Employee Giving Campaign Ideas Graphic

8 Year-Round Employee Giving Campaign Ideas & Real Examples

/in , , /by

Thanks to the growing movement for increased corporate social responsibility, combined with innovative new technology, many companies are stepping up their employee-giving game like never before.

Businesses interested in creating or improving their workplace giving programsā€”as well as nonprofits eager to engage donors and corporate partners in new waysā€”will find inspiration in these employee giving campaign ideas that can be adapted to any office environment (even remote ones!).

Letā€™s dive right in! This guide will cover:

The role of employee giving and company matching in CSR

The framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly popular across many sectors. It’s even inspiring employers to provide a variety of ways for their company to give back to the community in the form of philanthropic donations, volunteerism, and proactive policies that put people and the environment first. A welcome shift from the ā€œgreed is goodā€ mindset of past generations, CSR is growing a wave of commitment to sustainability both inside and outside corporate office walls.

Employee giving (also called workplace giving) is one of the most popular CSR strategies. It creates opportunities for everyone in a corporate environment to pay it forward in a collective effort, making a much greater impact than what any individual can do alone.

From annual fundraisers and donation drives to giving days and volunteer programs, employee giving campaigns will (and should!) look different in every workplace, depending on your own unique company culture and values.

However, there is one aspect of employee giving every workplace campaign should include: matching donations.

Whether youā€™re planning a virtual walk-a-thon or a monthly giving campaign, companies should match funds that individual employees raise or give from their own pockets. This kind of support and commitment builds buy-in, signals to employees that their company is just as committed to this work as they are, and affirms that their participation is seen and celebrated.

Benefits of workplace giving campaigns

Employee giving initiatives backed by matching donations can do a whole lot of goodā€”and not just for your nonprofit beneficiaries and the communities they serve.

A companyā€™s public image, for example, can undoubtedly improve with well-documented charitable contributions. Plus, the tax incentives for large philanthropic gifts are nothing to shrug at. Still, itā€™s the impact that workplace giving campaigns have on employee morale that cannot be understated.

Giving, science tells us, is tied to human happiness. Creating meaningful opportunities for employees to build relationships and contribute to good causes alongside their peers leads to a greater sense of belonging, stronger engagement in future activities and projects, and higher staff retention. Itā€™s a win-win-win!

With the help of automated systems, giving can become an integral part of the culture of your workplace. Imagine an environment where giving was as much a part of your work week as logging into your email in the morningā€”not just once a year, but all throughout!

8 employee giving campaign ideas to try throughout the year

Weā€™ve gathered some of our favorite workplace giving campaign ideas you can implement year-round at your office. Plus, each idea features an example from a real nonprofit that nailed it.

Every workplace is different, so think creatively about how you can customize and adjust these ideas based on your companyā€™s size, time constraints, interests, and areas of specialty. The possibilities are endlessā€”just like your potential for making a positive impact in your community.

1. Lean into the competitive spirit for Giving Tuesday šŸ’Ŗ

Letā€™s kick things off with one of the most popular times of the year for nonprofit fundraising: Giving Tuesday!

This global day of generosity happens the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving (and the shopping madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday), and it’s a great opportunity to cajole your coworkers into the giving spirit.

A virtual peer-to-peer or team fundraising Giving Tuesday campaign is an easy and fun way to foster friendly competition as individuals or staff teams try to out-raise one another for their cause.

The secret to a successful peer-to-peer fundraiser? Keep spirits high and be a cheerleader for your fundraisers! Celebrate everyone’s hard work by shouting out teams at various times throughout the campaign and offering prizes for the teams with the most donations, the highest amount raised, or even the most team spirit.

Employee Giving Campaign Team Fundraiser Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: For the Together Housed campaign, participants created personal or team fundraising pages to raise money over three weeks for women in Los Angeles experiencing homelessness.

This virtual effort raised over $155K for the Downtown Womenā€™s Center and culminated in a livestreamed celebration to thank individual fundraisers and corporate sponsors.

2. Turn your holiday party into an opportunity to give back šŸŽ

The holidays bring out the giving spirit in even the Grinchiest among usā€”especially if the food and drinks are free. If you’ve already budgeted for a staff gathering or outing for the holidays, think about adding on a party-worthy fundraising element like a silent auction to benefit a local nonprofit.

Depending on the size of your staff, a team can volunteer to source auction items or request that everyone (CEO included) contribute an item, experience, or basket to auction off during the party.

Sourcing items can be work-intensive, so make the rest of the process easy on your team by using an online silent auction platform that partygoers can use to bid right from their smartphones. Mobile bidding also makes it easy to create a hybrid or virtual auction experience if your remote employees want to start a bidding war for a good cause.

For maximum excitement, make a final chance to place bids before you celebrate all of your winners live. This is also an excellent time to celebrate your Giving Tuesday teams or winners with silly prizes or awards!

Employee Giving Campaign Silent Auction Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: The Ultimutt Auction fundraiser for the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation offered bidders a range of fun experiences and items from local businesses. To reach a wider audience and build momentum to raise more funds, the organizers had the online auction open for a week, enabling them to raise over $21K!

3. Kick off the new year with a monthly giving program šŸ—“ļø

With everyone energized by your Giving Tuesday and holiday party success (and hopefully some time off), build on this momentum to get employees excited about giving back regularly.

A great place to start is hosting a casual ā€œLunch & Learnā€ once a month, where a guest speaker or representative from a local nonprofit comes for an informal presentation about their impact and need.

Build buy-in by providing incentives like a catered lunch for those who attend and asking staff to nominate organizations or community groups meaningful to them. National celebrations like Black History Month (February), Womenā€™s History Month (March), Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May), etc., can be a great guidepost for causes to highlight if youā€™re not sure where to start.

The actual giving part can happen in a few different ways:

  • A monthly stipend from the company that employees can donate
  • Informal monthly contributions matched by the company
  • Automated payroll deductions (also matched by the company)

Employee Giving Campaign Monthly Giving Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: Clothing retailer rue21ā€™s annual giving campaign organizes staff fundraising teams by department (Marketing, Merchandising, Human Resources, and so on). Each year, they have raised more funds for their nonprofit partner organization, Foster Love Project, which serves youth in foster care.

4. Spring into volunteering šŸŒø

Financial contributions arenā€™t the only way to make a difference in your place of work. Harness the power of your teamā€™s talents to give back through volunteer hours or pro bono projects in partnership with a local nonprofit, school, or other community organization.

Volunteering can be skill-based work (graphic design, tutoring, or even accounting!) or just helping with whatever is needed (envelope stuffing, serving meals, or checking people in). Itā€™s all about meeting the needs of your particular community partner.

The key to success here is to incentivize volunteering, which can happen in many ways.

Some companies, including 40% of the Fortune 500 list, give volunteer grants to employees who put in a certain number of hours, and others offer perks like additional vacation time. You can even liven things up by making it a competition to see who can give the highest number of hours by a specific date.

Employee Giving Campaign Volunteer Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: Chicago-based software company Sprout Social organized Philanthropy Week, which combined volunteering and team-based fundraising for local nonprofits.

Teams of employees chose an organization in their community, created fundraising pages, and were encouraged to take time during the week to spend time volunteering on-site to foster deeper connections with their partners.

5. Create your own workplace giving day in May ā˜€ļø

Volunteering is also one of the most effective team-building activities, and hosting a workplace giving day can empower your company to build connection and belonging amongst your staffā€”and contribute to a good cause at the same time.

As the weather warms up, partner with a local nonprofit that needs a lot of hands for a park cleanup, meal prep, material assembly, mural painting, or other beautification projects. Make sure everyone on your staff is able and incentivized to attend, get t-shirts made for the occasion, and cap it all off with a celebration and big group photo.

If all goes well, try to make it an annual event that employees look forward to, your nonprofit partners can plan around, and the entire community can feel proud of.

Employee Giving Campaign Giving Day Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: When pandemic restrictions made in-person activities impossible, Presence Marketing organized a virtual 5k and complementary fundraiser in partnership with a charitable foundation to help build a Kindergarten in the West African nation of Togo.

The event was so successful that they organized a second annual day of giving the following year to benefit another charity project!

6. Celebrate summer with sponsorship šŸ˜Ž

June is the start of summer and Pride Month, a great time to support organizations that serve the LGBTQ+ community.

Give your coworkers a special night out together and raise some serious money by sponsoring a fun fundraising event, like a standup comedy, drag show, or a combination of the two!

Planning events is a lot of work, so if thatā€™s not something you can take on, seek out a nonprofit partner thatā€™s already planning a benefit event that you can sponsor. Or enlist the help of a local venue that can help match you with a good cause. If a virtual or hybrid event can help you reach your community better, livestream it!

Employee Giving Campaign Sponsorship Event Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: Platinum Top 50, an industry organization for real estate professionals in Texas, organized a comedy show fundraiser featuring standup and improv from some talented local realtors.Ā In addition to ticket sales, extra donations from individuals and corporate sponsorships helped them to raise over 200% of their original goal for their hunger-fighting nonprofit partner.

7. Go virtual with a back-to-school drive šŸ“š

Drives for essential items like jackets, toys, and perishable goods are popular for workplace giving campaigns for many reasons. For one, those who are making donations can immediately see the real-life impact of their gifts, which is sometimes harder to communicate with solely monetary asks.

With a virtual drive, donors can still understand exactly where their money is going and, at the same time, give the nonprofit beneficiary more oversight and flexibility to order the items they need and get them directly to the people who need them.

This campaign idea is also great for remote office teams, as virtual drives open up donations to a broader pool of people and save the time and energy it can take a team of employees to collect, organize, and transport items.

Employee Giving Campaign Supply Drive Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: With several businesses participating, Teachersā€™ Treasures organized the Gr8 Paper Push Virtual School Supply Drive and enabled donors to select specific classroom items or just make a flat donation to the campaign.

This campaign also had an added team fundraising element. Local businesses competed with one another to raise the most, which created a lively, fun atmosphere.

8. Make a No Shave November everyone can join in on šŸ„ø

Movember and No Shave November, popular social challenges to see who can grow the most facial hair, were created to raise awareness and funds for menā€™s health and cancer prevention. Anyone can play on this idea for a good cause of their choosingā€”just make sure to take lots of photos!

Employee Giving Campaign Competition Example

šŸŒŽ Real-world example: For their annual Let It Grow! campaign, Vermont-based victimsā€™ services agency Windham County Safe Place engaged teams from the police departments, hospitals, and legal groups that they work with for a light-hearted competition. Each team was encouraged to grow facial hair or rock colorful hair extensions and bright nails for the month. Inclusivity for the win!

Every participant received a special pin for joining the campaign, created their own individual or team fundraising page, donated $25 or more, and encouraged their friends and family to help them reach their goal. The top three earners even won a special prize at the end of the competition! The novelty of this campaign has drawn attention to their cause from local media and helped them to raise thousands of dollars.

Additional resources for your next employee giving campaign

From selling tickets and making donations to administering payroll deductions and matching contributions, automating as much of your workplace giving campaigns as possible will save you a lot of time and energy.

Online donation tools and matching gift automation software, like 360MatchPro by Double the Donation, can free you up to focus on what really mattersā€”engaging your workplace community and creating meaningful ways to give back together.

Looking for more inspiration? Dive deeper into these additional resources: