Getting a Campaign off the Ground:
Campaign 101
United Way of the Wine Country
June, 2010
What does it mean to “run a United Way campaign”?
Campaigns look different dependent upon the company. In short, it
means providing employees the opportunity to give to United Way.
Some environments are more conducive to special events, others
focus more on the pledging process.
The key is a natural integration of United Way into the culture of the
workplace. United Way staff and Campaign Ambassadors work
individually with each location to find out what will work best for
every account.
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Secure top level management support
• Meet with the CEO/President/Manager to get their support and ask for personal
financial commitment
• Ask the CEO to encourage donors by providing an incentive of
matching dollars on employee contributions.
• Encourage the CEO to speak at your all-staff kickoff meeting to
encourage participation
• Ask the CEO to assist in involving any unions to support the campaign.
• Recruit the CEO to host a Leadership presentation to encourage
giving of $1,000 and up.
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Educate employees about United Way
• Contributions are raised locally and are invested locally.
• United Way is a fully transparent organization that takes financial
responsibility to donors very seriously. All records are available to the
public at any time upon request.
• Hundreds of volunteers give their time and talents to drive the work of
United Way.
• United Way is focused on addressing our community’s most pressing
issues by working in partnership with local organizations to provide
lasting community change.
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Set goals and track results
Planning is key to the success of the campaign. Apply the techniques of
effective business management to goal setting and reporting.
The CEO normally sets the goal with the campaign team. Analyze last year’s
results, both employee and corporate. Encourage top executives to consider
a dollar-for-dollar match.
Breakdown last year’s results along department lines to determine
department goals.
Ensure that participating branches are included in the goal-setting.
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Calculation Formulas
Calculation
Formula
% Participation
Number of Givers/Number of
Employees
Average gift
Total Employee $$/Number of
Givers
Per Capita
Total Employee $$/Number of
Employees
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Employee Campaign Leader (ECL) Job Description
Objective: To encourage co-workers to participate in creating
community impact by planning, coordinating, and implementing a
successful United Way workplace campaign.
Reports to: The CEO at your workplace
Responsibilities:
- Recruit an enthusiastic committee
- Work closely with Campaign Ambassador (CA)
- Promote the campaign
- Invite EVERYONE in the company to give
- Encourage volunteerism among workers
- Thank donors and volunteers
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Recruit a campaign team
This team will develop a company-wide campaign plan including
solicitation of employees, development of additional campaign materials
and planning of promotional events and materials.
Recruit representatives from across the organization.
It helps to include members of management, organized labor, Human
Resources, Information Technology, Payroll and even retirees.
Educate your committee about the United Way and its community
building efforts before kickoff.
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Campaign Ambassador (CA) Job Description
Objective: The Campaign Ambassador’s (CA) job is to assist the United
Way staff in implementing successful campaign strategies by supporting
workplace campaigns and developing new markets.
Reports to: United Way VP - Resource Development and Marketing
Responsibilities:
- Develop strategies for assigned accounts
- Manage assigned accounts
- Perform administrative tasks
- Troubleshooting problems as necessary
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Conduct group presentations – Have a Kickoff Event!
Educating the broadest sector of employees about the work of the United Way is
key to a successful campaign.
Companies that utilize this technique experience, on average,
58 percent higher employee per capita giving than companies not employing
this technique.
A kick-off event is an opportunity to:
• Tell employees how their contributions change lives
• Give employees an opportunity to hear more about United Way
• Inform employees about how the campaign operates in the company
• Thank employees for investing in United Way’s work.
• Answer questions
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Special Events and Themes
Themes can be a great way to up your level of participation in fundraising
events. Employees can really show their creativity and (more importantly)
have fun.
Fun Event Ideas:
Jail & bail
Casual day for making a goal
How many beans in the jar
Charge for a “Jeans Day”
Stress relief/ Spirit week
Baby picture-guessing contest
Departmental penny wars
Coloring contest
Crazy tie day
Company picnic dunk tank
Car wash
Silent auction
Costume contest
Health Fair
Executive Dunk Tank
Putt-Putt Golf Tourney
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Promote the Campaign
• Feature employees who volunteer for the United Way or one of its partner agencies.
• Interview a Campaign Ambassador
• Interview a co-worker who has participated in the United Way investment process.
• Feature an employee who has benefited from services at a United Way agency
• Solicit and publish quotes from past contributors: “Why do you give?”
• Reprint messages from labor leaders, management, or anyone else with strong
United Way ties, connections, or convictions
• Highlight groups or individuals touring United Way agencies
• Create a special “United Way of the Wine Country” newsletter edition/
brochure/payroll stuffer
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Increase Leadership Giving Efforts
Leadership giving is a way to recognize contributors while inspiring others to
reach higher levels of giving. This is the fastest growing segment of most
employee campaigns.
Recruit a senior executive to chair the Pillar Leadership Giving Campaign,
targeted to donors of $1,000 and up. Consider running this solicitation in
advance of regular workplace campaign to “set the tone” for the entire
company-wide campaign.
Your CEO could address leadership giving at a specially scheduled meeting.
Thank leadership givers. Possible methods are a letter from the CEO, a
telephone call from a senior executive or a thank you reception.
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Increase Leadership Giving Efforts
Pillar Leadership Giving
Bronze Pillar: $1,000 - $2,499
Silver Pillar: $2,500 - $4,999
Gold Pillar: $5,000 - $9,999
Tocqueville: $10,000 and up
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Report your results
Publish overall campaign results to ensure that all employees are
aware of the success of their efforts.
Include with amount of dollars collected:
Corporate Match
Percent of participation
Percent of increase over last year
Amount of dollars collected through special events
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Say thank you and celebrate
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Send an e-mail or letter from you or your CEO to every employee.
Give out pins, buttons, or cards.
Write a thank you message for your company’s newsletter or intranet.
Pass out candy, balloons, etc.
Include a thank you note with paychecks.
Schedule a thank you event, luncheon or other special meeting as a
way to report results AND convey gratitude.
• It would be nice to spend money advertising how much we appreciate
everyone, but we would rather invest as much of a donor’s gift into
the community as possible. Please help us make sure everyone in
your organization understands their gift is appreciated!
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