Maximizing Community Impact
AvidXchange is a financial technology company that specializes in automating accounts payable (AP) and payment processes for mid-market companies. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, AvidXchange offers a suite of solutions designed to streamline and optimize the way businesses handle invoices and payments.
The AvidXchange Foundation is the philanthropic arm of AvidXchange, established to support community development and improve the quality of life in the communities where the company operates.
The AvidXchange Foundation, led by Rob Phocas, has 3 foundation pillars which include: Education, Digital Equity and Workforce Development. Their mission is to advance the economic and social mobility of underserved youth and young adults where we live and work.
While the foundation invests in local nonprofits to achieve their social impact priorities, they want to maximize their impact by finding volunteer opportunities for their teammates to contribute their time and skills.
With hundreds of local employees wanting to volunteer and limited time and staff resources, Rob turned to SHARE Charlotte as an extended arm of his team to source team volunteer opportunities.
Team Volunteering Process:
• Employees submit a request form through the AvidXchange Foundation internal site detailing how many team members, date, timeframe and if it aligns with the Foundation’s mission.
• This form is sent to the SHARE Charlotte team and copies Rob.
• SHARE Charlotte gets to work coordinating with a pre-approved nonprofit and employees keeping Rob in the loop.
• SHARE Charlotte ensures the volunteer event goes off smoothly and that employees and the nonprofits are staying informed every step of the way.
• At the end of the year, SHARE Charlotte creates a full impact report highlighting the amount of hours and impact AvidXchange employees have contributed back to local nonprofits.
The result is that volunteering has increased at AvidXchange and employees enjoy having the option to add volunteering on to the end of team planning sessions or as a team building activity.
“SHARE Charlotte has made it so easy for our teammates to request volunteer opportunities that align with our foundation’s mission and pillars or align with their own interests,” said Rob Phocas. “We are thrilled to amplify the impact of our contributions by combining the efforts of our nonprofit partners with the volunteer time of our teammates. These opportunities not only enhance our overall impact but also fosters a corporate culture deeply rooted in community engagement.”
Duke Energy Power of Giving Volunteer Fair
Volunteerism is an integral part of Duke Energy’s commitment to the communities where they live and serve. Throughout the year, their employees and retirees build relationships and hone their leadership skills by volunteering in their local communities.
As a way to celebrate the opening of their new corporate headquarters, Duke Energy Plaza they partnered with SHARE Charlotte to host the Power of Giving Volunteer Fair.
The volunteer fair allowed local employees to come and meet with local nonprofits that the Duke Foundaiton supports as organizations that align with their Employee resource group priorities.
List nonprofits that participated:
• Arts and Science Council
• Carolina Raptor Center
• Carolina Youth Coalition
• Catawba Riverkeeper
• Champion House of Care
• DigiBridge
• Dottie Rose Foundation
• GardHouse
• Heart Math Tutoring
• HELPS Education Fund
• Kids with possAbilities
• LAWA
• PFLAG
• Promising Pages
• She Built This City
• Sustain Charlotte
• Trees Charlotte
• United Way of Greater Charlotte
• Veterans Bridge Home
Employee’s really enjoyed the event and many signed up to volunteer with the nonprofits that were in attendance.
“We truly appreciate our partnership with SHARE Charlotte to coordinate this event for our team and employees. As a small team with a large region to cover, we don’t have enough people to plan events like with all of our responsibilities” said Dominique Johnson, Philanthropy Manager at Duke Energy. “SHARE Charlotte makes it easy, like an extended member of our team!”
“We were thrilled to partner with Duke Energy who has been a long time partner supporting our community-wide volunteerism campaign each April called Do Good Week. Under the Corporate Enagement arm of our organization we were excited to leverage our expertise to create employee engagement experiences and connection to nonprofits.” said Melissa Hovey, Managing Director of SHARE Charlotte
Volunteer Fair
Nucor Corporation is the largest steel and steel products producer and recycler in North America. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Nucor is renowned for its employee-focused culture and strong commitment to the communities where their employees live and work.
Nucor’s corporate office has grown significantly in the past several years, adding many new faces and welcoming teammates to Charlotte from other parts of the country. They turned to SHARE Charlotte recently to help plan a Volunteer Fair to give teammates the chance to meet a few of the nonprofits supported by the organization locally and discover new engagement opportunities.
SHARE Charlotte created a fun and engaging event with 10 partner organizations including:
• American Cancer Society
• American Heart Association
• American Red Cross
• Heart Math Tutoring
• Purple Heart Homes
• Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte
• Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Charlotte
• The Relatives
• Trips For Kids Charlotte
• Veterans Bridge Home
For those who weren’t able to attend the fair, a Nucor Volunteer Fair Digital Guide was provided that gave contact information and ways to get involved with each nonprofit.
“SHARE Charlotte made hosting a volunteer fair incredibly easy. They had great ideas to make it fun for our teammates and meaningful for our nonprofit partners. They coordinated with the nonprofits leading up to the event and handled the day of details,” said Lauren Russell, Manager of Corporate Communications and Philanthropy at Nucor. “Our teammates are eager to give back to our community, but it can be hard to figure out where to begin. This event provided the perfect jumpstart for their journey.”
