Many companies use banners, advertisements and commemorative company swag to mark a corporate milestone. When Risk Placement Services (RPS) decided to celebrate 25 years of being in business, the company decided to do something a bit different.
RPS marked the occasion by honoring its employees by contributing to the causes they valued and supported. As RPS President Joel Cavaness said in an email announcement, “Community involvement, giving and volunteerism are core to our culture, so I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate our anniversary.”
On May 2, the giving began. Over the next few weeks, the anniversary program awarded $1,000 micro grants to 25 individual charities. The recipients had been chosen at random from a list of more than 300 organizations nominated by employees. Each week, employees received a video of their colleagues revealing the latest group of recipients.
In the video announcing the Wounded Warrior Foundation as a micro-grant recipient, veteran Ash Thomas, the manager at RPS’ Scottsdale, Arizona branch, said, “As a veteran, charities that are close to my heart are those that support veterans who have given so much for our country.”
The company contributed to several, well-known, national organizations, such as the American Cancer Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Nature Conservancy. Many smaller local not-for-profits, such as a sober shelter in Anchorage, Alaska (Anchorage Rescue Mission) and the Berkshire Food Project in western Massachusetts, received micro grants. Organizations aimed at helping children were well represented in the program. They included Gold Star Children, Camp One Step (programs for children with cancer) and the Evans Scholars Foundation.
The 25 Days of Giving campaign allowed RPS to turn company-wide giving into a personal experience. The memory of this program will likely last longer than it does for most corporate anniversary slogans.
To view the charity announcement videos, visit www.rpsins.com/meet-us/social-impact/
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