It’s important to us that our clients know we are much more than our technology. We are the humans behind the platforms, beyond the data. We are accountable to our employees and colleagues in many different ways, including empowering them to give back and create positive change.

Last October, as a part of our ten year anniversary celebration and one of our company hackathons, we announced an initiative to connect every employee’s individual passions with the opportunity to contribute to our communities. We named it AddeOne. The start of 2020—a new year and a new decade—is a good time to reflect on the origins and goals of the initiative and provide a peek into what you can expect to see in the coming months.

AddeOne is a defining element of our corporate culture. By encouraging our employees to work together on social causes, it truly demonstrates what our company stands for. The name, AddeOne, comes from Addepar’s commitment to joining the Pledge 1%. This global movement encourages and empowers companies to donate 1% of any combination of time, product, profit, and/or equity to any nonprofit they choose. 

When we created AddeOne, we saw it as a tool for our employees to act on our purpose to “Advance Prosperity for Everyone” in the day-to-day lives of our communities. In order to succeed it needs strong support, which is why our CEO Eric Poirier and CMO Natalie Sunderland are true champions of this effort.

AddeOne’s success also relies on its support of Addepar’s mission and its alignment with Addepar’s core values. The program encourages employees to:

  • Build Together by working alongside colleagues to benefit our communities

  • Demand Transparency by providing metrics on the impact AddeOne is making in our society

  • Take Action by empowering our employees to work with the nonprofits that align with their values

  • Solve Problems That Matter by working with nonprofits to solve our community’s greatest challenges

  • Let The Best Ideas Win by submitting their ideas to the AddeOne team for implementation

Currently, AddeOne has two inaugural programs. The first is the AddeOne Service Project Program. It provides Addepeeps (the nickname we’ve given our employees) with opportunities to take time away from the office to support local nonprofits. Addepeeps can sponsor projects and recruit other employees, friends, family (and clients!) to participate. They’ll submit ideas during the spring. We will complete selected projects between May and September and share the results in the fall. In addition, our offsite meetings will have group service projects whenever possible.  

We held our inaugural event last week, supporting the Utah Food Bank which provided over 43.3 million pounds of food in 2019 to families and individuals in need across the state of Utah. Over the course of nearly two hours, Addepar volunteers sorted 150 boxes of food, 30 boxes of non-food, and 30 boxes of pet food to ensure it was safe for consumption, emptied 500 gallons of donated food from food drive bins at local schools and grocery stores, and filled over 210 boxes for distribution to food pantries through Utah. This totaled over 12,800 pounds of food! 

The second program is called AddeOne Challenge Days. During the year, employees can participate in programs that promote our impact on the greater community. For example, we’re participating in “A Day without Single-Use Plastic,” “Ride Your Bike to Work Day,” “National Recycling Day,” and others. 

I’m excited about our employee’s enthusiasm for these programs and, having organized and participated in similar programs at Square 1 Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Sorenson Impact, I am thrilled that AddeOne is leveraging industry best practices. 

It goes without saying that AddeOne goes beyond our employees. We welcome your ideas, your participation, and your encouraging words. Please reach out to me to share your positive vibes and get involved. Additionally, we’re seeking nonprofits in New York City, Salt Lake City, and the San Francisco Bay Area that need our time, and we’re open to your recommendations.  

We promise to keep you posted on the good work we do with AddeOne programs throughout the year. We’ll be celebrating these successes and look forward to making a lasting impact.