For software provider Procore, “business drives culture and culture drives business,” according to Doug Madey, director of communications. That means two things for the Carpinteria, California-based company.
One is supporting the industry it serves beyond providing a product. The company created a dedicated “for-good department,” Procore.org, to help in that mission, Madey said. The division provides its software to schools and nonprofits for free.
RELATED: Meritage, Operation Homefront Partner on New Home for Purple Heart Recipient
“You can think of it as in-kind donation if you will, but it’s given away for free to organizations that can benefit from it,” Madey said. That includes K-12 schools, universities and community colleges, national nonprofits and their chapters, training groups and unions.
He likened the division to “a mini Procore company operating within the larger company.” The division has a dedicated business development person who identifies industry stakeholders that would benefit from using the software. Implementation mangers make sure those stakeholders “have the same level of onboarding that a paying client would have,” while a customer support person is available to answer any ongoing questions.
There’s a clear business benefit to Procore for donating access to its product—it gets its software into the hands of more people—but it also helps the industry meet an existential threat. There will always be a need for construction, but it’s increasingly unclear who will be doing that building as firms struggle to find skilled labor. Attracting the next generation of workers is critical, especially those with unique skill sets suited to the various solutions that have popped up to meet industry challenges.
As of mid-February, Procore.org has 500 clients nationwide who are using the software in ways that support the industry at large.
A number of those clients are located in Colorado, including Colorado Mesa University; Colorado State University; Colorado State University, Pueblo; U.S. Air Force Academy; and University of Colorado, Denver. Colorado nonprofit clients include the ACE Mentor Program, CM Cares, EMI World and Habitat for Humanity, Madey said.
In addition to donating its software to schools and nonprofits working in the construction industry, Procore also brings employees together for volunteer efforts. Employees can select a cause or nonprofit they want to support and the company can develop a program around it. Recently, the company used its Revenue Summit to bring together employees from across all its offices to package 100,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger.
Related: Casting for community
“It’s just a way for our employees to spend time together that’s not in front of the computer, not talking about marketing ideas or trying to sell, but spending quality time [together] and doing it for a good cause,” Madey said.
