Located in Plano and soon moving to Allen, NETSCOUT is a leading provider of service assurance, security and business analytics. When NETSCOUT needed a partner to implement and launch their local charitable grant program, they turned to Communities Foundation of Texas.
This past fall, NETSCOUT established a charitable fund known as a Business-Advised Fund with CFT. Next, CFT helped NETSCOUT engage their employees in learning how nonprofits are addressing important issues in the community and choosing focus areas for the company’s grant funds.
“This was about being more intentional about our giving. We found a local partner in Communities Foundation of Texas. CFT created a detailed list of funding needs from Collin County nonprofits that our $10,000 investment could impact. They also helped us identify which nonprofits were a good fit for volunteer service, as community involvement is one of our values.” – Richard Kenedi, President of New Markets Business Unit, NETSCOUT.
NETSCOUT formed a 14-person steering committee to review the top nonprofits that CFT had identified as potential grantees. CFT provided guidance to help the committee review the applications extensively to evaluate the best fit in terms of funding needs and volunteer opportunities, ultimately narrowing the list down to 10 organizations. The committee then did a deeper dive to select the top three nonprofits they felt were the best fit for NETSCOUT. The three nonprofits were Family Promise of Collin County, The Samaritan Inn and City House. Each was invited to make a 10-minute pitch in person to NETSCOUT employees, who then voted for which nonprofit should receive the $10,000 grant.
“We had great employee participation in the program. More importantly, there was lots of opportunity for discussion about the different nonprofits and the work they do in the community,” said Kenedi. NETSCOUT’s employees ultimately selected City House as their community grant recipient this year, and plans to make time to volunteer with all three organizations, as well as get involved with CFT for Business’ engagement network.
We’re thrilled to partner with generous companies like NETSCOUT and look forward to seeing the impact of their investment in Collin County.
To learn more about CFT for Business, visit CFT4B.org. Our CFT for Business team is here to help your company do good, even better.
