Twelve Days That Keep On Giving
“Coming together to celebrate our challenges and successes—and each other—inspires us to do even more.”
- Megan Stiller, BKV Community Relations Manager
BKV’s 12 Days of Giving program has been a hallmark of the company’s community involvement efforts. In Decembers past, employees would contribute time and money to support popular, usually local initiatives, with BKV matching financial donations up to $500—an opportunity to Do Good, one of the company’s foundational values.
In 2024, leadership made a conscious shift to instead use those two weeks to give back to employees, celebrating their contributions and building a more cohesive work culture. At the same time, it expanded the donation-match component of the program over the entire year.
“This time of year can be tough for a lot of people,” said Megan Stiller, BKV Community Relations Manager. “It’s stressful. The holidays consume everyone’s time, money and energy. Plus, 12 Days of Giving picks up right at the end of BKV’s ‘Movember’ challenge, during which employees are also raising funds. So this year, instead of asking them to raise more money, we decided to just focus on making December fun.”
This year’s fun featured holiday-themed activities like a cookie-decorating contest, barista-prepared complimentary coffee, catered food, candy canes and seasonal mocktails and/or cocktails. Even amidst the tacky holiday sweaters, a national sock drive benefiting veterans associated with the Wounded Warrior Project was proof that the spirit of volunteerism was very much alive. Each office also signed and delivered holiday cards for select nonprofits, including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Cook Children’s Hospital and a local retirement community in Pennsylvania.
Time this year was also set aside to celebrate Women Who Work, a mentorship program for professional development, giving female employees the opportunity to come together, share experiences and socialize at a time when working from home is increasingly common.
“It’s really about bringing people together,” said Charles Bennett, BKV Senior Operations Advisor. “Out of necessity, we do a lot of our communication over Microsoft Teams. But there’s no substitute for face-to-face interactions. BKV is a young company merging many different groups of people from various acquisitions. This was an opportunity to reinforce the relationships that empower collaboration and community.”
While 12 Days of Giving has shifted its focus to employee appreciation, expansion of the matching-donations program now provides a year-long opportunity for those same employees to contribute to the causes they are passionate about, with BKV matching those contributions up to $500, demonstrating the company’s commitment to supporting employees’ philanthropic interests. This realignment has resulted in positive returns across both initiatives.
“This has been a catalyst for increased donations,” said Stiller. “During 2024, employees contributed more than $35,000 to 15 charitable organizations and non-profits, with BKV matching dollar for dollar. At the same time, we also saw more employees participating in the 12 Days of Giving.”
Ultimately, the change has helped revitalize BKV’s culture of volunteerism by strengthening the bonds that have made those efforts so successful in the past.
“Everyone at BKV works hard, putting in long hours because they really believe in what they’re doing,” said Stiller. “Coming together to celebrate our challenges and successes—and each other—inspires us to do even more.”
Find out more about our culture and community relations initiatives in our 2024 Sustainability Report.