CADC: Multi-Site Recognition Transformation

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Central Arkansas Development Council, a 326-employee human services nonprofit spanning 25 locations across 12 counties, going through a period of reduced staffing. They needed a platform to implement a culture initiative to encourage cross-team support to decrease feelings of isolation and overwhelm, empower employees to suggest improvements, promote mindful time management, recognize employees, and foster collaboration.  
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In just six weeks of using Give River, they achieved:

9% decrease in feelings of isolation and overwhelm

8% increase in cross-departmental support

8% increase in connection to coworkers

85% want to do another season
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The platform gave HR unprecedented visibility into which teams work well together through recognition patterns, while automating survey creation, training development, and reward deployment. Most tellingly, 85% of participants said they want to do another Season—proving the system created sustainable engagement rather than a short-lived initiative.

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Testimonial

“Give River has been an incredible blessing to our organization. It saved us time and made rolling out our recognition program effortless, helping us launch it in record time. I love seeing the appreciation spread across our teams, it’s truly shifting our culture to be more positive and supportive of everyone’s well being. With our organization spread across 25 sites, Give River shout-outs help me see who’s working well together and feel genuinely more connected to all the teams.”  

‍Leah Sturm, Human Resources Coordinator

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The Challenge

CADC faced the unique challenge of building culture and recognition across a geographically dispersed organization. With 25 locations spread across 12 counties in central Arkansas, their HR team struggled with:

Before Give River:

• Invisible teams: HR coordinator had never met most employees across the 25 sites
• No visibility into collaboration: Couldn’t see which teams were working well together
• Recognition gap: No systematic way to celebrate achievements across locations
• Implementation concerns: Worried about the time and resources needed to launch a recognition program

Key Pain Point: “With our organization spread across 25 sites serving 12 counties in central Arkansas, I had never really known the people. I couldn’t see who was working well together or what was happening in the field.”

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Key Takeaways

Best for organizations that:

• Operate across multiple locations or remote teams
• Need visibility into cross-team dynamics
• Want quick implementation without HR overwhelm
• Seek authentic peer-to-peer recognition
• Need turnkey solutions including surveys and learning content