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Steps to Success

The Ten Steps to Success

A workplace giving campaign is only as successful as the employees who participate. Without employees taking the time and effort to designate their payroll deduction to the charities of their choice, there would not be a campaign. The following suggestions are offered to help ensure your campaign's success.

In approaching a new assignment, each of us wants to look forward to success-yet fear of the unknown causes us to ask, "Will I attain it?"

This guide incorporates proven principles which, when followed carefully, have helped hundreds of company campaign coordinators to reach or exceed their goals.

Campaign success involves setting in motion a series of closely interrelated activities and events, each of which builds upon those before it. This creates a momentum that ultimately ensures the success of the campaign. Here are the ten keys to a successful workplace giving program.

Involve the CEO
Review Last Year's Results
Recruit Campaign Team
Meet with Representatives from Participating Organizations
Set Campaign Strategies & Goals
Train Campaign Team
Promote Campaign & Educate Employees
Implement Campaign
Recognize and Thank Donors & Volunteers
Report Results

Step One: Involve the Chief Executive Officer

Secure his or her commitment to the solicitation of all employees.
Make plans to send all employees a letter of support just prior to the beginning of the campaign.
Request that a separate pre-campaign solicitation of the executive group be conducted.
Arrange to meet with your chief executive officer at a later date to review and endorse your campaign plan and your recommended goals.

Step Two: Review Last Year's Results

Review last year's records.
- How much was contributed?
- By how many employees?
- What departments met their goals?
- How many gave via payroll deduction?
- How many donors made cash contributions?
Meet with last year's campaign coordinator.
- What went right?
- What went wrong?
- How can you do better this year?
Develop strategies for building on strengths and overcoming weaknesses.

Step Three: Recruit a Campaign Team

At large companies the campaign may be too complex to be managed by one individual. In such cases, you may want to form a campaign committee to oversee the drive. Each member assumes responsibility for a particular facet of the campaign, depending upon his or her skills and experience.

Roles - Committee Specialists

Publicity Director (Usually from Public Relations or Communications)

Designs and implements the campaign publicity.
Plans and manages the kick-off and other meetings.
Coordinates agency visits (if appropriate).
Plans and manages special publicity events and recognition meetings.

Training Director (Usually from Training Department)

Develops training programs, materials and schedules connecting with people, facilities and equipment.
Conducts training for trainers and solicitors.

Payroll Director (Usually from Data Processing or Payroll)

Develops payroll deduction procedures.
Prepares pledge forms.
Tabulates campaign reports.

Whether or not you use a committee, it is essential to recruit campaign solicitors. The type of solicitation you use will determine how many solicitors you should recruit. Ideally, you will need one to two solicitors per hundred employees if you do group solicitation. However, you will need six to ten solicitors per one hundred employees if you solicit one-on-one.

Make your solicitors represent all segments of your company. Solicitors should be selected because they are viewed as leaders within their peer groups. This will be the action group that will make your campaign successful. Share your assessments and plans with them and seek their suggestions for improvement.

Roles - Solicitors

Understand and believe in the concept of workplace giving campaigns.
Answer questions and direct employees to appropriate sources of information.
Encourage employees to participate in the campaign.
Communicate the role of the brochure and pledge card.

Step Four: Meet with Representatives from the Participating Nonprofit Organizations.

Participating federations are your partners in the campaign. As such, they bring a variety of resources, experiences and expertise that will support your company's campaign. The following are services and tools the participating federations can supply:

Train campaign coordinators and solicitors.
Provide information on member charities.
Help evaluate the campaign and plan for the next year.
Make motivating and informative presentations to employee groups on the services provided by participating charities.
Supply campaign brochures and pledge cards.
Arrange tours of different charities within the community.
Offer display materials such as banners, posters, videos, photographs, or interactive presentations and provide campaign give-away items such as T-shirts, water bottles, coffee mugs, key chains, or magnets.

Step Five: Determine Campaign Strategies

Each company is unique so it is important to design a campaign that fits the company's culture. The following ideas are given as broad guidelines.

Set goals.

Most companies find it useful to set campaign goals. Numeric goals might include total dollars raised and employee participation.

Goals should be determined after reviewing the results of previous campaigns. Ideally, goals should be realistic, but require effort to achieve.

Create a timetable for the kick-off event, group meetings, appreciation event, and results tabulation.

Remember to provide adequate time for planning.

Determine solicitation methods.

There are two basic methods for conducting an employee solicitation: individual and group. Individual solicitation involves the personal solicitation of one employee by another, preferable a peer. A more informative, effective and coercion-free environment is available through the group solicitation process. Employees are brought together in small groups to view a video, hear a brief presentation and ask questions. They generally turn in their completed pledge form at the conclusion of the meeting.

Tips for a Group Solicitation Approach

Garner Support of Leadership. If at all possible, management should approve time-off for employees to attend a kick-off rally for the combined charity drive. Ideally, the CEO or other senior officers should attend and be prepared to make his/her payroll deduction pledge at that time.

Make it Fun. Food is always a draw! Incentives are always appreciated ¾ particularly if it is the boss who is offering the prize. Tie incentives into payroll deduction giving. Show the campaign video.

Stress the Importance of the Drive. This is a once-a-year solicitation on behalf of a multitude of charities. Charities can be supported through the convenience of payroll deduction. Donors choose where they want to direct their dollars. If there are co-workers who have been helped by a participating charity, ask them if they will provide a testimonial before the group.

Be Positive and Knowledgeable. If you believe in the campaign, it will show. Encourage questions and repeat the question if necessary so everyone can hear. If you are unsure of an answer, simply say, "I don't know, but I will find out for you." Then get back to that individual. There are plenty of resources to assist you with the campaign.

Follow-up. Brochures and pledge cards should be available at group solicitation meetings. You want to tap into the enthusiasm the event has generated immediately. Give employees some time at the conclusion of the group solicitation meeting to make their pledge before they return to work. If they do not make their pledge at this time, follow-up with each within two days of the event. Remember, the number one reason people do not give is that they are not asked.

Tips for a One-on-One Approach

Be Organized. Block out a time for your calls and call ahead to your potential contributors to set up a mutually convenient time to meet. Start with the colleagues you know best; this will build your pattern of success and give you positive examples of giving to which you may refer.

Be Prepared. Review the campaign materials ahead of time. Be familiar with the participating charities. With the wide variety of charitable choice in combined campaigns, there is a cause that will be important to everyone. Understand how the pledge card is to be filled out; this will help facilitate your assisting anyone who needs help. Remember to take the brochure and pledge card with you when you make your call.

Be Clear. You are calling on this individual because the charities you are representing need his/her help and support. If you have some facts and figures ready on the amounts raised last year and how they helped, this will help make the case for support. Be sure to point out that this is the only time of year they will be solicited for a charitable contribution at work and that they can do so through the convenience of payroll deduction.

Get a Commitment. Try and get their support right then and there. If they cannot make a commitment at the time of your meeting, be understanding, but stress that you will check back with them in "x" number of days and then follow up as stated.

Say Thank You. Whether your colleague supports the campaign or not, ALWAYS says thank you. While they may not be a supporter this time around, they may next time.

How to Ask a Co-worker for a Donation

Know about the participating federations and their member charities.

Read all the brochures.
Review the charities involved to see if you have had a personal experience with any of them.
Share your experience with co-workers.
Call the participating federations for more information or to conduct a presentation.

Represent all participating federations equally.

Make your pledge first; it shows your commitment to the campaign.
The number one reason why people do not participate in campaigns is because they were never asked - So ask!
Start directly after the kick-off event.
Plan your time to sit with each employee you are assigned.
Never pressure an employee to give. Giving is a personal choice.
If someone is unavailable, send a department memo introducing the campaign along with the campaign brochure and pledge card.

Suggest a giving level (if appropriate).

Donate an hour of pay per month.
Increase the contribution from last year.
Distribute a "What Your Donation Will Buy" brochure.

Teach employees how to fill in the pledge card.

Point out contribution options to all participating federations.
Encourage payroll deduction.
Explain the designation option; meaning an employee has the right to choose one or more charities to receive their gift.
If the employee wants to be acknowledged for their gift, they must fill in the appropriate section of the pledge card.

Thank the employee.

Remember to thank everyone for his or her time, effort, and consideration for giving to the campaign.

Step Six: Train the Campaign Team

Since these are the people who will carry out the employee solicitation process they will need to be knowledgeable and articulate about the campaign. In short, they will need training. The training should cover:

Information about the participating charities.
Effective solicitation techniques.
How to handle and overcome objections.
Campaign materials and time line.
Goals and objectives.

Step Seven: Promote Campaign and Educate Employees

Creative messages, including slogans and themes, can bring your campaign to life and give your communications program a unique look. To create messages that work, it may be helpful to conduct some research among the employees to determine what your co-workers like and will respond to.

A campaign theme will capture the employees' attention, build enthusiasm and personalize the campaign. The theme should be built into every aspect of the campaign such as the kick-off, thank-you cards and appreciation event. Some suggestions for themes include:

Capitalize on trends or fads such as movies, popular songs or sporting events.
Select two or three colors that will be prominent throughout the campaign.
Organize a casual day in which employees dress in accordance with the theme.

In addition to publicity, employees should be given the opportunity to learn about participating charities through kick-off events, brochures, films, presentations and tours. Events can help motivate employees and make the campaign fun.

The kick-off event is the big debut for the campaign. The kick-off is an opportunity for employees to:

Gather valuable information from the charities participating in the campaign.
Meet fellow employees who have benefited from a participating charity.
Come together as a company to support their campaign.

Other Types of Events

Baby Photo Contest:: Display childhood photographs in the lunch room/lobby and have employees guess who is who.
Candy Jar:: Fill a jar with candy and have employees guess the number of pieces in the jar. At the end of the campaign, the employee closest to the correct number gets the jar of candy.
Garden Produce:: Employees with gardens bring in their excess produce and each person who turns in a pledge card receives a lunch bag full of produce.
Talent Show:: Showcase your employees' creative side.
Healthy Food Fair:: Invite a nutritionist to come and give a seminar on the do's and don'ts on healthy eating. Have employees bring their healthy dishes.
Pizza Party:: Each department receives a jigsaw puzzle that looks like a pizza to put together as a team. Each department that reaches its campaign participation goal receives a pizza party.
Raffle:: Each employee that turns in a pledge card or attends a group meeting can participate in a raffle. Prizes could be a car wash by the chief executive officer, movie passes, plane tickets or hotel accommodations.
Veggie Weight Guess:: Employees guess the weight of a squash or pumpkin, similar to the Candy Jar idea.

Step Eight: Implement the Campaign Plan

You've planned your work-now its time to work your plan. All successful campaigns include certain basic elements.

Conduct executive/management solicitation early, in advance of the employee campaign, (often called a pacesetter campaign) to set the pace for the rest of the campaign.
Personalize all pledge cards. This gives an added personal touch and helps you control the campaign by knowing who has/has not been solicited at any particular time.
Conduct group meetings or do one-on-one solicitation.
Run a short intensive campaign-strive for completion within two weeks. Short campaigns keep enthusiasm at a higher level. Allow additional time for people on travel or vacation to turn in their cards.
Follow up with employees to ensure that all have had the opportunity to contribute.
Thank your volunteers and givers for their support.

Step Nine: Recognize and Thank Volunteers and Donors

Campaign coordinators and solicitors, like the donors, need acknowledgment. Showing the company's appreciation for their hard work, time commitment and leadership role helps draw more volunteers for the next year. Consider these different ways to thank campaign coordinators and solicitors:

Thank you page in the company newsletter listing each name.
Framed copy of a group photograph taken at the beginning of the campaign.
Special recognition breakfast the day after the campaign is over.

Donors, without exception, need to be thanked for their participation and support of the campaign. Showing the company's appreciation for employee participation helps build morale and encourages others to give the next year. There are a number of ways to thank donors:

Verbal thank you from solicitor as an employee returns a pledge card.
Report the success of the campaign in the company newsletter.
Thank you card, visit or call from the recipient charity acknowledging the gift.
Incentives and awards for participating employees
General thank you letter from top management to all employees thanking all those who participated.

Step Ten: Report Results and Conduct an Evaluation

The wrap-up of your campaign is just as crucial as any other aspect. It is important to follow these steps after your campaign has ended.

Make certain all pledge cards are returned and accounted for. Whether or not an individual chooses to give is his or her personal decision and no pressure should be exerted to change it. However, the return of all pledge cards is a necessary control mechanism to assure that each employee has been afforded the opportunity to participate.
Prepare campaign reports and notify participating charities of the results.
Meet with the campaign volunteers for an evaluation session of the campaign. Identify the campaign's strengths along with opportunities for improvement.