Five Workplace Campaign Success Tips
Use these five tips to make your workplace campaigns even more successful this year!
#1: All About the Donor
Your campaign brochure, presentations, social media, videos, etc. should be focused on your donors, not on your United Way. Donors need to know how their contribution will change lives, so use sentences like “Your contribution will help more than 500 at-risk children enter kindergarten ready to learn next year.” Statements like “United Way funds 47 programs operated by 31 partner agencies” are not as effective because our donor research has found that the number of funded programs and partner agencies does not motivate donors to give. Every time you connect with potential donors, focus on your donor.
#2: This Information is Available
Don’t waste your valuable workplace campaign resources listing all of your partner agencies and funded programs. Share with your donors how they can find a list of your partner agencies and funded programs on your website. This allows you to easily change and update your lists of partner agencies and funded programs and as a result you will be able to use your campaign materials for a longer period of time. Some United Ways we have worked with have been able to use the same campaign materials for two or three years.
#3: Don’t Live in the Past
Instead of telling donors what you did with their contribution last year, tell them what will happen because of their contribution this year. Donors will be motivated to give when you tell them that “Your contribution of $150 will provide five more children with a book a month from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.” Showing donors how their contribution will help more people this year is always more powerful than telling donors what United Way did with last year’s contributions.
#4: Make it Personal
Allow donors to help achieve a personal goal, such as helping families become financially sustainable rather than United Way’s goal, for example raising $2.1 million. Our donor research has found that less than 15% of donors care about the campaign goal and the amount of the campaign goal does not influence the amount of their contribution. For example, let your donors know that their $200 contribution will provide financial literacy training for six families and their $500 contribution will provide childcare for a young mother to complete her GED. Remember, all charitable giving is personal, and organizational goals do not motivate people to give.
#5: One Issue – One Story
Help donors to clearly understand what your United Way does by focusing your campaign brochure, presentations, social media, videos, etc. on one issue you address rather than trying to communicate everything you do. Choose one issue like poverty, hunger, homelessness, kindergarten readiness, etc. and tell one story about someone who was helped with that issue and is no longer struggling. You will gain more support and understanding of your United Way by making your case to give around one issue, than you ever will trying to get someone to understand everything you do.
Workplace campaigns have never been easy, but you can use these tips to help make your campaigns more successful this year.