Build a Campaign Team
Team work is the focus of community building, and
this approach will be the most efficient and effective
way to run your campaign.
Your team should be representative of your workplace
in order to best utilize the talents and ideas of
your committee. Be sure to invite enough volunteers
to ensure
that no one is overwhelmed with tasks to be done,
and be clear on what each team member is responsible
for.
To help your campaign run smoothly, it may be a good
idea to recruit last year's Employee Campaign Co-ordinator
to act as an advisor for your committee. S/he may
have some valuable tips and ideas that can make
everyone's job easier.
Make sure you and your team are familiar and comfortable
with the activities of the United Way. We can
provide you with pamphlets and brochures to help
you keep
up-to-date and informed.
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Develop a Plan
Running a successful campaign is dependent on the
enthusiasm of the participants, in this case, your
co-workers. Therefore, it is important to choose an
event that: a) appeals to your co-workers, b) is appropriate
to the workplace culture (e.g., "dress down" days
will work in most companies, but "dress up" days
would not work in a factory setting), and c) is approved
by management.
A detailed plan can help to make an event as smooth
and efficient as possible. Here are some tips on how
to plot out your plan.
- Pick a date that will maximize participation,
and is convenient for all parties involved. If you
are planning
more than one ever, you may want to choose one
week to run all of your activities, since short time
frames
help to keep interest and energy levels up.
- Don't
start from scratch if you don't have to! Talk to
last year's Employee Campaign Co-ordinator
for background and ideas. It will make things easier on the planning
team, and the event may become tradition!
- Set
realistic dollar AND participation goals. This will
help the team focus on the task at hand.
- Set up a
system of communication among team members, management,
co-workers, community members/groups,
United Way, and the union where appropriate.
- Clear communication is extremely
important; keep all parties up-to-date on your team's
progress.
- Make sure everyone knows their roles, and
will carry out the tasks necessary.
- Develop a system to monitor, report, and evaluate the events, so
that success can be repeated, and
failures are avoided in the future.
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Effective Campaigning
Kick off your campaign with a fun special event. A break from the ordinary work day provides a lift to employees at every level. It will be memorable for employees, and can provide an additional incentive for involvement with United Way.
Because individuals relate to their peers, volunteers from your workplace are the most effective way to ask for a United Way donation. Instill a sense of enthusiasm in them, and be sure they realize they are one of the most effective tools in your campaign. Also, ensure they approach each employee individually. United Way recommends recruiting 1 canvasser per 10-12 employees.
In your campaign wrap-up, be sure to communicate your campaign achievements, and take advantage of the opportunity to complete an evaluation to review your results with your plan. This feedback is important for future campaigns.
This would also be an ideal time to thank donors and recognize your campaign team. "THANK YOU" is a welcome phrase at any point of a campaign. Find a creative way to thank all of the volunteers and donors who supported United Way.
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Monitoring the Campaign
An effective monitoring system will help you to track the progress of your campaign. It will also help you to answer these questions:
- How many employees have been canvassed?
- How many pledge cards have been returned?
- How many are still outstanding?
- What percent of the goal does that represent?
- How many donors have responded?
- What is the average gift?
- How much money has been raised?
- How did the special events work?
- What was effective, in terms of promotion strategies, planning and implementation?
- What could have been improved upon?
- What should be avoided next time?
As you collect pledge cards, please ensure that:
- All pledge cards are signed and include the donor's correct name and address if it is cash or cheque donation (for tax receipt purposes), and
- each individual's cash or cheque is stapled to the white copy of his/her contribution.
When you are preparing your kit to submit to United Way please make sure that:
-
All contributions are returned in the original envelope with all requested information,
-
all pledge cards are sorted into groups by method of payment:
- VISA/Mastercard
- cash
- cheque
- post-dated cheque
- payroll deduction
-
each pile of pledge forms is paperclipped separately, and attach an adding machine tape to the top, indicating the total for that method of payment, and
-
the white copy of the pledge form is submitted to your payroll department, and the pink copy is kept by the donor.
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How We Can Help
United Way of Ajax-Pickering-Uxbridge is honoured and delighted to have you on our Campaign Team.
To make your campaign as visible as possible, we can help by providing small coin collection cans, literature, posters, videos, and goal thermometers. We can also assist you in securing a United Way speaker for your special events.
If at any time during your campaign you have a concern or request that we can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Ideas For a Special Event
Special events can be an exciting and important part
of any Employee Campaign. They can be good morale boosters,
and can help employees get to know each other better.
Most of all, they help to raise awareness of United
Way of Ajax-Pickering-Uxbridge's services, and the services
provided by its member agencies.
Below, we have provided a list of special events that
have worked well in the past, being both fun and effective.
Not all of the events listed here are appropriate for
every workplace. Furthermore, you are by no means limited
to the suggestions listed in this book. Use your imagination
and remember tha the word "fundraising" should
really be "FUN-raising"!
- Group Challenges
One department can challenge another department to
raise a certain amount of money through various means.
e.g., a beard growing contest with pledges
- Individual
Challenges
Have one of the more prominent managers make a fairly
outrageous challenge to encourage employee donations.
e.g., when donations reach $500, the manager will
wear a clown costume for a day. When donations
reach $1000
the manager will shave their head. When donations
reach $2000, the manager will have a cream pie
thrown in
his/her face.
- Chariot Race
A chariot/bathtub race between departments or groups
of co-workers. Collect pledges and/or spectator
fees.
- Whatever-a-thon
Collect pledges to participate. Offer a prize to
the person(s) who collects the greatest amount
in pledges.
- Lunchtime Chair Sale
Remove all the chairs from the cafeteria and sell
them to staff for a loonie at lunchtime.
- Win the
CEO/President's Parking Spot
Raffle the use of his/her parking spot for a week.
This would porbably work best in cold weather!
- Pancake
Breakfast
Sell tickets for a pancake breakfast. This would
be a great wrap-up event.
- Cookbook Sell-off
Create a staff cookbook, where each staff member
contributes a favourite recipe. Sell the cookbook
to raise money.
- Casual Day
United Way stickers are sold for $1, each Friday,
and the sticker entitles the holder to dress casually
on
the designated day.
- 50/50 Draw
Sell tickets for a draw, where half of the money
raised from the ticket sales is donated to the
United Way,
while the other half of the money is used as prize
money for the winner of the draw.
- Car Wash
Weather permitting, of course.
- Arrest and Bail
Have members of the local police department arrest
and jail one of the managers of the company, until
a certain amount of money (i.e., bail) is raised
to free him/her.
N.B. This works best when the manager who is arrested
and jailed is a well-liked person!
- Guess the Knees
Contest
Take a picture of a manager's knees. Staff pay
to guess to whom the knees belong.
This is quite a long list of ideas! However, this
list is simply meant to give you some ideas to
begin with.
We encourage you to be creative with the campaign,
and have fun!
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Promote Your Event
Advertise your events! It is important to have a comprehensive advertising campaign that will appeal to and reach as many people as possible. Some great ideas for advertising include:
- Ensure that everyone has access to a calendar of events.
- A captive audience is a good audience. If possible, put posters on the back of the stall doors of your company's washrooms.
- Send out a mass e-mail to notify all company employees of the upcoming events.
- If your company sends out a regular newsletter to its employees, be sure to promote your events by designing an ad for the newsletter, or write a short article.
- You'd be surprised at how many people advertise an event and forget to mention where the event will be held! When you promote your event, be sure to include:
- the name of your event,
- the nature of the event and what the event is for (e.g., it's a golf tournament to raise money for the United Way),
- the time(s) and date(s) of the event,
- where the event is taking place, and
- contact information in case anyone has any further questions.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH THROUGH THE MAIL!
Tax receipts are issued for all donations greater than $10.00. Receipts for cash or cheque donations will be issued by United Way. Payroll deduction donations will be registered on your T4 slips at year-end. If it is not on your T4, a list of donors and amounts needs to be forwarded to the United Way for the issuing of tax receipts.
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