BUILDING COMMUNITY

A look at how some companies are giving back during the pandemic.

By Scott Swinton

During social upheaval and uncertain times, it’s tempting to hunker down, horde, or just hit the road out of town. If you’re into politics or philosophy you’ll argue about who’s at fault or ponder why there were problems to begin with. If you’re into video games, you may be one of the lucky ones to not be aware that we have issues. But if you’re like some CACM industry partners, you’ll get busy solving problems that make uncertain times particularly difficult.

Uncertainty takes many forms. Some face uncertainty when Starbucks runs out of the Blonde Roast and they’re forced to select between Sumatra, Pike, or Komodo Dragon. Yes, high-stakes decisions first thing in the morning can create frighteningly high levels of cortisol-laced uncertainty. Others face it when salons and barbers are forced underground and you find yourself staring into the mirror at a trimmer-wielding novice.

But, uncertainty in too many cases raises a dark and desperate face, making the inconvenience of strange coffee and bad haircuts as trivial as they really are. Hunger, job loss, and the death of loved ones can make current events almost unbearable.

That’s where some CACM industry partners have stepped up and made good on their commitments to social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the catch-all used to describe a broad range of activities and policies that a corporation adopts to give back to its community or more broadly to the well-being of those with whom it shares a planet. CSR can be as simple as hosting a toy drive or it can be so deeply embedded in the corporate culture that entire teams are employed in sustaining the corporation’s CSR mission and goals. According to philanthropy.com an estimated $22 billion is donated yearly by corporations to charities in the U.S. alone.

Take a look at a few of your colleagues who have a proven track record of giving back and who have stepped up their game in the face of pandemic and social transformation. This is not a complete list of companies that are doing philanthropic work. These are only a few examples we are aware of.

Varsity Painting’s owner Roland Thoms found motivation to raise money for children’s tumor research when his 7-yearold daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2004. The nearly unpronounceable diagnosis was Neurofibromatosis type 2. At the celebration of her life a year later, a fundraising snowball was formed at a Halloween bash and given a shove. It started rolling and never slowed, picking up other industry partners as it went. To date, over $750,000 has been collected to raise awareness and research dollars for Neurofibromatosis.

Earlier this year, seeing an opportunity to demonstrate the giving nature that had come to define the Varsity image, Corporate Social Responsibility - a broad range of activities and policies that a corporation adopts to give back to its community or more broadly to the well-being of those with whom it shares a planet.

Varsity reached out in cooperation with Kelly Moore Paints to the City of Oakland offering to cover graffiti that had cropped up in the aftermath of the George Floyd demonstrations.

Beyond just “paint to match existing,” the Walnut Creek-based painting contractor saw opportunity to help their neighbors just over the hill. Why not designate some of these vulnerable areas, now newly “whitewashed,” for more peaceful expressions. Partnering with “Paint the Void,” they designated these new blank canvases for creative expression more in harmony with the community. The common theme for Varsity seems to be passing through adversity and rising on the far side with creative ways to push back. They have certainly presented a fine example to emulate.

Collins Management Company, with offices in Hercules, Oakland, Walnut Creek, and Brentwood, established the Collins Management Foundation “to get serious about giving back to the people who serve communities in a relevant and meaningful way.” In 2017 founder Paul Collins connected two unrelated ideas and recognized an opportunity. Vendors love to aggressively launch marketing dollars at his management company (plenty of cash to burn), while he was also seeing significant financial needs in the lives of industry partners he had built lasting relationships with (not enough money to meet real needs). Paul saw an opportunity to reroute those marketing dollars onto more productive paths.

The Collins Management Foundation (CMF) was established to give industry partners a dual opportunity:

1. Connect HOA managers and vendors in a way that traditional marketing cannot.

2. Create a fund from which the employees of those same companies can draw during hard times.

A company that joins the CMF team has their logo prominently posted in the Collins offices, website, and newsletters, and is clearly viewed as an asset to the HOA industry. Managers, board members and other industry professionals see those logos and brands on a daily basis. But much more than that, when the employees of those same companies fall on hard times, the foundation is notified and funds are allocated to meet the needs. Death of a spouse, adoption, college scholarships for firstgeneration college attendees, aid to the mother of a disabled child who had fallen on hard times, and many more great causes fill the monthly CMF updates.

In the recent social upheaval, the foundation hasn’t been passive and they have reached somewhat beyond their mission in recognition of the times. The Alameda Community Food Bank, 10,000 Lunches, Contra County Solano County Food Bank, and Meals on Wheels in providing food for those in most desperate need, Options Health in their diaper distribution, and All Souls Parish in their mask distribution to those delivering food, are a few of the pipelines that the Collins Management Foundation has utilized for meeting dire needs in what for many have become desperate times.

Out-of-the-box thinking, generosity, and creativity have trotted the giving culture of Collins Management out to their industry partners and encouraged them to join in.

Giving back is more than just good marketing. Giving back is humbly paying forward the kindnesses that others have shown you.

Charles Antis, founder of Antis Roofing, is passionate about giving back. For decades Antis has put free roofs on Ronald McDonald houses and Habitat for Humanity homes, has hosted blood drives, and has delivered food to countless charity events. His partner in giving is Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Tacos.

Charles has a slogan, “Every nail matters,” and he mentions this while explaining that a typical roof has over 200,000 components. In talking to Wing, it seems clear that, while tacos have somewhat fewer parts, every fish taco matters, too. And beyond that, every donated bag of fish tacos matters – all the way down to the miniature glass bottles of Cholula that he pays additional for – just so that those receiving the bags can gain the most pleasure from the experience.

Every dollar matters to these guys too, and when COVID-19 shut down California, the demand for donations mysteriously dried up. Rather than padding their accounts or just pounding more tacos personally, they went on the hunt to find places that needed help. Adding masks, sanitizer, and wipes to their “Love Drop” offering, they visited nursing homes, hospitals, fire departments and police stations where they were met with deep gratitude.

Serving on the board for Habitat for Humanity, Charles understands that giving back is more than just good marketing. Giving back is humbly paying forward the kindnesses that others have shown you.

Charles and Wing, along with Paul and Roland, would admit that giving back is not completely distinct from a marketing strategy. However, in communicating with each of these industry leaders, it becomes clear that they understand growing kindness and building community is a team effort, and if in the process of giving back they gain a few customers, it’s not a bad thing.

These three companies represent many in the industry actively giving back and reaching out during a particularly thorny year. We all hope that the end of this year brings some degree of relief. But, the end of a virus or any other tumultuous event won’t end the need for social responsibility and it seems that with leadership such as this, the HOA industry is poised to support its communities into the headwinds of whatever the future holds.

Are you helping your local community or getting involved in a charity? We’d love to know. Email us at marketing@cacm.org.

Editor’s Note: CACM values all members. We do not endorse or promote a particular charity, outside of CACM’s own CACMStrong Foundation.

Scott Swinton is General Contractor and Consultant at Unlimited Property Services, Inc.