HOW TO ORGANIZE A WORKPLACE CAMPAIGN

Introduction
Develop Strategies for the Upcoming Campaign
Set Goals
Donor Focus
Top Level Endorsement and Involvement of Management
Follow-Up During Campaign
Publicity
Incentives
Events

Introduction
You have the unique opportunity to design a successful and fun workplace giving campaign that fits your company’s culture; a workplace campaign that can be a great team builder and morale booster.  Below you will find some recommended/suggested steps to take to design that very campaign.  Additionally, your Coalition for Charitable Choice representative can help you customize your campaign to best meet the needs of your organization.

Develop Strategies for the Upcoming Campaign
In developing and designing your results strategies for your upcoming campaign, a budget evaluation is a good first step. You will also need to know the number of employees included in your campaign so you can determine the number of volunteers needed to run it. Once you have determined those numbers, here are some next steps:

• Develop a campaign theme - capitalize on current trends from movies, music or sports or select one drawn from company history, culture, or interests (optional).
• Design the structure of your employee campaign team.
• Set campaign dates and create a campaign timetable.
• Decide on campaign activities and events.
• Consider including retirees in your campaign as donors and volunteers.
• Decide about issues such as new hires, continuous givers, leadership giving, the use of technology, etc.

• Know your organization’s culture, plans and constraints - be aware of developments like downsizing, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions. NOTE: Holding a campaign during a time when morale is low can be a great way for employees to come together for a good cause and can be a great team building exercise.
• Set goals that are achievable and measurable, yet challenging. Goals may be set on overall dollars, dollars by department or division, participation rate, average gift, and/ or per capita gift (optional).
• Publicize goals so that employees know for what they are aiming (optional).
• Decide how goals will be set – by company or operational units (optional).

• Give employees a wide variety of charitable choices.
• Supply the employees with informative materials that encourage the potential contributor to support the campaign.
• Employ an easy-to-use pledge form - the simpler the form the easier it will be to make a pledge.
• Identify key people at the worksite who have been helped by participating charities or who volunteer and know the programs well (optional).
• Guarantee the campaign is accountable and has a reputation for integrity (i.e. issue a report detailing how the money was pledged, allow for donor acknowledgments).
• Personalize the pledge card with the donor’s name (optional).
• Provide adequate time for employees to attend kick-offs and other events.
• Communicate your campaigns needs to your Coalition representative – do you want speakers? Charity fairs? Are there particular issues that concern your employees?

• Have the CEO or other senior manager publicly endorse the campaign by letter, e-mail, or other means.
• Have senior management attend the kick-off/training and encourage them to make their pledges at the kick-off (optional).
• Encourage top union leadership and advocates (if applicable) to be key participants in a campaign.  This benefits everyone. (optional)
• Encourage employees to participate, but always stress that it is a voluntary giving program.

• Utilize report forms that list everyone’s names to ensure follow-up has been done.
• Encourage periodic check-ins via conference calls or bulletin boards with Key Workers by the Campaign Coordinators or Campaign Managers (have materials arrived? are there questions? how is the campaign going?). (optional)
• Give a “thank you” for a job well done.

Publicity
The most successful campaigns advertise well before kick-off and continue to use visible reminders throughout the campaign and year-round. Using posters, progress thermometers (or some other item identifiable to the organization or campaign theme, such as a race track for a car company, or a stack of books for a publishing company), E-mail messages, intranet campaign site, campaign newsletters, table tents in the cafeteria or lunch room, campaign kick-offs and other promotional events will help make the campaign more fun and successful. 

For more information, download the most recent Coalition for Charitable Choice brochure (PDF).
 
Incentives
Incentives to stimulate participation and giving are also helpful. One company organized a sweepstakes, including prizes such as an expense paid vacation, free airline tickets for two, a priority booking for a one-week stay at one of the company’s condos, and a five-day car rental. Larger companies with sizable divisions or branch offices may want to encourage those groups to offer local incentives and to hold local events.