Mobilizing United Ways are approaching the annual campaign as a community engagement strategy, not as a transactional fundraising activity. More and more United Ways are:
- Approaching workforce campaigns as a listening opportunity including starting with the CEO and holding community conversations in workplaces.
- Putting processes in place to make relationships work (constituent relationship management or CRM).
- Collecting data on supporters and using it in year-round engagement calendars.
- Using technology to track relationship interactions.
- Engaging companies and individuals year-round through intentional communication and engagement opportunities that include volunteer and advocacy.
Using community conversations is a way to find out what employees think about education, educate them about the issue, cultivate their interest in helping address it and connecting United Way to this issue. It tees you up to link the “ask” specifically to education and/or early grade reading.
As with all community conversations, it’s important to act on the information you glean. Employees may not realize that early grade reading proficiency is part of the solution, so work with your campaign coordinators to follow up the conversations with additional, more focused opportunities to discuss early grade reading challenges in the community and ways they can help. View the Community Conversations Workbook for Workforce Campaigns.
To optimize the revenue and donor engagement potential of United Way’s workforce campaign, some 25 United Ways began piloting an enhanced workforce campaign project in 2011. They targeted five companies to engage with more deeply and focused on:
- Strong, effective relationships with the CEO and other corporate executives to understand their business, philanthropic and personal needs and interests as the basis for additional partnership opportunities.
- Campaigns and communication that is tied to specific community impact work, often early grade reading.
- Access to employees’ and personal contact information for donors (or opportunities for donors to provide contact information based on their interest in learning more about the impact of their support).
- More e-campaigns (vs. paper) for more timely donor communications.
- Year-round calendar mapping out two-way communication and engagement that includes:
- Acknowledgement and appreciation for their support and involvement
- Community conversations and surveys
- Information about specific community issues
- Social media platform
- Volunteer projects
- Advocacy opportunities
Resources
- Enhanced Workforce Campaigns Executive Summary
- Enhanced Workforce Campaigns – Making a Good Thing Even Better – And a Catalyst for Change at Your United Way
- Enhanced Workforce Campaigns Lessons Learned
- PowerPoint presentation from an Enhanced Workforce Campaign Webinar
- Click here to view the United Way Worldwide RD Connections Newsletter featuring the Enhanced Workforce Campaign.
- Access materials developed by United Way of San Diego County (UWSDC) in its enhanced workforce campaign pilot, including:
- Education donor investment package, a template that can be used for any content and customized for major giving donors. (UWSDC is happy to provide file art).
- UWSDC’s summary of their education goals, strategies and status of their work.
- 2012-2013 Year-Round Engagement Guide.
