Consider A Year Round Workplace Giving Program

The holiday season is a special time of year full of opportunities to spread kindness. In doing so we enrich other’s lives as well as our own. In the workplace, employees increasingly want to feel a sense of purpose and identification with the organization’s culture. If your workplace is truly committed to building a culture of giving, a holiday giving program is an excellent stepping board to launch a year-round giving program. Encouraging your employees to participate in year-round workplace giving has many benefits including increased employee engagement, team bonding, and building organizational reputation.

It has become a tradition for us at CalNonprofits Insurance Services to “Adopt A Family” for the holidays each year as part of our year-round workplace giving. This year we are supporting Walnut Avenue Family  and Women’s Center by adopting a single mother with five children for Christmas. Each staff member who wishes to participate contributes a gift for the family, and the presents are given to the family just before Christmas. In addition, employees have seven hours per year to volunteer at a nonprofit or charity of their choice. Employees are encouraged to share their volunteer experience so that other staff members are inspired to participate in the program. These two giving programs have been quite successful.

Other Ideas For Year Round Giving

Matching donations program – In this program the employer matches donations made by employees. This provides incentive for the employees to make donations of their choice.

Team Donation – Staff can select a cause of their choice and pool together to make a larger donation.

Disaster Relief Grants – this is a great program if you are in an area that has experienced a natural disaster. The employer can match employee donations or the employer can provide the grants.

Gift Card Party – Get your employees together for hand made gift cards and some team bonding.

Steps For A Successful Year Round Giving Program

America’s Charities outlines six steps for year round giving in their Ultimate Guide to Year-Round Employee Giving:

1. Know Your Goals
2. Offer Incentives
3. Create Experiences
4. Make Participation Easy
5. Show Your Impact
6. Measure and Repeat

To access the guide you can visit their library of free resources.

References

Six Common Workplace Giving Programs

Matching Gifts, Volunteering and Employee Engagement

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