2018 Mid-Year Report: Community Service at Balentine

From boardrooms and ballrooms to sleeping on the streets, Balentine employees continue to support our communities by raising funds and awareness, offering expertise in finance and investments, and giving of our time, talents, and energy to the not-for-profit and charitable organizations each of us find most meaningful.

Various studies have shown the benefit of the “local multiplier effect,” and at Balentine, we concentrate the majority of our efforts at home. According to Independent Sector, each hour volunteered in Georgia and North Carolina last year generated $25.15 and $23.41 in value, respectively. For cash-strapped non-profits, volunteering even a few hours of your time each month can be hugely impactful. Over the past year, CEO Adrian Cronje volunteered in the boardroom for Agnes Scott College as a trustee and as the chairman of the investment committee; President Brittain Prigge co-chaired the patron committee of Covenant House of Georgia’s “A Night of Broadway Stars” event that raised more than $1 million; Relationship Manager John Maddison and Partner Rob Ragsdale, accompanied by their families, braved sub-freezing temperatures to participate in Christ Church Raleigh's annual “Run for Young” 5K; and Brittain and Chairman Robert Balentine slept on the streets one cold November evening to raise money and awareness for homeless youth.

Last summer, Balentine formalized our community service offering under the leadership of Administrative and Training Associate Christina Callesis—Administrative Associate Sarah Stark leads this initiative for our Raleigh office. Each month they highlight various volunteer opportunities in both cities. As a direct result of their efforts, team “Balentine Bikes for a Cure” was created to raise funds and awareness for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Georgia chapter, while our Raleigh employees spent a morning weeding and laying tarps for produce at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s farm.

Balentine employees are also passionate about sharing their financial and business knowledge with members of the community, particularly students. We hosted several firm-wide volunteer days at Junior Achievement’s Discovery Center this spring, during which employees taught middle schoolers about everything from starting their own business to balancing a checkbook. Adrian also shared his knowledge of quantitative analysis with MBA and undergraduate students at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. For the second year in a row, Balentine hosted an educator from Gwinnett County Public Schools, an initiative led by Associate Relationship Manager James Yost, an alumni of the school district. As part of “Teacher Job Shadow Day,” Leilani Esmond, an assistant principal at Central Gwinnett High School, had the opportunity to visit our office, meet with staff members, and get a glimpse into the work we do each day. Additionally, Relationship Manager Mike Binnicker was accepted into the Philanthropic Advisor Leadership Institute’s (PALI) 2017-18 class. A collaboration between the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and United Way of Greater Atlanta, PALI provides financial, legal, and accounting professionals with training designed to educate them on how to better incorporate charitable planning into their professional practice.

We are also committed to providing students with real-world experiences in the financial services industry and exposing them to the various aspects of this business. Balentine’s internship program, created by Director of Human Capital Clare Easterlin, continues this summer with two interns in our Atlanta office. Carter Grimes, our Operation’s intern, is a rising senior at the University of Georgia studying international business, finance, and German. Josh Wallace, our Relationship Management intern, is a rising junior at the University of Georgia studying information systems and finance. In addition to assisting their teams with day-to-day tasks, they’re also jointly creating a volunteer project for firm-wide participation later this summer.

Without the support of our Atlanta and Raleigh communities, Balentine would not be the firm it is today. As such, in addition to hiring people who are passionate about community service, we believe in giving back at the firm level. Since inception, Balentine has donated approximately half a million dollars to local not-for-profit organizations. Below is a full list of not-for-profit and charitable organizations which our firm and individual employees supported in 2017-18:

• A+ Squash
• Agnes Scott College
• Alliance Theatre
• Alzheimer’s Association
• American Heart Association
• Atlanta Botanical Garden
• Atlanta Charity Clays
• Atlanta Community Food Bank
• Autism Speaks
• Back on My Feet
• Band Together
• Boothbay Region YMCA
• Boys & Girls Clubs
• Canterbury School
• Cary Area EMS
• Charis Community Housing
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• College Park Historical Society
• Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
• Community Sustainability Enterprise
• Covenant House of Georgia
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• Rivers Education Foundation
• Elachee Nature Science Center
• Extra Life
• Families First
• The Garden Conservancy
• Georgia Prevention Project
• Habitat for Humanity
• Honduras Outreach
• JDRF Piedmont Triad Chapter
• Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta
• Kiwanis Club of Atlanta
• Lacy Foundation
• The Lawrenceville School
• LEAD Atlanta
• LifeLine Animal Project
• North Carolina Humanities Council
• North Carolina Museum of History
• North Carolina Symphony
• Marbles Kids Museum
• Morrisville Fire Department
• Oglethorpe University
• PAWS
• Partnership Against Domestic Violence
• Rainbow Village
• Rotary Club of Atlanta
• Saint Mary’s School
• Second Helpings Atlanta
• Shepherd Center
• Southern Highlands Reserve
• Transylvania County Hospital
• UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• United Way of Atlanta
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Warrick Dunn Charities
• Washington & Lee University
• The Westminster Schools
• Woodberry Forest School
• Woodruff Arts Center
• YMCA of the Triangle