Giving Tuesday is just around the corner, and companies worldwide are preparing to launch holiday initiatives, pledge gifts to charities, and donate millions of hours of volunteering.
But how do you get your employees engaged? A set of employee giving campaigns that are both accessible and impactful.
Check out these five employee giving campaign ideas that are easy to plan and will engage your people in your organization’s social impact goals!
What is Giving Tuesday?
Before we jump into these employee giving campaign ideas, we need to know exactly what Giving Tuesday is about.
Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. Giving Tuesday is Marketed as a "global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” In 2021, #givingtuesday drove $2.7B in donations in the United States.
5 Employee Giving Campaign Ideas for #GivingTuesday
1. #GivingTuesday Photo Contest
These photos are a great way to spark action in ways other than monetary gifts for employees who want to get out in their communities in a more hands-on way!
Using an Idea Board, encourage employees to post their activities around Giving Tuesday. You can host this board in your internal comms tool, Slack, or a purpose-built social impact engagement platform like WeSpire!
The social aspect of idea boards and photos will encourage people to participate in social impact initiatives sponsored by the organization.
2. Micro volunteering Day
Offering volunteer options is a great way to get employees involved without asking for money.
Use micro-volunteering as an effective way to kickstart a volunteering program without a huge time commitment.
Options for micro-volunteering include:
- Donating Gently-Used Clothing
- Giving blood
- Online volunteering, like tutoring or mentoring
- Spreading the word about a good cause
Getting employees over the first hurdle of social impact is essential to growing your other employee-giving campaigns.
You can host your own micro-volunteering activities or encourage employees to use a platform to connect with opportunities to help.
3. Holiday Toy Drive
A holiday toy drive is synonymous with the giving season and is easy and familiar to most people.
Giving Tuesday is right after Thanksgiving, making it the ideal time to use the holiday spirit to engage employees in an initiative that directly affects the people in their community.
Be as specific with your ask to make the drive most effective as possible. Make it clear what organizations, demographics, and communities you will support, and ask for specific toys.
If you’re unsure who to support, check out this list of 10 toy drive programs.
4. #GivingTuesday Pledge Challenge
The new year is just around the corner, and your employees are making pledges to be healthier, spend more time with the family, or pick up a hobby.
Why not ask them to make a giving pledge to support a charity?
Encourage employees to pledge to donate a fixed amount each month to a charity of their choice.
Using an idea board, have employees share their pledges and where they would like to see company funds go in 2023.
Not only will this keep them accountable and encourage others to join in, but it will also give you insight into what causes and charities matter most to your people. Use this information to align your CSR goals with employee passions in the new year.
5. Company-Supported Giving Week
If your company participates in matching or personal grant accounts (PGAs), use Giving Tuesday to increase engagement by offering incentives.
Create a week-long campaign that doubles or triples matching.
If you are currently sponsoring PGAs, add extra funds to the accounts that are valid only for a limited time.
A time-limited creates urgency and buzz that you can use to carry into longer-term employee-giving campaigns like some of the ones mentioned in this post.
Now you are ready for #GivingTuesday!
These employee giving campaign ideas are a great way to kick off the season with #givingtuesday.
If you’re looking for a platform to help plan, launch, and track your giving initiatives, check out WeSpire’s social impact platform!
What campaign are you supporting this year? Let us know at marketing@wespire.com!