People have until the Aug. 31 deadline to nominate a Washington company for a 2017 Corporations for Communities Award.

Nomination forms can be found at sos.wa.gov/corps/corpsforcommunities.

Past nominations included charitable activities like paid time for employee volunteer work, sponsoring and organizing fundraisers, matching of employee giving efforts, direct cash and in-kind donations, and building a community of giving within their organizations.

Winners will be announced in late September, with an awards ceremony taking place in Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s office later in the fall. Wyman will present the award-winning companies with a National Association of Secretaries of State Medallion, the highest national honor awarded by NASS.

Wyman said: “We are lucky to have many Washington companies that are committed to giving back in different ways. This award program gives people a chance to help recognize these companies that contribute to local causes, and I encourage people to submit a nomination by the 31st.”

Anyone can nominate businesses for the award. Any for-profit corporation, limited liability company (LLC) or limited partnership is eligible for the award. Nominees need to be registered with the Office of Secretary of State and must be in compliance with state and federal laws.

For more information about the awards program, contact program coordinator Patrick Reed at (360) 725-0358 or patrick.reed@sos.wa.gov.

The Corporations for Communities program began in 2009 as a way to recognize exceptional Washington businesses that demonstrate a commitment to giving in order to improve local or regional social and environmental conditions. The program is run by the Corporations & Charities Division, which is part of the Office of Secretary of State.