May 7, 2024

POWER Employees Choose Teacher Projects to Fund Nationwide

A home remodeling company may seem like an unexpected ally to teachers from the outside, but we have one strong belief in common. We believe in the potential of people. 

POWER is built on the belief of untapped potential — in the homes we service, in the employees that work inside our walls, and in the communities in which we live and work. And like POWER, public school teachers across the country believe deeply in the potential of their students, giving selflessly to their students to help them realize their potential, many times supplementing their limited school supplies out of their own pockets.

That’s why this ‘National Teacher Appreciation Day’, POWER partnered with DonorsChoose, an education nonprofit that helps to fund public school teacher’s needs for supplies. By giving teachers the tools they need, we are helping to foster potential around us.

The Choice Is Yours

While POWER committed $500,000 to the partnership, we took a unique approach to give our employees a voice and choice on how exactly these funds would be allocated.  

During a recent all-company Town Hall that reaches all 3,600 employees, POWER literally put the power into the hands of its people by allocating each employee $150 dollars and asking them to choose which category of supplies their $150 should fund in a local classroom. To accomplish this in the moment, POWER asked its employees to scan a QR code and live vote on one of the following categories: 

• Computers, Tablets & Technology
• Food, Clothing & Hygiene
• Instruments, Sports & Lab Equipment
• Classroom Basics & Art Supplies
• Books, Education Kits & Games

As this happened, employees watched as graphs on the Town Hall screens in front of them accounted for each vote in real time. Cheers rang out as people rooted for the category of their choice.   

According to DonorsChoose, this is the first time in recent memory a partner has empowered their employees to shape the impact of their organization’s philanthropy in this way — a truly unique model of voting!

Additionally, POWER employees were asked via this technology to describe how they felt in the moment, and a word cloud was created in front of their eyes sharing their teammate’s responses from across the country.     

Probably the most meaningful part of the morning was when POWER employees heard from their own teammates who were former teachers about just how impactful $150 can be. 

“Being able to have an impact on someone else’s life is what my whole life feels like it’s for. When I was a teacher, I bought a lot of things for my classroom. Anything outside of general education mostly came from my pocket. It was mostly hands-on learning that I struggled with having the right supplies for. Art supplies was a big one; really anything where a child could learn from touching and doing, instead of just looking.” —Ali Lieberman, Community Impact Specialist and former teacher

As a result, POWER donated a grand total of $500,000 in one day, and POWER employees’ donation choices have now helped 1,450 teachers, and funded projects at 1,048 different public schools across our local communities. 

Here’s how POWER employees’ choices materialized:

• 466 projects were funded in Food, Clothing & Hygiene 
• 386 projects were funded in Classroom Basics & Art Supplies  
• 375 projects were funded in Books, Educational Kits & Games
• 300 projects were funded in Instruments, Sports & Lab Equipment 
• 253 projects were funded in Computers, Tablets & Technology 

DonorsChoose has seen a strong increase in teacher requests for Food, Clothing & Hygiene items, so POWER’s votes are going to some of the most urgent needs from teachers. 

Democratizing Philanthropy  

Last year, POWER established the Power for Good Foundation to increase our philanthropic impact. Because we believe our people are our most valuable conduit for change, Power for Good was built to amplify our people’s voices and vision to realize positive change in their communities. Through employee-guided grants, local partnerships, and volunteer awards, we empower our people to be the torch bearers of POWER’s values and purpose through partnerships with nonprofits across the country.

Want to use your own power for good? Explore POWER’s open opportunities here.

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