How Smarty Gives Back

For the last three years we have been finding families who are in need around the end of year holidays and participating in a “Sub for Santa” to help them out. In 2021 we learned about, shopped for, and delivered gifts to 15 families in our local Utah area.

Smarty partnered with the United Way to identify the families that were most in need. We then received information about each family member so that we could get to know who they are, what they need, and what sorts of things they might enjoy as a little extra gift. It is a part of that outwardness to try and understand the needs and goals of those who we are working with and serving so that we can best provide for those needs. After organizing ourselves into shopping groups, we head out to acquire the items that we’ve identified will make the biggest difference to these individuals.

This has been done for the last three years (since 2019) in early December. While those who organize it at Smarty do put in many more hours towards this project, most employees devote at least half a day of their time. All Smarty employees are invited to participate each year in our Sub for Santa activity. This is not a required activity, but nearly all employees do take advantage of the opportunity to serve some folks in our community.

We feel that we’ve been able to make a difference, and we’re looking forward to future years of giving back to our community in this way.

Another way we have chosen to be outward is by offering a Name Image Likeness (NIL) deal (offered for the 2021-2022 season) to every female student-athlete at local university Brigham Young University (BYU).

On September 21st 2021 CEO Jonathan Oliver held a conference for the BYU Athletics Department’s female athletes where he extended NIL endorsement agreements to more than 300 students.

If they accepted the deal, each female student-athlete at BYU would receive $6,000 in exchange for posting about Smarty on social media accounts on a regular basis and participating in various company events and activities such as the annual Sub 4 Santa project.

Upwards of 90% of the athletes accepted the deal, and have been posting on social media platforms Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.