October is Employee Ownership Month, a time dedicated to celebrating a business model that is a powerful force for good. At Community IT Innovators, the celebration isn’t just about sharing in the business; it’s about sharing a deeper commitment to who we serve—the nonprofit community.
For us, being 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) since 2012 isn’t a footnote in our history; it is the cornerstone of our culture and the most effective tool we have for delivering exceptional, dependable technology service to mission-driven organizations.
When every employee is an owner, our financial success is directly tied to the success of our nonprofit clients. That shared purpose transforms how we approach IT problems, how we innovate, and how we commit to the long-term sustainability of the organizations that rely on us. For us, employee ownership isn’t just a benefit—it’s a mindset of accountability and mission alignment.
Being an ESOP – an Employee Owned Company – aligns the interests of our employees with the interests of the nonprofits we support. Our team doesn’t simply work for a company; we own the company whose sole purpose is to serve the nonprofit sector.
This alignment creates a virtuous cycle: when we provide exceptional IT service—like reliable cybersecurity or efficient cloud solutions—our nonprofit clients thrive. Their success ensures the company’s success, which in turn directly benefits every employee-owner. This deep connection allows our staff to listen better, make sure we get the answers right, and really care about our clients’ success. We can take the time to understand the unique needs and resource constraints of organizations changing the world.
As Vince Grady, our Chief Financial Officer, noted, being an ESOP has a positive impact on our employees. When everyone feels connected and has pride of ownership in their work, they are motivated to contribute to our mission. This commitment isn’t theoretical; it plays out in every interaction, ensuring that every decision is filtered through the question: How does this best serve our nonprofit client?
The IT services industry is fast-paced and challenging. Our team members face complex technical problems every single day—from stabilizing an unexpected network outage to implementing a new data security policy. Solving these problems requires more than technical skill; it demands independent thought and timely decision-making. It sounds counterintuitive, but the ability to be creative when solving a technical problem is the difference between ok help desk service and really great customer service.
Our team members are not just following a script; we are encouraged to be resourceful, take initiative, and offer options appropriate to the nonprofit client, because we understand we are accountable for the results. Employees are empowered to make decisions that benefit our clients, ensuring high-quality service.
This ownership mindset ensures that the expertise our team gains from working with hundreds of nonprofits is applied directly and intelligently to the task at hand. If you have a single staff member responsible for IT they have to be good at everything. The MSP model and our employee-ownership mean you get the advice of our whole team, and our experience over the years with hundreds of clients who may have faced similar challenges. It means we don’t just solve the problem—we look for ways to improve the entire system, providing long-term value that helps nonprofits operate more smoothly and effectively.
One of our core values as a company is Trust; another is Knowledge. We strive to be a trustworthy, experienced partner as you navigate nonprofit IT decisions. If you don’t understand something, we will answer all your questions until you have enough information to make your choices. Truly, there are no bad questions when it comes to managing your IT. You can do it, and we can help.
One of the most tangible ways our employee-owned model benefits our clients is in how we handle profits. Unlike traditional companies that might prioritize large profits to outside shareholders or an owner-founder, we choose to reinvest most of our earnings back into the business and, crucially, into our team.
This reinvestment is focused on:
Community IT is not for sale. With all of the mergers and sales taking place in the MSP sector, we see many new clients whose previous MSP’s service ethic fell precipitously after being acquired, experienced staff were let go, prices went up, or all of the above. As an employee-owned company, we control our service standards, focus on staff development and retention, and work with our clients to weather budgetary hard times and keep the IT lights on. Our clients can depend upon Community IT to continue providing dedicated, mission-aligned support for years to come.
Employee Ownership Month is more than just a celebration of a financial structure; it’s a moment to reflect on the collective effort and shared success that our ESOP creates. It highlights the pride every employee feels not only in their work, but in the knowledge that their efforts help nonprofits fulfill their missions.
At Community IT Innovators, we don’t just offer IT support; we offer a partnership driven by our employee ownership. This October, we celebrate every employee-owner who brings their expertise, passion, and commitment to the table, ensuring that the organizations making the world better have the reliable, mission-aligned technology they need to thrive.
Community IT has been serving nonprofits exclusively for almost twenty-five years. We offer Managed IT support services for nonprofits that want to outsource all or part of their IT support and hosted services. For a fixed monthly fee, we provide unlimited remote and on-site help desk support, proactive network management, and ongoing IT planning from a dedicated team of experts in nonprofit-focused IT. And our clients benefit from our IT Business Managers team who will work with you to plan your IT investments and technology roadmap if you don’t have an in-house IT Director.
We constantly research and evaluate new technology to ensure that you get cutting-edge solutions that are tailored to your organization, using standard industry tech tools that don’t lock you into a single vendor or consultant. And we don’t treat any aspect of nonprofit IT as if it is too complicated for you to understand.
One of the benefits of working with an MSP is a comprehensive view of your IT from the ground up, and the expertise to help you form your strategic vision and create an IT Roadmap to get there.
We think your IT vendor should be able to explain everything without jargon or lingo. If you can’t understand your IT management strategy to your own satisfaction, keep asking your questions until you find an outsourced IT provider who will partner with you for well-managed IT.
If you’re ready to gain peace of mind about your IT support, let’s talk.
As advocates for using technology to work smarter, we’re practicing what we recommend. This article was drafted with the assistance of an AI, but the content was reviewed, edited, and finalized by a human editor to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
Wednesday November 19th at 3pm Eastern learn how to implement strategies to make sure your nonprofit technology aligns with your values.
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