More than 400 area leaders joined BizTimes Media recently to celebrate the ties between the business community and nonprofit community during the second annual Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
Click here to see a photo gallery from the event. Click here to see videos from the event.
The program highlights the effective strides nonprofits are making in filling needs and gaps in services across southeastern Wisconsin and applauds top corporate citizens who make philanthropy a priority.
The program has also become a call to action, working to inspire business leaders and their workforces to find ways to transfer their time, talent and treasure back into the community.
This year’s lineup of awards featured award categories recognizing nonprofits, nonprofit leaders, nonprofit collaboration, a social enterprise, impactful corporate citizens and a lifetime achiever. BizTimes selected winners through a nomination process, vetting nominations with help from nonprofit advisors.
The 2015 Nonprofit Excellence Award Winners are:
*Corporate Citizen of the Year: Northwestern Mutual
*Next Generation Leadership: Terrel Morgan and Julio Maldonado of Maldonado & Morgan
*In-Kind Supporter: Usinger’s
*Corporate Volunteer of the Year: Kate Langdon, project manager at Mortara Instrument
*Lifetime Achievement: Terry Sutter, retired, First Federal Savings Bank
*Nonprofit Organization of the Year (Small): College Possible Milwaukee
*Nonprofit Organization of the Year (Large): Rogers Memorial Hospital
*Nonprofit Collaboration of the Year: Our Next Generation
*Nonprofit Executive of the Year: Bob Glowacki, chief executive officer of Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin
*Social Enterprise: ACTS Housing
Prior to the awards ceremony, Kimberly Kane, of Kane Communications, moderated a panel of business executives through a discussion about ways to foster a corporate culture of giving and the business benefits that emerge from such a culture. The panel discussion included input from Dan Druml, president and CEO of Paul Davis Restoration & Remodeling; Paul Eberle, chief executive of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.; Tami Garrison, community affairs in Milwaukee at MillerCoors; and Neil Willenson, vice president of community relations at Kapco Metal Stamping. All four touched on the returns on investment a company can reap by investing its time and resources into the nonprofit community.
For Eberle, the most significant return on investment falls in the form of improvements made to the broader city and region.
In order for Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. and its clients to thrive, it needs “to be in a city that’s doing well,” Eberle said, adding that greater Milwaukee has its fair share of strengths and challenges.
The ROI for the firm’s community contributions stems from improving the city and region, which is necessary to help attract and retain the caliber of talent needed, he said.
Through affording employees time and opportunities to give back to community causes, Paul Davis Restoration & Remodeling has shaped a positive company culture, according to Druml. That culture has spread beyond the walls of the company’s offices as it has corralled its customers, vendors, suppliers and contractors to contribute to its giving initiatives.
MillerCoors also involves a gamut of stakeholders in its philanthropic efforts, taking what Garrison describes as an “integrated approach” to partnerships with nonprofit organizations.
MillerCoors considers every employee a company ambassador, and engaging employees in volunteer opportunities and nonprofit causes gives them all the more reason to highlight MillerCoors in a positive light, Garrison said.
The Nonprofit Excellence Awards Program was held at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee. Event partners included the Association of Fundraising Professionals Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter, Wisconsin Philanthropy Network and the Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee.
