United Way of Southeast Alaska

Workplace Campaign Ideas

Special events, contests, themes and incentives can add fun and enthusiasm to your United Way Campaign. Below are listed some special events and ideas gathered from recent successful campaigns. United Way statistics show that, by following the campaign steps below, your organization can more than triple the participation of employees and the amount of their contributions.

The United Way campaign is a meaningful way to build company morale and a shared sense of contribution to the community.

In addition to the information listed below, be sure to check out these FUN ideas for events!  CLICK HERE 

1. Have CEO present or speak at every rally.
2. CEO contributes a leadership gift.
3. Personal letter from CEO encouraging employee participation in the campaign.
4. Emphasize the corporate match or corporate gift if your company has one.
5. Meet with your CEO to set a budget and campaign goal. Obtain his/her support for your campaign.

1. Choose an energetic and enthusiastic coordinator. Make sure this year's coordinator meets with the past coordinator.
2. Recruit a partner or a committee. If you have a committee, consider recruiting one person from each branch, store, department, etc.
3. Have the campaign team attend a training session.

1. Meet with the CEO/GM to obtain support for your goals and plans.
2. Review/analyze past campaign history to set a meaningful, attainable goal. Choose from dollar, % increase, or % participation goals. United Way of Southeast Alaska will publicly recognize organizations that achieve 80% participation in the campaign.
3. Advertise the goal in employee newsletters and email.

1. Include in your plan: dates of campaign, dates for employee meetings, dates pledge cards are due, internal public relations, incentives, reminders, campaign updates.
2. Take advantage of United Way speakers, videos, and materials.
3. Some company's plan a United Way Day with agency tours and agency fairs for all three shifts where refreshments are served. Others hold a Wellness Run or a cafeteria lunch, with the receipts from both going to United Way. Please remember, however, that payroll deduction pledges will raise ten to twelve times the amount you could ever generate through special event fund-raisers.
4. The campaign at one company, which raised 30% more than the previous year, featured a "Hat Day" for employees. On the day that the CEO spoke to employees (in two large group sessions) informal attire was permitted and strange hats were encouraged. Judging was held immediately after the meetings, with prizes going to the most creative, the most outlandish, etc.
5. Use mandatory staff meetings for United Way presentations and rallies.
6. Please pay employees for rally time.
7. Offer food and/or snacks at the rally.
8. Tie a rally into some other type of mandatory meeting (safety, sales, staff, etc.).
9. Schedule a  United Way presentation rally on payday.
10. Hand out inexpensive token gifts to all who attend rallies.
11. Have agency presentations featuring services your employees can relate to. Possibly have multiple agencies at different times so employees can choose the rally they wish to attend.
12. Feature testimonials in rallies from your employees who have benefited from United Way programs.
13. Employee donors may be honored at a "Have Breakfast on Us" event. Senior management and supervisors don cook's clothing to fry eggs, flip flapjacks and tend to the other serving chores for breakfast "on the house".
14. At one firm an employee campaign theme "I'm Lucky" was used. All employees were given pins with this slogan. The meaning behind the saying was "I'm lucky I live in this community, I'm lucky to have a job, I'm lucky to be able to give to United Way. "
15. A company of 1,100 employees used the slogan "We Can Do It Better". T shirts with a rainbow design were printed with the slogan, and everyone giving a certain minimum donation received one. Top management employees posed for pictures wearing their T-shirts that promoted the theme of working together, (i.e. making a human pyramid, rowing in a rowboat together). These pictures were then blown up into posters. On particular days anyone wearing his or her United Way T shirt to work received a free lunch. A rented popcorn machine also provided free popcorn to those with T shirts and cost all other employees 25 cents. All proceeds went to United Way.
16. Several companies run Slogan Contests. Employees are invited to submit ideas for campaign slogans. During the campaign a new slogan is announced each day. Random phone calls are made to employees on a daily basis and anyone responding with the correct slogan wins a prize.
17. With a $5 contribution to United Way, employees win the right to wear jeans on Fridays.
18. Try store-to-store competitions or building-to-building competitions.
19. Divide employees into teams and have competition between teams.
20. Have fun!

1. Target Top/Senior Management (or those with salaries $50,000 or above with a letter and/or meeting. Ask your CEO/GM to make the ask.)
2. Ask previous Leadership givers.

1. Have greeters meet employees at company entrance to encourage United Way participation.
2. Inform employees of option to designate to specific agencies.
3. One company coordinator wore the same tie during the campaign week. Each time an employee turned in a pledge card the employee got to cut off a piece of the tie. Not only was it great fun for the employees, but it was a great conversation piece that motivated employees to turn in their pledge cards.
4. Raffle drawing for a day of vacation or some other item. Eligibility for the drawing comes by turning in your pledge card...whether you contribute or not. (A great way to collect all the pledge cards.) Or auction off a day of vacation. Extra raffle tickets could be awarded for: early turn-in, new givers, turn-in by deadline, increased gifts, etc.
5. Tickets for every $5 donated. Tickets used for prize drawings.
6. Personalize pledge cards with employee names.
7. Spanish language pledge cards if you have employees who are Spanish-speakers.
8. Be sure to ask. Prepare your employees ahead of time by sending them emails, putting up posters, etc.
9. Organizations that achieve 80% participation will be recognized publicly by United Way in its campaign publicity.

1. Attach a balloon to employee donors' chairs or say thanks with a piece of candy.
2. Put a Thank You list in your employee newsletter or on the bulletin board.
3. Have an informal afternoon ice cream social - invite all employees to come, but offer a group thank you to United Way donors at the event.
4. Send a letter/postcard from the CEO to each UW donor.
5. Use testimonials from co-workers in Thank You notes.