At United Way Quad Cities, we lead a community-wide movement to improve access to education, income and health. With partnerships that span corporate, philanthropic, civic and nonprofit sectors, as well as individuals, we work together to achieve strategic goals for the Quad Cities.
An important part of this strategy involves partnering with corporations who are committed to being strong stewards of the communities where their employees live and work. Our corporate partners, like John Deere, Deloitte, Arconic, MidAmerican Energy, Group O, BITCO Insurance, Russell, Northwest Bank & Trust, Estes Construction and Liberty Packaging, along with many others, are deeply invested in our mission because their values and social impact goals align with our belief that education, economic mobility and health are the building blocks for a strong, prosperous community.
We’re seeing more Quad Cities businesses proudly and publicly share examples of the active role they and their employees are taking to improve lives and our community conditions. Last month, in collaboration with the Quad Cities Chamber, Visit Quad Cities, Q2030 and the Regional Development Authority, we launched the QC Dividend Program to recognize corporate charitable giving, social impact investing and community engagement.
The QC Dividend Program encourages and empowers companies of all sizes to donate 1% of their staff time, product and profit to any local charity of their choosing. We provide a simple, flexible and scalable model to integrate generosity into the DNA of all companies. Since April, the number of QC Dividend Program members has expanded to a dozen companies and continues to grow.
And generosity transcends dollars. Volunteering can make a big impact. In fact, the value of volunteer time has never been higher. When your employees give their time and talent with hands-on projects in service to others, a single hour equates to $31.80 of economic impact, according to the Independent Sector and Do Good Institute.
And let’s not forget, corporate community engagement or “CSR” also has a high ROI on employee retention and satisfaction. According to an employee engagement survey by Cone Communications, 74% of employees feel their job is more fulfilling when they’re provided opportunities to make a positive impact on social issues.
We are proud that our list of year-round, Quad Cities corporate partners is growing. This past year we worked with over 200 industry leaders who are leveraging their influence and resources to scale solutions that will ensure more students are graduating high school prepared to succeed in college or career, more families have the skills to be employed in good paying jobs, and more neighbors are living happy, healthy, productive lives. They are choosing to partner with United Way as a way to create scalable community impact and achieve business continuity, productivity and profitability goals.
We would be honored to help your company achieve its social impact goals. Find out more about our partnerships and the QC Dividend Program at UnitedWayQC.org/companies. •
Rene Gellerman, president and CEO of United Way Quad Cities, can be reached at (563) 344-0313 or rgellerman@unitedwayqc.org.
