Telecom provider gives back to customers

LOUISVILLE — It isn’t every day that you meet an entrepreneur who goes into business to help others. But then again, David Burks isn’t your ordinary kind of businessman. Burks, 37, a decommission manager at Rocky Flats, started Hope Communications in May 1999 as a way to earn long-term income for his family and to help other people donate money to worthy causes.
“My wife and I were at church one Sunday when it struck me how hard it is to come up with the extra money to give freely the way you’d like to. Sometimes it hurts to take money out of your pocket to support something you really believe in,” Burks says.
Hope is an Internet access and long-distance telephone service that donates 50 percent of its commissions back to the organizations (non-profits, youth sports leagues and others) that use Hope as their long-distance and Internet provider.
“Essentially, Hope is a communications reseller,” Burks explains. Hope buys long-distance and Internet time from Opex Communications and sells it to his customers. “I’ve been dabbling in telecommunications since 1994 and realized that the big three (AT&T, Sprint and MCI) grossly overcharge their customers. So, I decided to do some research on the Internet about resellers and chose a company that works with Frontier Communications, the fifth largest long-distance carrier.”
Hope’s two biggest selling points are cost and a commission rebate to the organizations that use Burks’ service. Hope offers customers unlimited Internet access for between $14 and $17 per month and long-distance rates as low as 5.9 cents per minute ¾ without the usual monthly fees. Burks also donates half of his commissions to organizations that work with Hope, which can be a substantial amount of money.
Any non-profit, youth sports league or other organization could sign up for Hope’s services. At the end of the month, Burks tallies all calls and Internet time used by individuals, families or businesses that are referred to Hope by a particular organization. He then donates half of the commissions generated by those callers and Internet users back to that organization.
It’s a different kind of win-win situation: Callers benefit from lower rates, organizations save money through potentially large rebates, and Hope develops loyal customers who like knowing that they are donating to a worthy cause just by making long-distance calls and using the Internet. “Eight out of 10 people are with the big three, and this plan beats those prices hands down because there’s no monthly fee. And it raises money for organizations that our customers support anyway,” says Burks.
Burks founded Hope with a computer, an independent distributor, a list of all the hockey associations in Colorado and a dream of helping people. “I started with youth hockey because I help coach my son’s hockey team, and I know how expensive it is,” says Burks. Today, he provides long-distance and Internet service to more than 500 customers and expects that number to reach 2,000 by March or April.
Hope is currently donating money to three organizations: Pikes Peak Hockey Association, Boulder Valley Hockey Association and Northglenn Little League. “Right now, my focus is to build the reputation of my company, treat our customers fairly, provide good service and support worthy causes,” Burks says. ” I know the money will be there someday.”
Burks’ entrepreneurial spirit comes naturally. His father owned service stations, apple orchards and a night club in Washington state. His generosity comes from deeper emotion about making a difference in the world. “I want my three children to grow up proud of what our family is doing to help other people,” says Burks. “Someday, I’d like to go into a burn hospital for children and hand them a check for $100,000, $200,000 or half a million.”
And he may have that kind of money to donate if his vision for the future succeeds. “Long-distance rates have gone down 40 percent in the last five years, so I asked myself if I was going into a market that would go away in a year,” says Burks. “But long-distance service was just the quickest way to get my foot in the door and help organizations.”
Burks believes that there are two good years left in the long-distance business before the profits disappear. So, he is currently exploring the utilities market: gas, electricity, water and cable. “I’m looking at a large array of services to help people get more value from something they already use every day. My goal for the next two years is to offer a variety of services, and now that they’re deregulating public utilities, there should be a big profit margin for those services.”