It’s crazy to think it’s that time of year again — nomination season for Franchising Gives Back. When Fish helped the IFA Franchise Education & Research Foundation launch the awards program back in 2015, I never envisioned where we’d be two years later. We’re now prepping for the third annual Franchising Gives Back Celebration & Awards Dinner. I was still in my twenties when we launched this program. Talk about feeling old! (OK, I’m being sarcastic, but only a little.)
If you’re not familiar with Franchising Gives Back, it’s a year-long celebration of all the ways our industry gives back to the communities we serve. And the Franchising Gives Back Awards salute the best of the best — the most innovative and impactful of them all.
Now through June 12, IFA members are invited to visit franchisinggivesback.org/awards and nominate their company’s charitable and community support programs performed in 2016. The awards categories are:
- Spirit of Franchising Award — honors an IFA member whose charitable or community support program embodies the spirit of what it means to be a part of the franchising industry by giving back to their local community.
- The Newcomer Award — highlights a new charitable or community support program that has made a significant impact on a local community.
- Enduring Impact Award — honors an IFA member with a longstanding commitment to their community that has been executing an outstanding charitable or community support program(s) for at least five consecutive years.
- Support Our Veterans Award— recognizes an IFA member whose charitable or community support program has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help those men and women who have served in the U.S. military and their families, and positively impacted their local community along the way.
- Innovation and Impact Award— honors an IFA member whose charitable or community support program focused on using creative, innovative ways to maximize the benefits and impact on their community with limited resources.
Did I mention that this year’s awards will recognize one Gold Winner and two Silver Winners in each category — and they’ll receive $5,000 and $1,000, respectively, to support their charitable work? No? OK, well consider it mentioned.
Winners will be honored at the Franchising Gives Back Celebration & Awards Dinner on Sept. 11, 2017, from 7-9 p.m. to kick off the Franchise Action Network Annual Meeting at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.
Tickets to the awards dinner are available for $200, and attendees also may sponsor tables (10 seats). Proceeds from all ticket sales and table sponsorships help fund cash prizes awarded to winners to support their charitable programs. For more information and to purchase tickets, please contact Gionne Jones at gjones@franchise.org.
So what now? Click here to submit a nomination. Click here to get more information about the awards dinner. And then copy/paste this blog post into a new email and click send to share it with everyone you know, so we can get hundreds of IFA members to submit nominations.
To steal a quote from Steve Romaniello (managing director of Roark Capital Group, founding sponsor of Franchising Gives Back): “When we consider the number of franchise businesses nationwide — more than 733,000 — we realize the incredible impact franchising has and how much we as an industry contribute. Franchising Gives Back is just the tip of the iceberg.”
So let’s do this! Let’s show the world how franchising gives back every day.
