ESOPATHON is your opportunity to stand with your peers and support employee ownership and your ESOP. When you participate in ESOPATHON, the funds you raise fuel the mission of the Employee Ownership Foundation and help expand access while protecting those who already have an ESOP.
What is ESOPATHON?
ESOPATHON is an activity-based, fundraising event that allows employee owners to set up their own chartible fundraising webpage, participate in teams together (like their own ESOP company team), all while celebrating Employee Ownership Month.
When you participate in ESOPATHON, you pick your activity and recuit colleagues, friends, and others to support your effort. Do you swim? Great! Get colleagues to donate a dollar for every lap in October! Are you a runner? Ask your friends to donate funds per mile run. How about reading books? Absolutely. So long as your activity can be measured by time, distance, or units you can raise funds toward that goal. Join a company team and maximixe your contribution!
The real strength of the employee ownership movement comes from the more than 10 million individual employee owners. ESOPATHON is your opportunity to stand with your peers and support employee ownership and your ESOP. .
Below is an overview of some of the Foundation's programs in 2022.
Participation is easy! All you have to do is:
Register now to create your own personal page and pick an activty.
Inform colleagues, friends, and family about the importance of employee ownership and ask them to join your team.
Kick off your campaign and ask for support!
About Employee Ownership
In 1974, instability among employee retirement plans led Congress to enact the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The law protects employees who participate in employer retirement programs and formally established ESOPs. Today, ESOPs as a retirement plan are the most common and successful form of employee ownership in America. In addition to ESOPs, employee ownership takes other forms in the U.S. such as:
- Purchasing a business directly.
- Working in an employee-owned cooperative.
- Being awarded options that they can use to purchase stock at some point.
- Participating in an employee stock purchase plan.
- Participating in a 401(k) plan that has company stock as part of its assets.
In fact, employee ownership has been part of the American economy since our nation’s founding! With your help, employee ownership can grow so more individuals have a chance to own a stake in the businesses where they work.
About the Employee Ownership Foundation
The EOF is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization supported by grants and tax-deductible donations, plus volunteer efforts nationwide. Since its founding, the Employee Ownership Foundation has operated in pursuit of a single overarching goal: to help more individuals become employee owners. If you are an employee owner, the Employee Ownership Foundation has almost certainly been a part of making that happen and making it possible to continue.
The Foundation has raised and donated millions of dollars to collect data used by academics, encourage objective research, and to facilitate dialogue about employee ownership between thought leaders. Each year, the EOF distributes between $350,000 and $500,000 in advancement of its mission.
