Andrew Jason
Photo by Hilary Ehlen
Entrepreneurship. Technology. Education. Family. These are the key focus areas of the BNGive team at BNG, a payments technology company in Fargo. This committee is encouraging philanthropy with their time, talents and treasures and passing that on in their employees and the community.
Giving Hearts Day
Giving Hearts Day is an annual day of giving that involves more than 500 nonprofits. They put on a variety of unique opportunities to encourage their employees to support a nonprofit. One of the ways they do this is by doing a $25 match for each employee. Dakota Medical Foundation creates a unique URL for BNG employees so that their management team can get a report back and BNG can match all employee giving.
In addition to that, they’ll give a $10 Giving Hearts Day gift card to any kid close to an employee. This can be a son, daughter, nephew or even neighbor. This encourages life-long giving in that child.
“The one nice thing about Giving Hearts Day is that there are so many places you can donate,” said Cara Christenson, the Director of Operations. “We’re trying to make sure that we have our people engaged in their giving. We don’t want to say, ‘Hey, it’s just this specific organization and all the money’s going towards it and everyone has to like it.’ This gives them the opportunity to give to any of the organizations that are involved.”
Why Giving Back Is Good For Business
There’s a lot of tangible reasons why a business should give back. In 2015, nearly 90 percent of millennials gave to three or more nonprofits, according to the Millennial Impact Report. As millennials make up the largest workforce, it is more important than ever that businesses recognize that and do their part to give back.
“I think it’s more than just giving back to the community. It’s building a sense of community,” said Ashley Hahn, Digital Account Manager. “There’s a lot of cross-functional opportunities from different departments. I don’t always see Richard. He’s on the first floor, I’m on the third floor but we work side-by-side doing things together, whether it’s sandbagging or cooking a meal. It’s building a community within our organization.”
George F. Cresswell Entrepreneurial and Business Scholarship
George F. Cresswell started with BNG in 2013 as a salesperson and quickly became an owner and advisor. In October 2017, he passed away from cancer. This year, they’re honoring his memory with the George F. Cresswell Entrepreneurial and Business Scholarship. One-thousand dollars will be awarded to a graduating senior in the Fargo-Moorhead area who’s interested in entrepreneurism and business. They are currently taking applications now at bngteam.com/bngive.
Events they’ve participated in and how they give back
Feed My Starving Children Time
Sandbagging Time
Giving Hearts Day Treasure
United Way Day of Caring Time
Ronald McDonald House Time
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch Talent
West Fargo STEM Academy Talent
Cybersecurity training for employee families Talent
