A Hospitality Leader Supports First Responders, Members
of the Military, and the Compassionate Care of Children

CLIENT’S CHALLENGE

Several years ago, a national premier hospitality management company with extensive operations in four states – Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, and Illinois – decided to organize all its philanthropic activities into a single foundation focused on “giving back” to the 13 communities in which its employees live, work, and play. 

As the foundation took form, the hospitality management company decided to focus specifically on three constituencies: (1) first responders who arrive immediately whenever an emergency occurs; (2) members of the U.S. Armed Forces who place their lives on the line for the nation and all Americans; and (3) children as the most vulnerable members of families in these various communities.

THE STRATEGIA SOLUTION

Since the Strategia team had been providing direct support to the parent organization across many projects and engagements, CEO and founder Lissa Druss served as an early advisor in the formation of this foundation. Today she serves as its Executive Director and board member. 

At a fundraising golf outing earlier this year, Druss was pleased with the event’s results: nearly $100,000 in new donations. “This is exactly the kind of corporate support,” she says, “that so many nonprofits dedicated to these beneficiaries need. By concentrating our resources on these areas of need, we are making an enormous difference at a grassroots level in every one of these 13 jurisdictions.”

IMPACTS + OUTCOMES

In its first 18 months since launch, the organization has raised and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to “on the ground” nonprofits, both local and national in scope. The beneficiaries, more than three dozen charities and events, include organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Children First Fund—Chicago Public Schools, Cystic Fibrosis Research, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Scottsdale Fire Department, The Salvation Army, and the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center.