Blue Alliance IT Service Program

Blue Alliance IT’s Service Grant Benefit

Did you know that Blue Alliance IT employees are given an incredible paid benefit called Blue Alliance’s Service Grant? Each year you’re given 40 paid Service Grant Hours (SGH) for you to give back to the community!  Nick and Heather Recker are committed to helping each of us grow into becoming the best versions of ourselves, and there is no better way to do that than by serving others.

Your Service Grant Hours gift can be used during work hours (with manager’s permission) or outside of work hours.   Each service experience can be as little as one hour and as many as 40 hours.  If you serve outside of normal work hours (ex: serve food at a soup kitchen one evening), we just require that you take your comp time during the same week as you serve.

We challenge you to take advantage of this incredible gift of time.  The Director of Community, Todd Forman, is here to help you connect with others and build community by offering group service events throughout the week and on weekends.  Activities include serving dinner at Ronald McDonald House, helping neighbors in need through St. Vincent de Paul, participating in outdoor projects with local park services, constructing kids’ beds through Sleep In Heavenly Peace, and much more.  Many of the events are family-friendly and we encourage you to bring your loved ones.  Click the link to the right to see the upcoming group offerings in the Cincinnati/Dayton region.

There are many reasons to use your Service Grant Hours!

♦ Community service can provide fun, enriching, life-changing experiences that help you grow as a person.

♦ Service allows you to meet people different than you, folks you may never have ever had a chance to meet.

♦ Serving others will help you become a happier person, as serving is a gift to both the person being served and the person serving.

♦ Serving with a group helps build community and develop relationships and friendships, and serving with your spouse and children can help teach the next generation about philanthropy – giving of one’s time, talent and treasure.

Still not convinced? Check this out.

How to Request Service Grant Hours (SGH).

To take advantage of this incredible opportunity, you need to complete two easy steps:

  1. Service Project Approval Request – Visit Paycom and click on the question mark in the upper right-hand corner.  This will launch you into the Service Project Approval Request.  The Director of Community will receive and review your request.
    Note: If a group service activity was created and promoted through BAIT by Todd Forman, you can SKIP this step.
  2. Submit SGH Request – When selecting your SGH request, you will see there is an option under the accrual type dropdown for Service Grant Hours.
    Note: Your Service Grant Hours bank will show 0 hours and then go into the negative as you use them. If you have already used 8 hours, your balance would show -8. Your manager should be able to approve until you get to -40 hours.  This benefit is different from regular PTO and aren’t “paid out” at the end of the year or upon termination. 

Need more help? Watch THIS VIDEO that goes into more detail about the mechanics of the Service Grant program or click the FAQ link below.

NOTE:  If a Service Project we are offering occurs outside of your normal work hours and you don’t want to use your Service Grant Hours, you are more than welcome to join us!  We encourage everyone to serve their community and help build community.

Sort of like Hinged…for Service

It can be difficult to know where to invest your time – there are thousands of non-profit organizations out there!  To help you connect with an organization, I have made some connections.  I reached out to over 100 organizations, letting them know Blue Alliance IT, our amazing Service Grant opportunity, and the unique skill sets of our outstanding employees.  If they were interested in working with us, I invited them let us know by telling us about themselves and how our employees might be able to make a difference at their organization.

CLICK BELOW FOR

Seeking Service Ambassadors

Do you like to serve and enjoy helping others get connected to service?  Great!  We need some Service Ambassadors among our team.  These ambassadors will be the cheerleaders for service and help others connect and have wonderful service experiences.  Contact me if you are interested and I will reach out to you to discuss how you can help the Blue Alliance IT service movement grow.

Region by Region Expansion

During Phase One of the Service Program rollout,  we are actively building the program in the Cincinnati/Dayton region. We hope that employees in this region will plug into these opportunities and embrace their Service Grant Opportunity.

Once this region is established and Service Ambassadors are identified in the other areas, we will move into Phase Two and expand group service opportunities in the Detroit, Atlanta, Memphis, and other areas where Blue Alliance IT employees reside.

However…please don’t wait for us to develop group service opportunities in your region before getting started.  If you identify non-profits that would make good partners and provide service opportunities, reach out to them.  Also, contact Todd Forman who invite them to register with the Blue Alliance IT Program.

“We make a living by what we get.
We make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill

Contact
Todd Forman, Director of Community
todd.forman@pathforward.us
513.550.0518

Regional Connections
Atlanta, GA
Detroit, MI
Memphis, TN

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Blue Alliance IT would like to thank Magnified Giving for allowing us to temporarily use their website while we build our Community Service Program information and calendar. Magnified Giving is a Cincinnati-based non-profit organization dedicated to developing the next generation of philanthropists.  They teach young people how to give of their time, talent and treasure.  Visit www.magnifiedgiving.org for more information.