The GMB Architecture + Engineering Advised Fund

Ensuring Generations of Giving

“As a 48 year old company, giving has been a big piece of our culture, especially from the leadership perspective. It’s about connecting back to the community that’s given us so much,” said David Bolt, President of GMB Architecture + Engineering. Now with 100 employees, both the company and its level of giving continues to grow.

A number of years ago, the leadership team prioritized transparency and openness with their employees, especially around the ways GMB gives back to the community. “It’s about bridging generations and building community and employee culture, “ noted David.

“As our company transitions from one generation to the next, carrying forward a legacy of giving is important, as is communicating the values of the previous generation to our future leaders. We want to inspire those that come next to follow in the footsteps and spirit of the company, and we can’t do that without transparency,” said David.

As a company with sixteen owners and financial stakeholders, the dollars that are given away belong to each of the owners. “When we talk about solidifying our future and ensuring the long term stability of our company, we include giving in that conversation.

We asked ourselves, ‘What does sustainability look like for our legacy of giving?’ We had some really honest conversations, and knew that we needed to start a dedicated fund that would be there in the good times and the bad, to perpetually sustain our giving,” recalls David.

The GMB Architecture + Engineering Fund, a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation, was launched in 2016. “it was a unanimous decision. No one was forced to contribute, each one of us made the personal decision because we feel it’s the right thing to do,” said David.

“This fund gives us an anchor into the future. If there are hard times financially in our community, we’ll still have the ability to give. It’s often in the hard times that organizations experience the greatest levels of need. By saving now for the future, we’ll be able to help re-energize the economy when it’s needed the most,” said David.

GMB’s donor advised fund ensures that their legacy of giving is transferred from generation to generation. As the owners change through the decades, the future owners will control the fund’s advisement, passing down the responsibility to the next generation of leaders.

GMB has been intentional about connecting employees to the local nonprofits they support. “We’re looking at ways to pass on our corporate values to our employees and get them involved on a deeper level,” said David. Every six months, they bring in local organizations to present to the entire company, and employees spend the next six months doing group fundraisers for those organizations. They’ve also started allowing employees to pick from a selection of nonprofits annually to help choose where the company’s dollars are going.

One of the things they’re especially proud of being transparent about is their support for Vox United, a global clean water effort. “This was a way for us to give back on a global scale with global impact while also partnering with a local company to make it happen. As engineers and architects, clean water is certainly congruent with what we do. We’re bringing in utilities, infrastructure, and development, so this is a way to combine giving with our skills and talents,” said David.

“We chose the Community Foundation because our origins are here. We’re rooted here locally and so is the Foundation. We needed a reliable partner with both history and permanence. We have confidence that the Foundation will be here long into the future,“ said David.

Originally featured in the Community Foundation’s 2016 Annual Report. While this was written by CFHZ’s Communications Manager Nicole Paquette in 2017, we believe that stories of generosity are timeless and always relevant.