This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.
On Giving Tuesday, we’re sharing how we like to Give – we call it Fireclay Gives. From tile donations to good causes to volunteer work, we like to Give back to our community, both near and far. If you’re on a mission to design for good, we want to hear about it. Whether it’s a park, school, or support center in the face of a natural disaster, we’re open to all types of causes in our neighborhood and beyond, including yours.
Financial Support:
In November 2018 we launched our 1% Brick Give Back to The National Parks Conservation Association(NPCA) for all our Glazed Thin Brick sales. The NCPA has worked to protect and preserve America’s favorite places for nearly 100 years and we couldn’t be more proud to partner with them.
Pledge1%
We joined the Pledge1% movement in 2015 when we pledged 1% of our Equity, i.e. ownership in Fireclay Tile, to non-profits. In November 2018, we began Pledging1% of our Product to non-profits and organizations in need. Thus, for every 1,000 square feet of tile we sell, we will donate 10 square feet of tile. In 2019, we anticipate this to equate to roughly 6,000 square feet or roughly enough tile for 600 backsplashes!
One standout project of 2019 was our partnership with Detroit Prep. Established in 2016, Detroit Prep’s mission is to, “provide a world-class, equitable education that will give all students a foundation of academic excellence and character development while fostering a love of learning and passion for exploring and fulfilling their extraordinary potential as learners, leaders, and world-changers.” Which is a mission we can definitely get behind.
Tile Shown: Underground, Fountain and City Lights with 4×4 in Moonshine // Design: Hudson and Sterling // Image: The School on Sylvester
With a little help from our Non-Slip Glazes and Foundations Collection, this incredible school will have durable, beautiful tile that its current and future students will enjoy for years to come.
Tile Shown: 2×6 in Taxi with 6″ Hexagons in City Lights // Design: Hudson and Sterling // Image: The School on Sylvester
You can learn more about this project and Detroit Prep here, but we’ll share a full reveal of this beautiful school in 2020!
Tile Shown: Underground, Fountain and City Lights with2×6 in Taxi// Design: Hudson and Sterling //
Image: The School on Sylvester
We love it when design does good and we’re are happy to donate tile to a good cause. If you have a project in mind, please let us know!
Here are a few other donation projects we’ve worked on in recent years:
For the past 41 years, the San Francisco Decorators Showcase has raised over $16 Million to benefit the San Francisco University High School financial aid program. This even allows for hundreds of deserving Bay Area students access to a world-class college preparatory education.
Here’s the bathroom from the previous year at the SF Decorator’s Showcase:
Tile Shown: 2×8 in Adriatic Sea // Design: Benni Amadi Interiors and Courtney Springer Interiors // Image: Christopher Stark Photography
This non-profit ice cream parlor, Alphabet Scoop, doubles as a job training program investing in NYC youth:
Tile Shown: Ogee Drops in Glacier Bay; Design: Rob Bundy, AIA
Give, You Get
In May of 2017, we kicked off an innovative new giving program called “Give, You Get.” Give, You Get is a program that gives part of your purchase to our team members—the ones making your beautiful tile—and in return, you get money back. The best part? All you have to do is pay with eCheck or Check. We’ll take care of the rest.
When you pay by eCheck, you’ll receive 0.5% back on your order (the Get) and another 0.5% will go towards our Khai Lam Fireclay Tile Family Fund (the Give). This is a sustainable model with no extra cost to anyone that enables a massive giving opportunity to both our clients and our team members and their families.
Volunteering
Fireclay Tile offers one paid Volunteer day per team member per year. Our team members have numerous interests, and this allows them a full day each year to dedicate time, paid by Fireclay, to organizations in need.
We’ve also recently “adopted” The Aromas School, our local public elementary and middle school, with both financial and volunteer support.
And we aren’t going to stop here. We have more initiatives we will soon be announcing, as we believe fully in our Core Value of “Always Be Improving” and that there is so much more Giving we can do!
Want to learn more about how Fireclay Gives? Get in touch here.
