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Best Practices in Employee Giving – Including Strategic Choices within a Campaign Presenters: Jillian Walsh, Zurich Karen Thompson, Wal-Mart Foundation. Delivering When it Really Matters: Enriching employee giving campaigns with strategic choices. Jillian Walsh
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Best Practices in Employee Giving – Including Strategic Choices within a Campaign Presenters: Jillian Walsh, Zurich Karen Thompson, Wal-Mart Foundation
Delivering When it Really Matters:Enriching employee giving campaigns with strategic choices Jillian Walsh Director, Corporate Giving and Community Relations June 19, 2009 3
All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others. Danny Thomas Founder of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 4
Current Economic Climate In the current economic climate, it is most important to: • Refocus contribution to causes central to business strategy -56% • Refocus contribution to areas of greatest need – 21% • Fulfill existing philanthropic commitments – 19% • Increase overall philanthropy – 4% --2009 Board of Boards Conference
Ask the Employees When considering a change in your company’s contributions, which constituency most influences your decision? --2009 Board of Boards Conference 6
The road to choice • Purpose: Go beyond the traditional campaign, single choice • Goals: expand choices, increase participation, more responsive to community needs, inject new enthusiasm • Greater alignment: philanthropic, employee and business interests 7
History 2000: United Way campaign (three sites) 2001: No formal campaign; collections for 9/11 families and the American Red Cross 2002: Introduced Giving Week Choice Campaign, six charities 2004: Employee voting, seven charities Giving Week becomes A Time for Giving 2006: Employee voting, 10 charities 2008: Employee voting, 12 charities 2010: Employee voting 8
A Time for Giving: The Four Pillars Fundraise Volunteer Educate ZurichBasics 9
What is A Time for Giving? • coordinated by an enterprise-wide giving council, local coordinators and volunteer committees. • senior managers serve as campaign champions • easy access to an internal online donation system through recurring payroll deduction or a one-time donation in the current year or following year. • online donations, field office fundraising and Zurich match = totals dollars raised. 10
2008-2010 A Time for Giving core charities • American Cancer Society • American Heart Association • American Red Cross • Earth Share • Habitat for Humanity • Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation • Make-A-Wish Foundation • National Center for Missing and Exploited Children • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital • Susan G. Komen for the Cure • The Salvation Army • United Way 11
Selecting from 12 core charities for giving provides... • a range of charities to support • the opportunity to support the activity/service employees are most passionate about. • the power of choice, allowing me to steer my funding. • employees a way to give to researched and responsible charities. • the opportunity to give to such a diverse group. 12
Engaging our employees in workplace giving is an example of how Zurich delivers on its brand promise “Delivering when it matters.” 15
Evolution and Impact • Expand choices for giving • Develop internal online system • Designates locally • Supports our corporate culture • Increases employee engagement and ownership • Develops leadership and core competencies • Enhanced senior management visibility and buy-in 17
Looking Ahead? • Analysis of employee giving data to determine strategic choices moving forward • Alignment with Zurich’s corporate responsibility strategy • Growing global interest in community involvement and nonprofit partnerships 18
Final thoughts from the field • an opportunityto support charities that are important to employees and they believe in • an easy way to give back • activitiesthat promote peer bonding • puts charity at the front of employees minds • information on charities that may or may not be well known to them. • a chance to be part of the Zurich giving community. 19
Wal-Mart’s Associate Giving ProgramIncludes the following charities:
- Expanded to choices in 2006- United Way is still our flagship charity- Wal-Mart Foundation matches associate contributions dollar-for-dollar- Associates can contribute year-round- Hold annual six-week drive Overview
How did we determine whether or not to expand our workplace giving campaign? • We conducted benchmarking and research • We reviewed our giving philosophy • We solicited feedback from associates
What did we find in our benchmarking? • 33% percent of companies offered choice in payroll giving campaigns* • Research conducted by United Way found that 70% of employees wanted choices • Company branded choice campaigns are often viewed as employee-directed as opposed to management-directed and controlled *Chronicle of Philanthropy, March 9, 2000
What changed about our giving philosophy? With United Way giving down, the time was right for offering Associates new, expanded, and more efficient options that aligned with our mission An expanded giving campaign for us included national charities, with grassroots community visibility that would capitalize on nationwide and community investment
What did our Associates want? By adding additional giving options that were also relevant causes, we provided choices that our associates were passionate about In 2005, United Way participation had slipped to approximately 12% while the requests for additional giving options had increased Bottom line – they wanted choices in giving
Results • We have seen double-digit annual increases for all charity partners with the exception of United Way • United Way giving experienced lower annual decline than with United Way-only campaign • Aligned with key business initiatives such as volunteerism, health and wellness and diversity • Increased morale and positive reaction to program
Getting started • Is expanding your workplace giving program the right thing to do for your company? • Is the timing right? • What are the right charitable choices for your employees?
First Steps • Evaluate your current program and benchmark to identify best practices • Ensure your organization has the appropriate resources and infrastructure to expand • Involve your workforce and leadership in the process early on – ask them for feedback • Ensure appropriate branding & mission match • Determine what your company’s financial commitment can and should be
Integration Tips • Gain support from your leadership – and ask them to help communicate the change at all levels in your organization • Allow your new charity partners to help with the rollout – employees want to connect with them • Develop company-branded collateral and launch campaign to all associates
Bottom Line Choice was right for our associates…if you’d like to benchmark with us or allow us to learn from you, I want to hear from you! Contact me at Karen.Thompson@wal-mart.com