How Sunbelt Rentals scales CSR programs internationally with hyperlocal focus

Overview

The new initiative includes employee giving opportunities, gift-matching programs, and formal grantmaking. Additionally, Sunbelt’s 22,000 employees can participate in the company’s “Dollars for Doers” employee volunteerism program, which now spans the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Challenges

Sunbelt Rentals’ small but mighty Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility team is responsible for delivering and supporting CSR programming that spans across three countries, each with its own legal, cultural, and operational requirements.

When attempting to scale its CSR programs globally, the team encountered challenges with designing a program strategy that was united under a cohesive brand initiative while simultaneously maintaining a hyperlocal focus on the social needs of each region. The team, led by Tara Fletcher, Director, Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility, needed to ensure these programs resonated with regional audiences respectfully without creating a disconnected or inconsistent feel for employees, team members, and nonprofit partners. 

The logistical complexity of scaling CSR operations across borders posed a second challenge. 

To be successful, the team needed to account for varying compliance requirements such as GDPR and regional data privacy regulations, develop appropriate reporting systems, manage donations and matching across multiple currencies, and budget effectively using real-time exchange rates. 

Without the right technology in place, these operational needs would be difficult to scale alongside the company’s growing global footprint.

Solutions 

A unified approach to hyperlocalization

Sunbelt Rentals responded to these challenges by introducing a centralized, yet adaptable, strategy designed to support consistency and localization in community engagement.

Bonterra CyberGrants provided the technological foundation for the team to confidently scale their CSR efforts, allowing Sunbelt Rentals to manage international program delivery, compliance, reporting, and employee participation within one integrated platform.

To unify its global efforts, the team created the “Sunbelt Rentals Gives” identity—an approachable and consistent brand that helped employees across all regions connect with the company’s community-focused mission. This identity gave form to a strategic framework that was applied across all markets, while the delivery of the programming was tailored to meet local needs.

The Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility team relied on CyberGrants for its phased and intentional international rollout. The plan was guided by three pillars: research, partnerships, and sequencing. Before requesting involvement from country-level teams, the team began by building internal understanding around local compliance and operational requirements, such as GDPR and regional nonprofit structures. This helped secure trust, improve adoption, and minimize the administrative burden on in-region colleagues who were already stretched thin.

To keep momentum strong and the program responsive, the team also worked to build local champions and secure buy-in across business units. These champions played a critical role in socializing the programs and helping adapt communications and engagement strategies to each region’s preferred channels, workstyles, and cultural tone.

The team then turned to CyberGrants to customize individual programs based on the administrative needs of each region. In one instance, the team leveraged CyberGrants to ensure that all programming launched in Canada included French-Canadian translations. The team is now exploring the platform’s payroll deduction capabilities for its employee giving programs operating in the United Kingdom.

Outcomes

With the support of Bonterra CyberGrants and a strong foundation of internal research and planning, Sunbelt Rentals was able to roll out a fully branded, internationally scalable CSR program that is actively growing across three countries. In just the first half of 2025, Sunbelt Gives has generated over $1 million in total giving, including more than $19,000 in employee contributions. Sunbelt Rentals team members have logged over 1,800 volunteer hours in that timeframe as well. 

The team achieved several critical outcomes through its structured and locally adaptable approach. Internal research and stakeholder collaboration enabled faster buy-in from regional teams and greater alignment with local social needs. Compliance barriers were addressed early, reducing risk during launch phases. Language localization and currency management capabilities made it easier to support country-specific needs without fragmenting the program.

Sunbelt Rentals also placed a strong emphasis on reaching employees in hybrid or remote roles. Recognizing that many team members were not office-based “desk warriors,” the team invested in creating communication pathways and storytelling frameworks that would resonate with drivers, mechanics, and field staff who engage with the company differently than traditional office workers.

Sunbelt Rentals made its community engagement initiatives more inclusive by tailoring participation models to employees with varying schedules, locations, and job responsibilities. By investing in flexible and accessible volunteer opportunities—both in-person and remote—the team was able to extend participation to a broader set of employees and strengthen company-wide engagement with the Sunbelt Rentals Gives mission.