Numotion formalizes contributions

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Numotion's new foundation will serve as a “more strategic vehicle” for the company's growing charitable contributions, says CEO Mike Swinford.

The Numotion Foundation will serve as a centralized place for distributing contributions to other 501(c)(3) organizations, he says.

“It takes the burden off of our local teams, which get requests all the time from local organizations and chapters,” he said of Numotion's 140 branches. “Now they can funnel those requests to the foundation team.”

That team will be led by Justin Richardson, director of advocacy strategy for Numotion, who will also serve as executive director of the foundation.

Numotion has also committed to making a contribution to the foundation for each new wheelchair it sells—a good way to tie the growth of the company with a growth in contributions, Swinford says.

“It makes it personal for our employees—every ATP and service tech working on new wheelchairs with new customers,” he said.

While Numotion declined to quantify the contributions it will make for each new wheelchair it sells, “it's not insignificant,” Swinford says.

With the creation of the foundation, Numotion is taking a page from its employees, who have fostered a culture of charitable contributions at the company, with, among other things, trips to Guatemala to conduct seating clinics and community service events to give back to the local community, Swinford says.

“The generosity of our team was the inspiration,” he said. “It's a profession that's very mission oriented and very purposeful. They're passionate about it.”

To reward employees for that passion, Numotion also recently launched a “volunteer time-off benefit” in addition to their vacation time and floating holidays, Swinford says.

“We wanted to make sure that anyone who wants to volunteer feels like they can, because it's a way of life at the company,” he said.