Community Partnership Report - Giving Back to Our Communities
TEP's corporate philanthropy and employee volunteer efforts help local nonprofit agencies improve the quality of life in our communities where we live, work and play.
The most current information about TEP contributions and grant guidelines is available here. Agencies are encouraged to view the eligibility criteria to determine how TEP can help. Our funding is focused on three areas:
- Supporting employee volunteer involvement
- Supporting major community initiatives like the Regional Transportation Authority or economic development efforts
- Grants That Make a Difference, TEP's competitive grants program focuses on at-risk youth and their families. Click here to learn more.
Community Action Team
TEP's corporate volunteer program, the Community Action Team (CAT), is recognized as one of the most effective programs of its kind in the country.
Information and forms to request TEP volunteer involvement are available here. Due to the volume of community need, all volunteer projects must be screened by the CAT Steering Committee.
TEP employees are encouraged to devote their time to the causes closest to their hearts. One CAT volunteer might choose to pound nails for Habitat for Humanity, another might opt to serve on an agency's board of directors. TEP supports these efforts with charitable funding to the agency and organizational support for volunteer projects. TEP is proud to be a mentor for area businesses starting employee volunteer programs. The company is a founding member of the Southern Arizona Volunteer Management Association.
TEP's employee-driven community service efforts have produced remarkable results. In 2009, TEP employees joined their friends and family in contributing 36,000 hours to charitable efforts that benefited approximately 300 nonprofit groups in Tucson and the White Mountain area of eastern Arizona, where TEP operates the Springerville Generating Station.
TEP's CAT program has won nationwide acclaim. In 2004, the national Points of Light Foundation recognized TEP with its Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs - making TEP the first two time winner of the prestigious award. In 2006, UniSource Energy received the National Corporate Advocate of the Year award from the National Child Welfare League.
Corporate Philanthropy
TEP employee volunteers and 94.9 MIX-FM's Bobby Rich helped collect canned goods from motorists during a food drive in November 2009, when members of the community donated nearly $60,000 to the Community Food Bank. TEP wholeheartedly matched those donations dollar-for-dollar. In the background, a TEP bucket truck displays a food bank banner promoting the food drive.
The financial support we provide to local charities is typically directed to support the efforts of TEP's Community Action Team (CAT), our employee volunteer program. Our goal is to effectively match company resources — including people, funds, relationships, donated material and information — to our community's needs.
In 2009 alone, TEP donated more than $590,000 to nonprofit organizations. This figure does not include the value of our employees' volunteer hours. We also provided significant support for scholarship programs that are helping hundreds of children attend high-quality schools.
TEP also developed the Grants That Make a Difference program — a competitive grants process for nonprofit agencies that help people afflicted by homelessness, domestic violence, poverty, child abuse and other social problems. The goal is to encourage collaboration in providing services and to leverage resources as effectively as possible.
A local committee of employee volunteers selects grant recipients. TEP also sponsors grant-writing workshops to increase the fundraising capabilities of the nonprofit agencies. In November 2009, TEP awarded $100,000 to local nonprofit agencies that help at-risk youth, seniors and families in need. Since its inception in 2001, GTMD has funded more than $850,000 to nearly 100 nonprofit agencies, often leveraging additional grant money or volunteer involvement.
