8 United Way Corporate Partners Win Spirit of North Carolina Awards For Philanthropic Commitment in the Greater Triangle
When it comes to giving back, the generosity of United Way of the Greater Triangle’s corporate partners is hard to beat. United of North Carolina certainly recognizes their ongoing commitment to building a community-wide culture of philanthropy because this year, 8 of our top 20 corporate partners were awarded Spirit of North Carolina Awards by the statewide organization for going above and beyond in fundraising to support long-term solutions within the Triangle communities.
The following awards were presented to these corporate partners during a virtual celebration hosted by United Way of North Carolina on March 3:
- Most Creative and Engaging Kickoff or Volunteer Event: Deloitte
Successful events are often the catalyst that educate, inspire, and energize campaigns. As a United Way corporate partner for more than 5 years, Deloitte knows that innovative and interesting events were key to keeping employees engaged in United Way’s mission to eradicate poverty and increase social mobility through the power of partnerships. 2020 was no exception and despite being 100% virtual during an unprecedented pandemic, Deloitte hosted a powerful virtual event for employees. Starting with United Way’s Changemaker Challenge and ending with a panel discussion featuring leaders from local nonprofits, Deloitte employees got the opportunity to walk a spiritual mile in the shoes of their most vulnerable neighbors.
- Building Campaign Momentum with Engaged Leadership and Employees: First Citizens Bank
It takes more than just one person to build the momentum that campaigns need to hit their fundraising goals. While the CEO leadership influences and sets the pace for employees, it’s also the campaign coordinators, committees, and other teams that propel the campaign to success by implementing strategies and tools. From their annual employee prize raffle to hosting supply drives, First Citizens Bank is known for bringing levity to fundraising and turning the annual campaign into an opportunity to engage employees internally as well as in the community. It’s thanks to those efforts, along with their dedicated leadership and campaign teams’ work year-round, that First Citizens Bank continues to exceed its goals for fundraising and supporting local partner agencies year after year.
- Investment in Long-term Sustainable Impact: Coastal Credit Union
Creating sustainable impact is essential to systemic and long-term change. Coastal Credit Union knows this better than most. As the first investor in United Way’s 10 to Watch initiative, Coastal showed bold regional leadership that helped create what has become a national model for uplifting nonprofit organizations and their leaders.
But Coastal’s generosity doesn’t begin and end with systemic change. As one of the first corporate donors to United Way’s Rapid Response Fund in March 2020, the company showed its commitment to supporting the community when times get tough. It’s thanks to Coastal and other supporters of this emergency fund that United Way ultimately raised and distributed more than $1.4M to 104 nonprofit organizations across the Triangle in just several months.
- Extraordinary and Courageous Community Response Amid COVID-19: Truist and Capitol Broadcasting Company
In the middle of a pandemic, these two corporate partners stood out for their response to community and resiliency during a time of immense need. United Way launched the Rapid Response Fund in March 2020 in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Truist wasn’t afraid to jump in, providing the largest donation to date to support the fund’s efforts to provide residents with emergency food, hygiene, childcare, and housing assistance. Capitol Broadcasting Company took the message one step further by providing their WRAL platform and prime time audience for a virtual telethon. It’s thanks in large part to these two partners that United Way has since raised and distributed more than $1.4M to 104 nonprofit organizations across the Triangle.
- Campaign/Engagement Growth: Caterpillar
It takes incredible commitment and an unending belief in the power of community for large corporate partners to continue growing the results of their fundraising campaigns year over year. That’s especially true during a pandemic when so many companies and employees are facing challenges that have never been experienced before. But in 2020, when it would be easy for companies to step back from fundraising, Caterpillar leaned in and raised the total of their corporate gift, ultimately leading to an 11% increase in their contribution to support United Way’s mission.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Trailblazer: EY and Duke Energy
Across the country and in the Triangle, America is engaged in conversations around racial equity and social justice. As a nation, the time is now to commit ourselves to achieving a deeper understanding of the role that race and systemic racism play in society, as well as the devastating and far-reaching implications that have resulted. Thanks to Duke Energy’s forward-thinking and sponsorship, United Way donors and other Triangle residents recently took a self-guided journey of learning and self-discovery to develop more effective social justice habits around issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership through the organization’s Racial Equity 21-Day Challenge.
Internally, EY established the EY Ripples, a new corporate social responsibility initiative to focus on areas of anti-racism, bridging the digital divide, sustainability, and mentorship. Through this new initiative, the local EY office is focusing on anti-racism and hosting regular monthly staff Lunch and Learn events for their entire team that invite partners like United Way of the Greater Triangle to present and lead a discussion that threads the anti-racism focus within their work.Congratulations to the 2020 Spirit of North Carolina award winners! During what was an unprecedented year, you took a stand to support your neighbors in need. We won’t soon forget it.
