories about how you are surviving the current work environment.

Warmest wishes that you and yours remain healthy and in good spirits. Keep calm. Power on.