Employee Campaign Coordinator Training United Way of Lebanon County 2014-2015 Campaign 1
CAMPAIGN Each year, HUNDREDS of local companies and thousands of donors support United Way of Lebanon County through a workplace campaign. We're excited to say that in the 2013-2014 campaign, we raised more than $1.9 million dollars! We couldn t have done it without you thanks for LIVING UNITED! Want to hold a great workplace campaign? Let us help you make it a success and make your job as a United Way Employee Campaign Coordinator (ECC) as easy as possible. We are your resource! 2
TIPS & TOOLS STEPS TO RUNNING A UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN We know planning and executing a United Way Campaign takes some time but don't feel overwhelmed! These Steps to Success will help you run an efficient and effective campaign Remember, we are your resource! Step 1: Plan your Campaign Step 2: Set Goals Step 3: Educate and Inspire Step 4: Ask Step 5: Thanking and Recognition Step 6: Remit: Campaign Wrap-up 3
Step 1: Plan your Campaign Allow sufficient time to plan your campaign and incorporate campaign best practices to increase participation and reach your fundraising goals. Recruit a Campaign Committee Engage your CEO and Leadership Team Engage Unions and Labor Employees (if applicable) Develop and Timeline and Checklist Year-round Engagement 4
ONE is a lonely number! Tips: Make sure to recruit other enthusiastic and resourceful employees to help with the campaign. Serving on United Way Campaigns is a great professional development opportunity! Stick to a 1:20 ratio of committee members to employees Work with your management team to identify employees who would be a good fit for your committee Promote committee work as a professional development opportunity Provide clear expectations, a simple job description and time commitment to those you recruit Recruit members from each of your key departments Who should you recruit? Leadership Giving Chair/Champion Executive Sponsor: CEO or senior leader who will endorse the campaign Campaign Chair: leader of your campaign, works side-by-side with Ambassador Vice Chair: assists the campaign chair and ideally next year's campaign chair Giving Communities Champion Events Lead: provides support to execute campaign events Get a sample Committee Recruitment Letter! (part of communications templates) 5
CEO, Owner, Senior Management Support When your CEO and leadership team support the campaign and participate in activities, employee participation increases. This helps meet and exceed your campaign goals. Tips: Ask your CEO or a senior leader to approve the campaign timeframe and use of organizational funds and work time for campaign activities and committee meetings Ask your CEO or a senior leader to appoint a Leadership Giving Chair Communicate your campaign goals to your senior management Encourage senior management to lead by example by giving their gift early and increasing their level of support Encourage your senior leaders to actively support the campaign by attending events, speaking at campaign committee meetings and staff events and endorsing the campaign through personal communications. 6
Engage Unions & Labor Employees The United Way campaign can be utilized as a hands-on strategy for building stronger relationships between labor and management. United Way partners with local government & community services to assist employees with (i.e.. BC Chicken): Emergency Financial and Food Assistance Information & Referral Layoff & Dislocated Worker Collaborative Trainings Community Resource Trainings Education & Civic Engagement Activities Partnership & Initiative Activities Union Volunteerism United Way Campaign in the Labor Community Ask for Best Practices for involving labor in your campaign. Did you know organized labor has been a partner with United Way for over 70 years? 7
Develop and Timeline and Checklist Timelines help establish goals and identify campaign best practices to implement into your 2014 campaign For an example of a campaign timeline (see sample communications for detailed version) Time Three months prior to campaign Two months prior to campaign Six weeks prior to campaign Topic Develop a Plan for your campaign Thank your donors and communicate the previous year's results Communicate volunteer opportunities and profiles of campaign leaders Three & four weeks prior to campaign Communicate stories featuring Stabilizing Families, Helping Children Succeed and Empowering Healthy Lives; the schedule of activities; and United Way Video. Two weeks prior to campaign One week prior to campaign CEO message including campaign, participation and volunteer goals. 8 Pledge instructions and donor profiles.
Year-round Engagement Provide engagement opportunities for your staff throughout the year to increase participation and funds raised Year-round activities educate your staff about the impact they are making on our community and further their engagement with United Way. Ideas (Get more year-round engagement tips in communications templates) Schedule an agency tour or agency speaker Do a fun, interactive activity like the Chalkboard Selfie-Contest or the Smarties Poverty Activity Use Social Media visit United Way of Lebanon County s website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed to share with employees 9
Incentive Prizes Incentive prizes do make a difference in overall giving and individual giving levels Most popular incentive prizes are VACATION DAYS Other incentive ideas: Choose your own Gift Card company sets the amount Trips can be as simple as a one stay somewhere Cash Designated Employee Parking Spaces 10
Step 2: Set Goals Setting specific goals and objectives determines where to focus your energy within your campaign. United Way can help you set your goal ask Julie Osborne to assist! Assess your campaign strengths and opportunities Analyze past results Set goals and objectives to make your 2014 campaign the most successful yet! 11
Campaign Analysis Review last year s campaign results to determine 2014 campaign opportunities. Ask for your company or organization s Campaign Analysis - a detailed campaign summary and analysis of the last five years of your campaign's giving history Analysis will help you determine strategies that will have the biggest and broadest impact in your campaign Set Company goals, division, and department goals Have a healthy competition between company segments to increase the total amount raised 12
Segment Audiences to Increase Results Grouping employees into specific categories helps you tailor your messaging and engage different audiences Here are common segments: Loyal Donors Major Gifts Millennial New Employees Union Employees Retirees* Women Departments / Divisions Physical Locations Field and Remote Employees * Please collect home addresses and continue to contact them after retirement or provide United Way with retirees information and we will send them a pledge form. 13
Develop Goals for Leadership Giving Leadership Giving ($500 and above / $10 wk.) increases revenue in workplace campaigns and builds a deeper connection between employees and United Way. Make sure to incorporate Leadership Giving goals into your overall campaign strategy. By giving at the United Way Leadership Giving level and becoming a PACESETTER, donors have the opportunity to: Increase their knowledge of community issues and how United Way is creating solutions to tough problems. Events and reports to show you how your dollars are invested. Build leadership skills through exclusive board trainings, family-friendly volunteer opportunities, and/or by joining committees. Get recognized. By becoming a PACESETTER, donors receive recognition by United Way in our Annual Report and at our Pacesetter Reception. 14
Join The Next Generation Of Leaders Emerging Leaders United Way Emerging Leaders is a group of early to mid-career professionals that are committed to making a difference in our community Members make a commitment to become a Pacesetter over a three year period Year one $250 Year two $375 Year three $500 Get recognized. By becoming an Emerging Leader, donors receive recognition by United Way in our Annual Report and at our Pacesetter Reception 15
Step 3: Educate and Inspire Choose the right balance of head and heart for a successful campaign Unique engagement practices and education-based communications achieved a 33 percent increase in total dollars raised United Way has many tools and best practices that bring together meaningful stories and impactful statistics to educate and inspire your staff When planning and designing communications for your campaign, make sure you use: Consistent messaging Multiple communication mediums events, email, intranet, social media, posters, videos and PowerPoint, in order to reach the broadest audience Success stories and impactful statistics Chalkboard Selfies to capture your staff s personal reasons of why they LIVE UNITED or give to United Way. 16
Educational Tips & Tools: Success Stories Impact Events Volunteer Events Promote your Campaign through Social Media Interactive Activities 17
Success Stories Share success stories with your staff as a way to say thank you and educate them about how their support of United Way is helping turn stories around for those most in need Visit United Way of Lebanon County s website or call the office to find: Stories to share with your donors and volunteers More information about community issues that impact Lebanon County Additional resources about how United Way builds a stronger community Are you getting our Newsletter? Dan Reese Video 18
Impact Events Plan an impact event to inform donors about how United Way is addressing our community s most pressing problems Here are some tips: Regularly visit our website for current updates about the impact financial gifts make on our community Order United Way materials to use during events to educate employees Download communications templates from our website Schedule a United Way agency tour during your campaign to educate your coworkers about community needs Schedule an impact speaker to share their personal story Prepare your internal speakers by working with Julie and Erika The best presentations combine head and heart information 19
Volunteer Events Group volunteer activities at United Way agency partners are a great way to educate your employees about community needs Did you know volunteers give an average of 10 times more money to nonprofits than people who don t volunteer? Here are some tips: Contact Erika Zaborny United Way Volunteer Coordinator She will match your employee groups to volunteer projects with our community partners Think about whether an on-site or off-site project would work better for your employees, time and budget or do both! Make sure volunteers are wearing a LIVE UNITED T-shirt Participate in DAY OF CARING Learn more about volunteering by calling 717.273.8144 or emailing ezaborny@unitedwaylebco.org 20
Promote your Campaign through Social Media Connect with United Way United Way of Lebanon County! We want to connect with your company s campaign! Here are a few suggestions for using social media to build buzz and energy for your campaign: Share your campaign pics and updates with us and your social networks Be sure to mention @UnitedWayLebCo and use the hashtag #LebanonLivesUnited in your posts Share United Way social media posts that talk about the work we re doing The more you share, the more our community learns about the impact and difference your company is making Like & Follow United Way of Lebanon County on Facebook and Twitter @UnitedWayLebCo Tweet your company s behind-the-scenes campaign activities If you re following @UnitedWayLebCo, we ll do our best to retweet you Retweet us! United Way will tweet throughout the campaign Watch your Twitter feed for tweets about your company s campaign Repeat! Keep the social buzz humming throughout the campaign and the year 21
Interactive Activities Build a 2014 chalkboard collage Chalkboard Selfies - Capture chalkboard images from your staff as part of your United Way Campaign On a small hand held chalkboard, ask employees to write a message about United Way: why they give, how they feel about United Way s work, etc. Choose a wall or bulletin board and post all the photos for everyone to see This interactive activity is a fun and creative way to engage staff and share inspirational messages of why your employees support United Way Smartie Activity 22
Step 4: Ask The number one reason people make charitable donations is because they are asked, which makes your role as a solicitor very important. Here are some techniques to help: Group Solicitation Personal Solicitation Electronic Solicitation Mailbox Solicitation Giving Guidelines Gift Matching Targeting your Audiences 23
Group Solicitation Group Solicitation / Company Meeting Assemble employees as a group to hear about United Way s work and ask them to make a contribution In just 20 minutes, you can have a successful ask Make sure to follow-up with folks that could not attend Get permission to make the meeting mandatory Here is an example of a 20-minute group ask: The 20-minute Group Ask 2 minutes: Welcome 3 minutes: Management endorsement 7 minutes: Educate audience on community needs and share a success story 5 minutes: 2014 Campaign video or interactive activity Our 2014 Campaign Video will available in Sept. 2014 Show 2013 Campaign Video 3 minutes: Ask/answer questions and THANK your donors/attendees! 24
Personal Solicitation Personal Solicitation Peer-to-peer is very effective and gives you a chance to educate your co-workers and answer any questions. Use these six steps: Explain why you support United Way Ask why your donor/potential donor supports United Way, or would support United Way Use the Chalkboard Exercise to capture their response Communicate campaign goals and ask current donors to increase their gift Instruct each person on how to give: United Way pledge forms or do you have an online giving option? Say thanks! Use a Employee, Leadership Giving, or Retiree Solicitation Letter templates Pledge forms, brochures, and campaign supplies will be available by the Campaign Kick- 25 Off Celebration on Sept. 4, 2014
Electronic Solicitation Electronic Solicitation - Online giving makes it easy for your colleagues to contribute If your company has the ability to do this, it is worth pursuing Can be a time saver Can give you the option of running reports and therefore analyzing your campaign 26
Mailbox Solicitation Mailbox Solicitation - Solicitation by mail can be an effective way to reach employees who work remotely, cannot attend group meetings or are retired To make this approach as effective as possible: Personalize the contact information Include a success story and impact statistics to illustrate community needs Include a specific request for a donation Thank the potential donor for their consideration Include your contact information Include United Way s contact information Follow-up with additional communication after the initial ask Use a Retiree Solicitation Letter template 27
Giving Guidelines Giving Guidelines - Provide donors with a specific contribution level It may feel uncomfortable to set dollar amounts but people want guidelines United Way has helpful tools to make it easier for donors to know what level to give Position giving guidelines with the impact a weekly gift makes in our community Examples: $52 = $1/week Provides 1 counseling session to a victim of sexual abuse $104 = $2/week provides 2 sets of GED text books for students $156 = $3/week provides 22 nights of shelter to a homeless individual $500 = about $10/week Provides 4 local children the opportunity to attend a special needs camp for 1 week $1,000/yr Provides almost 100 local people with 1 hot meal each during times of disaster $2,500/yr Provides 1 summer of educational programming for local underprivileged kids $5,000/yr Provides 6 months of transitional work services to obtain skills for jobs 28 for local people with mental and physical disabilities
Gift Matching People are 42 percent more likely to give when their dollars are matched Francis Dixon Foundation has offered to do a matching grant for our campaign details to follow Many companies and organizations offer internal company matches for its staff donors If your company offers this, make sure you promote this incentive throughout your campaign communications and events Employees like working for companies that invest in the community they live in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Make sure your company promotes and emphasizes it s CSR 29
Targeting your Audiences Reach your campaign goals and maximize support by grouping employees into specific audiences and create tailored messaging to reach each segment There are a number of ways to segment your campaign to increase results Loyal Donors Major Gifts Millennial New Employees Union Employees Retirees* Women Departments / Divisions Physical Locations Field and Remote Employees * Please collect home addresses and continue to contact them after retirement or provide United Way with retirees information and we will send them a pledge 30 form.
Step 5: Thanking and Recognition Thanking your colleagues for their donations is one of the most important steps in the campaign. Say "thank you" and say it often! 31
Timing and Best Practices Thank You is mailed within 24-48 hours of gift receipt - Cites the amount of the gift and the date it was received Personally addressed with a personal salutation (not "Dear Friend") Has a live signature Grabs the reader's attention in the opening sentence Speaks directly to the donor Does not ask for another gift or continue to sell Has a warm, positive tone Is from the "C" level or above- CEO, Board Chair, Campaign Chair, Vice President, Director, etc. Makes reference to the intended use of funds as specifically as possible Addresses a trend or issue that demonstrates the need for United Way's work (Education, Health, Income) Includes the name and phone number of a staff person whom the donor can contact Does not ask the donor to do anything (like complete a survey or sign-up for an e-newsletter) Is concise- no more than two short paragraphs Has been proofread for branding, editing and spelling United Way staff is here to help you - Find examples of Thank You letters and more 32
Other Thank You and Recognition Tips Visit the campaign section of our website for sample communications Incorporate a thank you at a staff meeting or at common venues throughout your company Share results with employees, including total amount raised, participation percentages and volunteer hours to recognize everyone who participated Give a special thank you to your committee members as well as any volunteers who helped make your campaign a success Recognize and celebrate your loyal contributors: employees who have given to United Way for 10 or more years 33
Additional Notes: 34
Questions? 35