Please read our FAQ carefully before emailing us. We receive many emails during the course of our programs and, while we return emails as quickly as possible, you are best served by following the information below.
FAQ Categories
Key Dates
Firm Eligibility
Award Financial Contribution
Selection Process
Key Dates
What is the timeline?
- Applications open: April 8, 2022
- Application deadline: May 11, 2022
- List published: June 13, 2022
What time frame are we being judged on?
- Your most recent full fiscal year.
Firm Eligibility
Who is eligible to apply?
To be eligible for consideration, organizations must meet all of the following criteria:
- Must be in business a minimum of 1 year
- Have a minimum of 10 employees in the United States (Please note: All employees in your company should be included in your employee count, not just your financial advising department).*
- Be a registered investment adviser (RIA), affiliated with (but not an employee of) an independent broker dealer (IBD), or a hybrid/dually-registered firm affiliated with an IBD and doing business through an RIA.
- Firms should directly provide financial advice to households or organizations.
Include all current, full- and part-time United States employees, from the CEO, partners, all the way to line-level employees, including remote employees. Remote employees are defined as employees that work from home or on the road who directly report to a supervisor in the United States.
Exclude all temporary, seasonal or per diem employees, PRN, 1099 employees/independent contractors, volunteers, interns, outside consultants or staffing employees placed by other organizations.
Are international companies eligible for the Invest in Others Awards?
This awards program is for U.S. firms only.
How frequently can a company apply?
Annually.
Award Financial Contribution
Is there any monetary award associated with the list?
No there is no monetary award.
Selection Process
What is the criteria that we will be judged on?
Corporate finalists will be selected based on the company’s demonstrated ability to encourage philanthropy amongst its employees, financial advisors and senior leaders.
Criteria include:
- Incentives: Does the company offer incentives for employees and advisors to participate in corporate giving programs? This includes matching gift programs and volunteer time off.
- Contribution: Does the firm volunteer significant time and actively work towards the betterment of its community? This includes the participation rates of employees, advisors and senior leaders as well as volunteer hours completed.
- Community Impact: Has the firm made a significant impact on nonprofits and the community?
- Inspiration: How compelling is the company’s philanthropic efforts? Do they positively impact the company culture? Do they inspire increased volunteer efforts from employees?
Judging Process
- As applications are received, IiO will confirm the eligibility of the firm.
- A quantitative formula will then be applied to the pool of eligible firms in order to narrow the list of applicants for additional review by a panel of past IiO Award winners and finalists.
- This judging panel will then blindly review and score the submissions based on criteria including incentives, contribution, impact, and inspiration, resulting in a final list of ~20 firms.
