We at AppliedTrust strongly believe in giving back to the community in which we live, and we pursue this in several ways.
Culture of Giving
AppliedTrust is a member of Boulder County's "Culture of Giving" initiative, a joint effort of The Community Foundation and other Boulder businesses. This group's mission is to create a stronger, more connected community by providing the resources, information and tools to build upon Boulder County's growing philanthropic culture.
Business Partners, a program of The Community Foundation, is one of the components of the Culture of Giving initiative in Boulder County. It recognizes businesses that donate a percentage of their pre-tax profits to charitable organizations in the community. As a Business Partner, AppliedTrust has committed to giving 2 percent or more of our pre-tax profits annually to the nonprofit(s) of our choice. The program recognizes gifts of cash, in-kind services and goods, and employee volunteerism that consists of paid time-off during normal working hours. One way in which AppliedTrust fulfills its Culture of Giving Business Partner commitment is by sponsoring local charitable events. In 2010, AppliedTrust continued its commitment to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley with its sponsorship of, and participation in, the "Cause for Paws" Walk-a-thon event in September.
Holiday Charity Contributions
Another way that AppliedTrust fulfills its Culture of Giving Business Partner commitment is with our holiday giving program, which involves making donations to a set of local charities in the name of our clients and friends.
Humane Society of Boulder Valley
AppliedTrust also volunteers time and resources to benefit the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. Although most of AppliedTrust's work has been behind the scenes, it has had a beneficial, long-term impact on the Humane Society and the community it supports.
AppliedTrust has focused its efforts on upgrading and improving the Humane Society's technology infrastructure, with the goal of making the Humane Society Web site more efficient and more secure. One of AppliedTrust's contributions was donating a new server to host the Web site. This dedicated server replaced the shared environment where the Humane Society site was previously hosted, and the upgrade to a modern Linux architecture greatly increased the flexibility that can be employed to provide enhanced information and services to site visitors. AppliedTrust also worked closely with the Humane Society staff to create an efficient system for posting photos and information for all of the Shelter's adoptable companion animals. The site features up-to-the-hour pictures and descriptions, which are automatically updated directly from the Shelter's database. AppliedTrust was named a co-winner of the Humane Society of Boulder Valley's Distinguished Service Award for 2002 for its contributions to the nonprofit organization over the previous year. AppliedTrust is also an annual sponsor of Humane Society events such as the "Cause for Paws" and "Puttin' on the Leash" fundraisers.
Recent Community Involvement
In all, AppliedTrust donated more than $202,000 in cash and in-kind services to nonprofit organizations in 2010. Additional organizations to which AppliedTrust made contributions in 2010 include the Nurse-Family Partnership, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, the Colorado Federation of Animal Welfare Agencies, the Metro Denver Shelter Alliance, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, Rocky Mountain PBS, Best Buddies, Douglass Elementary School, Topplers.org, the Nederland Community Library, and the MS Society.