“Making better lives” through corporate giving
When Michelle Sarb first joined Rock Valley Physical Therapy, she thought it would be fun to organize an employee volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity. There was just one hitch—the $3,000 charitable contribution required to participate. Rock Valley’s leaders not only jumped at the chance to sponsor the initiative, but they even asked Sarb to revitalize the company’s corporate giving program.
“I said, ‘Sure!’—not knowing what I was getting into,” she recalled with a laugh. What she couldn’t have known then was that over the next 15 years, Rock Valley would begin to grow well beyond its Quad Cities roots, expanding from 10 clinics to 62 with a reach as far east as Peoria, Illinois, and as far west as Alliance, Nebraska.
With that growth came more employees and communities to support, and the philanthropy committee Sarb leads today includes representatives from Rock Valley’s eight service regions. To keep it all organized and help their employees’ generosity go the furthest, the company began partnering with the Quad Cities Community Foundation. “As we got bigger, we needed to make things more digital and sophisticated,” said Sarb, remembering the early days of cash in envelopes. “The Community Foundation makes it easy, giving us a place to centralize our fundraising and make donations to the causes we’ve been saving up to support.”
“Rock Valley’s employees have dedicated their lives to helping others, so it’s no surprise that they’re generous in their communities, too,” said Anne Calder, the Community Foundation’s vice president of development. “As more companies realize the benefits of giving back, they can look to Rock Valley and how it works with the Community Foundation as a model.”
Read about more businesses that give back
When we say that generosity lives here, we mean in our business community, too. Just like Rock Valley, companies throughout our region are finding meaningful ways to give back with the help of the Community Foundation.
Read how Russell Construction gives “with heart and purpose”
Throughout the year, Rock Valley employees contribute to the company’s fundraising efforts—but they aren’t alone. Especially in the company’s more rural regions, community members rally behind their local clinics’ efforts, and patients will often donate to causes before heading home from appointments. Each year, Rock Valley’s board generously matches whatever amount is raised. “When the leaders get behind a project, it’s easy to get other people involved,” Sarb said. “It’s really neat to see everyone come together for a common cause.”
In the Quad Cities area, Rock Valley has a history of giving to River Bend Food Bank, Living Lands and Waters, the Center for Active Seniors, Inc., and other organizations, including physical therapy schools. For Sarb, one benefit of partnering with the Community Foundation is the staff’s expert knowledge of local nonprofits.
“There are times where we know the type of cause we want to help, and we have the money to give, but we don’t know exactly where it should go,” she said. “The Community Foundation has been amazing in connecting us to the right groups.”
As Rock Valley’s business and philanthropy have grown, so has the importance of corporate giving. Sarb’s colleagues in recruiting have told her that job candidates are now asking, “What are you doing to give back to the community?” And Rock Valley’s fundraisers have become opportunities to forge new bonds with patients. “We always want to be relevant to our patients’ lives—we want to be relevant to the communities we work in,” Sarb said. “Our tagline is ‘Making better lives.’ Sometimes that’s through therapy, sometimes it’s through community projects. The more we can do to make our little dent in our world, the better.”
To learn more about corporate giving strategies, contact Anne Calder, vice president of development, at AnneCalder@QCCommunityFoundation.org or (563) 326-2840.