Company Matches

Sundt Construction, Tempe, Ariz., takes a different approach, with an in-house foundation funded through employee payroll contributions, which are matched by the company. Since its start in 1999, the foundation has raised more than $5.5 million for community organizations in Arizona, California and Texas, states where Sundt has offices. The minimum contribution is $2 per paycheck, and employee members pay a $25 annual participation fee. Currently, 555 of the company's 1,354 employees participate in the program. Sundt pays for administrative costs, but to keep overhead low, no staff are dedicated just for the foundation.

"We saw a reduced number of members when employment dipped due to reductions in our work, but contributions have remained consistent," says Charles Boyd, the Sundt Foundation executive director who manages the program in addition to his other duties.

Boyd credits the foundation's consistency to its support for causes that are meaningful to employees. One such cause is the Muscular Dystrophy Association. "[Project manager] Mike Gaines was a member of the Sundt family for two decades. People are passionate about what the foundation is doing in part because they knew Mike. When he lost his battle with ALS at age 52, it left a mark on all us," Boyd says.

In honor of Gaines' two favorite pastimes, the foundation hosts annual golf and skeet-shooting tournaments to benefit ALS research. To date, the foundation has raised $611,700, which is redistributed in $1,000 to $10,000 grants to support causes ranging from free dental clinics to after-school care and summer camps.

St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. is another firm that works at consistent giving. "We have never tied our community work to the economy. Even during the downturn, we never let our foot off the accelerator. In fact, we did some of our biggest projects with Habitat for Humanity in 2009 and 2010," says Bo Calbert, president of McCarthy's Southwest division.

In 2004, McCarthy launched its Heart Hats initiative, a community outreach program that supports local projects with financial gifts and in-kind donations of labor. Projects are funded on a case-by-case basis. On top of an estimated $500,000 in materials and other resources, the firm donates roughly $1.5 million annually (about 3% of annual profits) and operates an in-house charitable foundation. It hosts golf tournaments, which raise an average of $300,000 annually. Proceeds from the golf outings help fund grants dispersed through McCarthy's local offices to nonprofits in those communities. Recipients include the Children's Cancer Network, the Starbright Foundation and Angels on Promise—each of which won $20,000 grants.

The Heart Hats program focuses mainly on projects that benefit low-income families and children—anything from building homes with Habitat for Humanity to raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and providing supplies to schools. More recently, McCarthy's Southwest division completed a $50,000 playground project for a Phoenix center run by UMOM, which operates homeless shelters in Arizona.

While other companies benefit from charitable deductions on their taxes, McCarthy is an employee-owned, subchapter S-Corp. that does not pay corporate taxes on its profits.

"Our motivation is not financial. We feel an obligation to give back to the communities that support us," Calbert says.