Who Is Chad Richison?
For those of you unfamiliar with the world of billionaires, Chad Richison, 51, is the CEO and founder of the payroll processing firm Paycom, based in Oklahoma.
He doesn’t just want to be charitable for the sake of being charitable.
Enter ‘The Giving Pledge.’
Founded in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Melinda and Bill Gates, the Giving Pledge came to life following a series of conversations with philanthropists about how they could set a new standard of generosity among the ultra-rich. Source.
The Giving Pledge is set out as “a promise by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate most of their wealth to charitable causes.” In an interview with Forbes Magazine recently, Richison says, “I want to make a sustainable difference. In a perfect world, I would identify those opportunities and give well before my dying days, so I can see the good the gifts are doing.”
3 Ways Chad Richison Offers Hope Through Opportunity
- The Importance of Sport
Richison grew up in Tuttle, Oklahoma, a city of just over 6,000 residents, and attended the University of Central Oklahoma. He didn’t have it easy and credits his success to hard work and those he surrounded himself with growing up.
“I started my first business hauling hay. As a young entrepreneur, I learned early on that you have to work hard, honor your commitments and surround yourself with good people because no one does it alone.” Source.
Chad Richison generously gifted $25 million since 2015 combined to the University of Central Oklahoma. The donations mainly funded the university’s athletic program, including the locker rooms and training facilities. In a nod to his high school sporting career, the sizable donation gives the next generation the facilities needed to progress athletically.
- Freeing Therapy
Richison has a passion for mental health-based philanthropy.
Green Shoe is a mental health nonprofit set up in 2015 and funded by the Richison Family Foundation. It offers five-day retreats run by professional mental health practitioners and is aimed at improving individuals’ lives. Its central aim is to help anyone who has suffered a “less than nurturing” childhood and as a result has led to trauma being carried into their adult lives. Richison says that the aim is to prevent trauma “from going from generation to generation.”
Programs such as this one are expensive to attend privately and can cost from $2,500 to $3,500 per retreat. Source.
Chad Richison knows of the expense of this from personal experience, having attended a similar retreat in Arizona. He is passionate about ending the stigma of mental health and about making it accessible for all. If you are over the age of 21 and complete the entire retreat, you will be reimbursed the holding deposit of $475. So, essentially it is free.
- A Home Away from Home
Chad recently donated $5 million to The American Cancer Society for the creation of the Chad Richison Hope Lodge in his home state. The state-of-the-art facility will provide free lodging for cancer patients and their caregivers traveling to medical centers in Oklahoma City for treatment.
Most of us can’t even begin to imagine the logistics of setting ourselves or our loved ones up in a hotel or rental property for an unknown or extended period for medical care.
Hope Lodge is designed specifically to be a home away from home to bring some comfort to cancer patients and their families during stressful times. It is designed to take the worry out of securing accommodation at a moment’s notice. Most importantly though, it takes away the financial burden of paying for lodging for patients of cancer treatment at a time when money should be the very last thing you need to worry about.
Leaving the World a Better Place
There is no doubt that Chad Richison, through his company Paycom’s success, has already made the world a better place and his involvement in the Giving Pledge means that we have only had a taste of what’s to come.
Learn more at www.givingpledge.org and www.paycom.com or simply follow the links in this blog.