When Eric Fowles founded Voltage Ad + Design in 2008, cultivating a belief in service topped his to-do list in terms of company culture. He envisioned the business as a Force for Good. So much so he used it as a tagline. Over the past nine years his idea blossomed from a tiny seed to a mission in full bloom at our office.

And this year, we’re trying a new approach to our do-gooder attitude. We’re on-boarding our clients into our Force for Good operation. Starting January 1, 2017, Voltage opened our charity selection to clients. Now our customers get to choose where the charity dollars go. We call it 4% for Good.

Here’s how it works:

1. Voltage tracks how much each client spends with us.
2. We set aside 4% of profits from each client in a “Fource” for Good account.
3. Clients select a nonprofit they’d like to donate our profits to.
4. Voltage project managers track the accrued cash and clients’ preferred charities.
5. Voltage sends the dough to a client’s charity of choice.
6. Alternately, clients can select one of Voltage’s charities and have us donate our time in kind rather than the cash.

While this is the latest evolution of Voltage’s Force for Good program, it’s certainly not the first. Over the years, we’ve donated company time, work, and money to numerous nonprofits. As a team, we’ve scrubbed floors, stocked shelves, slept outside in November to raise money, and reworked logos and websites. Here are just a few of the nonprofits we’ve worked, what they do, and a link to Voltage blog about our experience with the organization:

• CharityVision: Working to eradicate correctable blindness around the world
• Community Food Share: Feeding hungry families in our area
• Habitat for Humanity: Building homes for families in need
• Boulder Share-A-Gift: Providing presents for children in low-income homes
• International Dog Hearing, Inc.: Training service dogs for the hearing impaired
• Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking: Working to end human trafficking

Operation 4% for Good began at a recent Voltage hackathon. You can check out our Fource for Good page here. The Voltage crew was charged with finding ways to better serve our clients. Bringing our clients to our charity table was just one of the ideas we implemented. Eric has rolled out the 4% for Good program to current clients in recent meetings. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“People have been really excited about it,” Eric said. “But really, it just feels like the right thing to do.”