Our community in 2018

IP Services is a people-first company. We care about our employees and our clients, and we want the best for all of them. At the beginning of 2018, we decided to take that one step further; we wanted to help not just the people we work with, but also the people in the community around us.

In some ways, IP Services has always been involved in helping the community. Every year since I’ve been here, we’ve taken part in two annual donation activities: one at Thanksgiving through the Second Harvest Food Bank, and one at Christmas through the YMCA. These events have always been a big hit with the staff, which gave us the confidence to try and expand.

Over the last year, we’ve donated both time and money to many worthy causes. The calendar looked something like this:

It’s a full schedule, especially considering these events are employee-driven. Our staff are dedicated to taking a break from their crazy lives to give their money and time to the community throughout the year.

So why do we do it?

1. We care about the community and the people in it. This is a natural extension of our people-first company culture. We care about one another and the community we live in. If there’s a way to make the lives of those around us better, we want to be part of that solution.
2. We want to get our company name out there. Every time we give back to the community, we get the chance to represent the company – and by extension, one another. We know what kind of company we are: people first, always. Now we want everyone else to know. We want to introduce ourselves to people and have them say, “I’ve heard of you guys. You do good work!”
3. Volunteering is a lot of fun! There’s something satisfying about spending your weekends or evenings making good things happen, especially when you can do it in a group with your coworkers. It has all the bonding benefits of a good happy hour, without the bar tab at the end of the night!

Our campaign to do good in the community is still small, but we’re growing. It’s been a real pleasure to see how much time and effort our employees have been willing to put into this project over the past year. I’m amazed over and over again by how much we’re able to achieve by banding together for a good cause.

Our goal is to do even more in 2019 and beyond. We want to try new opportunities and expand on things that are already working. We’ve got some great stuff lined up, and we’re looking forward to sharing it as it happens!