At Delta Dental of Wisconsin (DDWI), it’s our mission to improve oral health and wellness, and we pride ourselves on giving back to our Wisconsin communities. 

We recently sat down with Sue Shulfer, our director of human resources, to talk about DDWI’s participation with United Way and our overall company culture of community involvement.

Q. Explain DDWI’s involvement with the United Way of Portage County. 

SS: The yearly United Way campaign is the largest employee and company campaign we focus on at Delta Dental of Wisconsin. The need in our community is great; our local United Way organization supports multiple agencies and addresses many critical issues. DDWI and the United Way of Portage County believe that together, we can accomplish more than any one of us could accomplish alone in serving the unmet needs of our community’s most vulnerable populations. 

Q. DDWI is a community pacesetter. What does that mean?

SS: DDWI, along with a few other select organizations, coordinate their campaign early to set the pace for the rest of the community. The generosity of DDWI employees serves as a role model for other organizations. All together, the pacesetters raise approximately 10% of the total campaign goal.  

Q. What were the results from this year?

SS: DDWI exceeded both our monetary and participation goals again this year.  This year our campaign resulted in 238 employees contributing an outstanding $89,420.50. Along with the DDWI corporate contributions, we presented a check to the United Way of Portage County for $275,000.  

Q. How does DDWI foster a culture that allows employees to get involved in supporting initiatives like the United Way or other volunteer events? 

SS: DDWI is a generous organization that makes many charitable contributions. Our employees align with this philosophy.  This part of our culture is a big reason employees join DDWI and remain employed for many years.  

Earlier this year we implemented two new programs that recognize the importance of charitable nonprofit organizations and community involvement by our leadership and employees.  The Matching Gifts program offers employees who donate money to a charitable organization a corporate match of up to $500 per year, and our Volunteer Involvement Program allows an employee up to 8 hours of paid time off for community service volunteering.

Q. DDWI employees seem to be a giving group of people. What other organizations or events do the employees help support during the year?

SS: Each year, employees coordinate charitable drives that focus on helping groups within our communities such as children, special needs populations, and animals. For example, a few weeks ago we completed a school supplies collection. And this week, we announced a DDWI team for an upcoming MS Walk for our employees to voluntarily participate in.  

At Delta Dental of Wisconsin, we’re proud to foster a culture of giving that helps those who need it most.