
With fewer than 100 employees, Bella Investment Group, a property management firm serving Central and Northern Arizona, is a small business making a “BiG” impact.
Its Bella Initiative of Grace (BiG) Fund, launched in 2018, seeks to improve the health and safety of those most in need of an advocate. Born of Bella’s cultural belief that “generosity is compelling and contagious,” the BiG Fund encourages team members to be “champions” of organizations serving underserved populations in the areas of education, poverty, homelessness, basic essentials, trafficking, and/or health. As the philanthropic and corporate social giving arm of Bella, the BiG Fund oversees grant giving, companywide fundraising, community support initiatives, volunteer opportunities, and annual giveback events.
From the BiG Fund’s inception to year-end 2021, it has issued over $260,000 in grant monies to over 60 local, state, national, and international grant recipient organizations. Each grant is championed by a member of the Bella team, with a review by a volunteer board of organizational fund managers. Involvement in fund activities touches all levels of Bella’s organization, from investor-owner funding to monetary and time donations from employees, and the extension of options to give back through charitable donations and volunteer opportunities to residents of Bella’s communities. Employees also get an annual allowance of eight paid volunteer service hours for engagement with organizations of their choice. Participation has included support of local schools, homeless shelters, and social service organizations serving families in need due to pandemic school closures and lockdowns; charitable donations to the Navajo Nation and local food banks and shelter services; the provision of apartment community food pantries for residents experiencing food instability; and food and clothing drives.