Thanks to Pulte Group's Built to Honor program, Staff Sergeant John McCrillis, his wife, and daughter received a new home in San Antonio. McCrillis incurred multiple injuries from gunshot wounds during a combat operation in Afghanistan while he pulled wounded comrades to safety.
Pardee Homes’ Las Vegas division president Klif Andrews, who is involved with HomeAid’s Southern Nevada chapter, likes that the charity pre-selects local organizations that can most benefit from construction projects. Pardee worked with the group this year on a $1 million renovation of a homeless youth drop-in center that added new client spaces with a computer lab, staff office space, half basketball court, gym, art and music rooms, and additional private areas for client intake and tutoring.
“When we do as much work as we do to build one of these projects we want to make sure it will endure and will matter,” Andrews says.
Newport Beach, Calif.–based Trumark Homes works with the nonprofit charity: water to sponsor wells in communities that don’t have access to clean drinking water. Trumark has sponsored two wells in Ethiopia so far and works to raise awareness of the importance of water conservation, a hot button topic in its drought-prone state. At a grand opening event in Silicon Valley, for instance, the firm gave out brochures for charity: water and displayed jugs that attendees could carry to help imagine what it’s like to lug gallons of water several miles every day like some villagers in Africa do, says Trumark co-founder Michael Maples.
A GROUP EFFORT
Team-driven charitable activities help build morale for employees, Sterling says. Toll offers its 4,194 associates a Day of Service—paid time off to do charitable work for an organization of their choice.
“The positive benefits are really priceless—to be able to swing hammers together or packing boxes of food for a food pantry or helping on a clothing drive,” she says.
Employees appreciate being able to help select charities that are meaningful to them. Summit Custom Home’s 43 employees receive a paid day off to do volunteer work and are invited to sit on the firm’s Charitable Contributions Committee.
PulteGroup employees have embraced the production builder’s mission of housing injured veterans through its Built to Honor program, says communications manager Jacque Petroulakis. Since 2013, PulteGroup operations across the country, along with suppliers and contractors, have built more than 30 new homes worth nearly $9 million for wounded veterans, many with the nonprofit Operation Finally Home. In the process, employees get to know each recipient and his or her family, finding out what special accommodations they might need in a new home and helping to paint, stock the pantry, decorate, and organize gift registries.
“It’s very motivating to employees to engage and be a part of something so special,” says Petroulakis. “Many have become very close to the vets and their families, and they feel good about working for a company that is doing something like this.”
At Houston-based David Weekley Homes, team members in each of its markets select nonprofits that meet the firm’s focus on family values, education, and youth development. Of the company’s 1,436 employees, about 90% participate in its CARE program, says Natalie Harris Brown, director of the program. In addition, the David Weekley Family Foundation has donated more than $100 million to a variety of organizations in the U.S. and abroad over the past 20 years.
At many building firms, dedication to corporate philanthropy flows from the top down. Executives at companies large and small not only oversee golf tournaments, hand out checks, and sit on boards, they hang drywall, work with at-risk kids, and recruit friends and family to volunteer. Toll Brothers group president Christopher Gaffney and other Toll executives have slept out on the street in bitter cold temperatures several times to raise awareness and funds for Covenant House, a housing nonprofit for homeless youth.
Many top leaders such as Shea Homes’ Bert Selva, Dan Ryan of Dan Ryan Builders, and Bryson Garbett of Garbett Homes have been honored over the years with the Hearthstone BUILDER Humanitarian Award for their involvement in giving back. Nominations for the 2016 program are currently being sought.
Trades, suppliers, and other partners also get in on giving back. Local businessmen and women such as lumber dealers, plumbers, and electricians appreciate the chance to make an impact in their community.
“We know all these guys but they don’t really know each other very well,” says Pardee’s Andrews. “It’s great for us to pull them all together and honestly, it’s a great relationship builder for us. Working with our trades on a charitable level rather than a business level is a very different relationship, and we get a lot out of it as well.”
MORE THAN JUST MONEY
Builders benefit from charitable outreach because it builds name recognition with current and potential customers. For instance, says Riley of Royal Oaks, most buyers are aware of the company’s longtime involvement with Operation Coming Home, even though “it’s not something we shout from the rooftops—it’s not the reason we do it.”
The partnership has served to differentiate Royal Oaks from its large public builder competitors, helping to boost it to the top five firms in units sold and closed in the Research Triangle area—319 last year, says Riley.
At Pardee Homes in Las Vegas, community service opportunities have been critical to attracting and retaining young employees, says Andrews. “Research shows that millennials are wired for community giving—it’s just part of what they do,” he says. “If as a company you’re not doing any notable community giving, young people won’t think you’re worth their time.”
In addition, charitable projects provide heartwarming fodder for builders’ websites, blogs, and social media. “We get our Facebook followers to follow our events, which is better than hearing about houses time after time because it loses its hook after a while,” says Andrews. “Charitable events are tailor-made for social media.”
Many home buyers want to know that their builder is a good corporate citizen, and that awareness can translate into more sales. These days, consumers are concerned about the social responsibility of the brands they buy, from the food they eat to the clothes they wear. A recent Nielsen survey found that 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact.
“Consumers around the world are saying loud and clear that a brand’s social purpose is among the factors that influence purchase decisions,” says Amy Fenton, global leader of public development and sustainability at Nielsen. “This behavior is on the rise and it provides opportunities for meaningful impact in our communities, in addition to helping to grow share for brands.”
In the end, a company has to have heart, says Maples. “We’re entering a time period where the buyer cares more deeply about [social responsibility] than ever before, but they also want authenticity. They can tell if a company is making it a public splash or just checking a box,” he says. “You have to be about more than just making money.”
—Brian Croce and Kayla Devon contributed to this report
