Laura Biddle-Bruckman
According to a February 2008 report by ABC News, “corporate-sponsored volunteering has become a ‘benefit’ of sorts. Increasingly, companies are offering time off for volunteer projects, volunteer work on company time, or company-organized efforts.” This isn’t news for ASCnet member agency Kapnick Insurance Group, headquartered in Adrian, Mich. Part of a prestigious group of insurance agencies honored by Rough Notes magazine as an “Agency of the Month,” Kapnick Insurance Group has continued its progressive business approaches and deepened its core commitment to volunteerism and community involvement.
According to CFO/COO Mike Kapnick, the 62-year-old, third-generation agency attempts to show its gratitude to the community in a variety of ways. Adrian, the county seat of Lenawee County, has just more than 20,000 citizens and is home to Adrian College and Sienna Heights University. The agency supports both the college and university as a way to give back. According to Kapnick, it’s a way of “supporting the community that has been so good to us.”
Among the list of community organizations strongly supported by Kapnick Insurance Group are the Boys & Girls Club, Hospice of Lenawee, Bixby Medical Center and The United Way. To encourage local cultural and arts endeavors, the agency actively supports The Adrian Symphony Orchestra and the historic Croswell Opera House. In addition, top officers in the company serve on civic boards and act as trustees for various local organizations.
However, there was a desire to do more. To involve more people. To make their efforts more personal. To engage the resources of their 100-plus employees and create a groundswell of support.
Giving Big
Enter Human Resources Assistant Marne Davies. While watching last year’s primetime series, “Oprah’s Big Give,” Marne began to formulate an idea. Maybe there was a way to create a Kapnick version of the show. In the series, a diverse, determined and competitive group of 10 people was challenged to develop engaging, creative and extraordinary ideas to change the lives of complete strangers. To turn dreams into reality, participants criss-crossed the United States.
Rather than traveling across the country, Kapnick Insurance Group would remain close to home and make a difference in its own community. In the agency’s version of “The Big Give,” employees were divided into four groups to choose organizations with which to partner. Each group was reminded to choose organizations that targeted real community needs and worked toward a vision, mission and goal that resonated with the members of each group.
The guidelines were relatively simple. 1. Choose a leader. 2. Collectively target a local charity and ascertain how to make an appreciable difference. 3. Plan how to approach the charity and determine what course of action would be taken. 4. Individually present the plan to the officers at Kapnick Insurance Group. The executives would match the donations raised up to fifty cents per dollar, depending on the creativity and uniqueness of the ideas presented.
The Right and Responsibility to Choose
The groups were given a time frame of three one-hour meetings, during work hours, to choose their charities and formulate their plans. Many worthy causes were discussed, but four were ultimately selected.
Imaginative ways were conceived to raise money, as the tried and true (but overused) idea of holding yet another bake sale was thrown out the window. One such initiative was that employees “paid for” the right to wear jeans on Fridays. The money from this type of activity was divided equally between the four groups.
One group chose to work alongside a local food bank. Not only did employees raise money to support the food bank, but employees also donated personal time to help stock shelves.
At a local senior citizens center, the director was given money for a fund to help residents whose needs could not be met with funds from the center. One purchase was a Wii game system along with the “Wii Fit” add-on. Wii Fit is a combination of fitness and fun, designed for all ages, including older citizens. By playing Wii Fit a little every day, senior residents are able to work toward personal goals of better health and fitness. Employees also delivered meals through the “Meals on Wheels” program.
In a local Habitat for Humanity home, members of the group adopted a room within the house and helped ready the room for its new residents. The company also donated a year’s worth of homeowner’s insurance to the new homeowner.
Finally, working with a community liaison, employees purchased socks and underwear for some of Adrian’s most vulnerable residents: its homeless children. Along with socks and underwear, employees purchased gift cards for food so the children and their families could have a hot meal.
As the challenge unfolded, what Jim Kapnick, president, along with the rest of the leadership team saw was unbridled passion, intense commitment, full engagement and excitement. Three of the four groups were matched at the promised fifty cents on the dollar. “One group was actually awarded a dollar-for-dollar match because their presentation was over the top,” chuckled Mike.
Pride Is Proof
What did this endeavor accomplish? According to Mike Kapnick, “Passion. Ownership. Excitement. Pride.” Mike described friendly and healthy competitiveness present in the office while the initiative was in full force.
Another unplanned, yet profound and humbling, corollary was the cross-pollination. Team members, while continuing intense involvement on their own teams, also used their individual time and talents to help other teams. And what did he think the secret was for the wholehearted devotion?
According to Mike, employees selected their own charities because of the expectancy that it would intensify their commitment. Working together toward positive goals builds camaraderie and an “all for one” spirit among employees. It’s not a stretch to imagine cohesion in the workplace is closely tied to retention.
Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest architects of the twentieth century, created every structure with the belief that beautifully designed buildings make a difference in our lives. He also offered this blueprint for success: “dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” Kapnick’s Big Give (à la Oprah and Marne Davies) was an illustration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s assertion.
Corporate giving is like winning the trifecta. People in the community receive help. Employees are given a chance to fuel their passion for giving. And lastly, the company that supports good corporate citizenship builds immeasurable good will. And beautifully designed giving makes a difference in all of our lives.
Laura Biddle-Bruckman is an Indiana-based freelance writer with extensive national insurance publication and association experience.