Growing Goodwill

Multifamily CSR, Part One

By Erica Rascón on Jan 25, 2018 in Giving, People

Many multifamily firms are turning to corporate social responsibility (CSR) to meet the needs of their communities beyond the walls of the homes that they develop, manage and support.

CSR initiatives encompass a company’s efforts to promote positive societal, economic or environmental change. The initiatives are self-regulated, and the scope and scale of CSR programs can vary widely.

The results, however, share common benefits. Four real estate firms shared their successful approaches to local and international CSR projects.

Spreading local goodwill

MC Residential of Arizona founded the Sharing the Good Life Foundation, the company’s non-profit, to make a positive difference in the communities where employees live, work, learn and play.

Lesley Brice, President, has been involved since the nascent stages of the program. “We’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past several years, most of which have been through payroll deductions and time off deductions or donations, as well as vendor matching activities,” Brice said.

The Foundation has collected 715 volunteer hours, 42,036 employee PTO hours, and $55,617 in payroll contributions. The funds raised are directed towards local nonprofit organizations. The nonprofits are nominated by employees and selected by a peer grant committee.

In recent years, MC Residential focused resources on two national organizations: Autism Speaks and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC).

“We found our niche in raising money for autism when we brought autism awareness to the Arizona Multihousing Association (AMA). We raised over $100,000, mostly through PTO donations. We created a program, hours4autism.com. That way, rather than reaching in their pocket, team members can donate hours of PTO time toward whatever charity we were getting behind at the time. Everyone got to participate in a little way that added up,” Brice said.

MC Residential also encouraged vendor participation. Once vendors submitted a proposal for a project, they were given the opportunity to submit 1 percent of their earnings towards a charitable cause.

Sharing the Good Life’s reputation spread, gaining MC Residential a spot on the National Apartment Association’s philanthropic committee task force.

In addition to the funds raised, Brice measures the success of the CSR projects based on the demand for grants. As more employees discover worthy causes in their communities, they submit nominations to the grant committee. It shows that employees view Sharing the Good Life Foundation as a force for change in the community.

Three key components contributed to the success of CSR initiatives at MC Residential, including setting the scale of a CSR program at the beginning. MC Residential opted for fewer projects with more power behind them.

“The most important thing is to make sure that the leadership is behind it. You have to have buy-in in order for it to work. Also, make sure that employees’ ideas are championed,” Brice added. “The last thing that you want CSR to be is a top-down decision.”

Sharing the Good Life is one of the company’s crowning accomplishments. “It’s very rewarding to see how far your reach can go,” Brice said.

Green for good

Bozzuto received the 2017 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year award for its commitment to sustainability.  The honor acknowledges several sustainable initiatives within the company, including a 4 percent reduction in energy usage across its entire managed portfolio. Bozzuto also holds the most ENERGY STAR certifications of any third party management company, with 14 certified properties in its portfolio.

“The tenets of sustainability perfectly align with the core values and mission of our company,” said Peter Zadoretzky, Director of Sustainability for Bozzuto Management Company. “By building and operating high-performance buildings, we are adding value to ours and our clients’ portfolios. For our clients, they have a partner committed to helping them achieve their goals. For our residents, they have a management company in constant pursuit of setting them up to live the lifestyle they want to live in their own homes. Lastly – it is simply the right thing to do.”

In addition to sustainable upgrades, Bozzuto seeks to integrate sustainability into residents’ daily experiences. Bozzuto recently partnered with fellow Washington-D.C.-based company, TransitScreen, to make transportation more convenient for residents.

TransitScreen relays real-time departure and commuting time information for mass transit, carshare, rideshare, and other local transportation details. Bozzuto residents can view the information on large LCD screens featured in the lobbies of select East Coast communities.

Both corporate and property-level initiatives have achieved success due to what Zadoretzky calls “C-suite engagement.” He said, “If the heads of the company are committed and behind your programs, employees will better understand how important it is and how it is critical to everyone’s success.”

Read Part Two of this article.