2021 Stewardship Report
Acting Responsibly in Our Work
Stewardship has been at the core of our organization from the beginning. We maintain that commitment today with stewardship as one of our core values.
The events of the last two years have further strengthened our commitment to support our communities. We remain deeply committed to helping make our communities better places to live, work and raise families.
Check out our 2021 annual report below to see a summary of our work.
Philanthropy
Opus Foundation®
The Opus Foundation partners with dynamic organizations in the areas of early childhood education, youth development, workforce development, community revitalization and pressing/emerging needs. Annually, Opus contributes 9% of earnings to the Opus Foundation as part of our 10% giving pledge. (Learn more about that here.)
Impactful Grantmaking
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Impact Investing
The Opus Foundation operates from a healthy endowment and has awarded more than $52.9 million in grants since its inception in 2000. In 2020, the Foundation expanded the impact of its resources by making impact investments. (Learn about the launch here.)
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Collaborative Initiatives
Opus and the Opus Foundation take collaboration to a whole new level. We believe that by bringing our strengths and working together we can increase our impact.
Gerry Rauenhorst Building Community Award
The Building Community Award celebrates our founder's philanthropic legacy and our history. With an enduring belief that business has a responsibility to strengthen society, Gerry Rauenhorst ensured giving back was a cornerstone of our organization.
The Award recognizes one impactful nonprofit with a grant valued at $1,000 for each year of our organization's history and $1,500 to each of the remaining seven finalists.
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Future Builders
The vision for the Future Builders initiative is to cultivate a pipeline of qualified, diverse workers to sustain and advance the construction industry. A true partnership between the Foundation and associates, it pairs strategic grantmaking and hands-on activities planned and executed by associates.
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United Way Campaign
We streamlined our campaign due to the impact of the pandemic, but still yielded great results.
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Founder's Day
April 22, Founder's Day at Opus, marks the date back in 1953 when our founder, Gerry Rauenhorst, signed his first contract to build Zion Lutheran Church in Olivia, Minnesota.
The principles that Gerry ingrained in his very first projects went on to inspire the core values that Team Opus upholds today—safety, integrity, respect, innovation, entrepreneurship and stewardship.
Each year we celebrate Founder's Day in honor of Gerry's legacy of giving back. Founder's Day is typically a day during which our teams across the country come together in their respective markets to give back to the communities in which we live and work. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we canceled the traditional event. Many small groups volunteered throughout the year, and the Opus Foundation supported organizations in all of our markets.
Opus Giving Back
Time
The continuing pandemic took its toll on large group volunteer events. Our team members didn’t let that stop them; small group and individual volunteering took the place of these large events.
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Resources
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Building on our core values of respect, stewardship, innovation and safety, we're taking thoughtful, deliberate steps to respond and encourage greater diversity, equity and inclusion in our industry and communities.
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Racial Equity Grants from the Opus Foundation
The Opus Foundation has long supported organizations addressing social, education and economic issues. Now they are working to operationalize racial equity throughout the organization and supporting nonprofits that challenge racial injustices and influence systemic changes. (Read about the steps the Foundation is taking here.)
Community Time Off
Opus associates receive 16 hours per year to give back to our communities. Formerly named Volunteer Time Off, it was changed to Community Time Off (CTO) in support of our efforts to create a more inclusive workplace.
With CTO, associates can use this paid time off to volunteer or engage in community building activities, such as personally-relevant community or cultural events, celebrations or holidays that are not reflected on our paid holiday calendar.
Sustainability
We want to positively impact our communities and make them better today and for future generations. We are committed to sustainable design and construction as a best practice in every project we undertake.
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Impactful Community Partnerships
We aim to go beyond – not only by delighting our clients and the users of our buildings but also by caring for the communities where we build these projects. We’ve showcased our relentless commitment to getting this right in communities across the country.
When we do work in any community, whether we have a history there or it’s new to us, we aim to benefit the community by developing and maintaining strong relationships with the project’s neighbors, community groups and municipal officials and finding ways to actively demonstrate responsible stewardship.
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2021 Opus Foundation® Grantees
- Academy of Holy Angels
- ACE Mentor Program of Colorado
- African American Leadership Forum
- AGC of Missouri Education Foundation
- Anawim Housing
- Appalachia Service Project
- Arizona Helping Hands
- Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA)
- Augsburg University
- Avivo
- Ball State University Foundation
- Banner Health Foundation
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa
- Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities
- Bishop Manogue Catholic High School
- Black Men Teach Twin Cities
- Boise Valley Habitat for Humanity
- Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver
- Breck School
- Brent Eley Foundation
- Building Futures Design & Build Workshops
- By Degrees Foundation
- By The Hand Club For Kids
- Camp Fire Minnesota
- Cardinal Ritter Senior Services
- CATCH, Inc.
- Catholic Climate Covenant
- Child Crisis Arizona
- Christ Community Lutheran School
- Christopher House
- Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
- Colorado District Council of the Urban Land Institute
- Colorado Youth for a Change
- Common Pantry
- CommonBond Communities
- Construction Education Foundation
- CU Real Estate Center at Leeds School of Business
- Denver Inner City Parish
- Denver Kids
- DinoMights
- Downtown Tempe Foundation
- Dress for Success Indianapolis
- Dress for Success Twin Cities
- Earnest & Edna Shepherd Youth Center
- East Side Neighborhood Service Inc.
- Every Third Saturday
- Feed My Starving Children
- Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN
- Freedom Farm
- Friends of Kids with Cancer, Inc
- Fueled for School
- Genesys Works Twin Cities
- Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys
- Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana
- Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota
- Goodyear Pebblecreek Rotary Foundation
- Great River Greening
- Greater Chicago Food Depository
- Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity
- Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity
- Greater MSP
- Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation
- Greater Twin Cities United Way
- Green Beret Foundation
- Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona
- Habitat for Humanity Chicago
- Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City
- Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis
- Harvesters - The Community Food Network
- Hearts & Hammers
- Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation
- Home Sweet Home
- Hope Academy
- Hope Community
- Hope Ministries
- International Institute of St. Louis
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation
- Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis
- Lewy Body Dementia Association
- Living Well Disability Services
- Loaves & Fishes Community Services
- Martin Luther King Community Center
- Meals from the Heartland
- Mesa Arts Center Foundation
- Metro Caring
- MicroGrants
- Mile High United Way
- Mile High Youth Corps
- Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge
- Minnesota American Legion Foundation Fund 84
- Minnesota Public Health Association
- National Brotherhood of Skiers
- National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
- New Pathways for Youth
- NEWSED Community Development Corporation
- Northern Star Council
- Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON)
- Operation Breakthrough, Inc.
- Our Lady of Peace Church
- Our Savior Lutheran Church
- Pathway Financial Education
- Penumbra Theatre
- Peter & Paul Community Services
- Pillsbury United Communities
- PREP-KC
- Project for Pride in Living, Inc.
- Project IOWA
- REAL Africa Resources Enriching African Lives
- Rebuilding Together Kansas City, Inc.
- Rebuilding Together Metro Chicago
- Rebuilding Together Twin Cities
- Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis
- Rosie’s House: A Music Academy for Children
- Saint Clare's Tahoe: A Mountain Montessori School
- Saint Thomas Academy
- Second Harvest Heartland
- Sioux Empire United Way
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul
- Special Olympics Minnesota
- SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation
- St. Louis Area Foodbank
- St. Louis Children's Hospital Foundation
- St. Mary's Early Childhood Center
- Starts Right Here Movement
- STEP - St. Louis Park Emergency Program, Inc.
- Summit Academy OIC
- Sweet Dreams in a Bag
- The Knothole Foundation
- The Link
- The Lovelady Center
- The Salvation Army - Northern Division
- Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, Inc.
- United Way of Central Indiana
- United Way of Central Iowa
- United Way of Greater Kansas City
- United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
- United Way of Greater St. Louis
- United Way of Metro Chicago
- University of Denver - Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management
- University of Minnesota Urban Studies Program
- University of Notre Dame
- University of St. Thomas
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Urban Boatbuilders, Inc.
- Valley of the Sun United Way
- Waconia United Food Shelf
- Walker West Music Academy
- Wheeler Mission
- YMCA of Metro Chicago
2021 Opus Foundation® Board of Directors
- Jeff Rauenhorst, Chair
- Joe Downs
- Aretha Green-Rupert
- Olivia Jefferson
- Dave Menke
- Tim Murnane
- Kim Noonan
- Anne Peacock
- Matt Rauenhorst
- Ian Widmer