choice in giving  

As more and more workplaces open their campaigns to a wider variety of deserving charities, the national trend has been to transform the traditional workplace campaign into a company-branded “Employee Giving Campaign.” Taking ownership of the campaign and expanding charitable choices in this manner has had various effects: an increase in employee participation, an increase in overall dollars that are raised in the campaign, and an improvement in employee relations and building morale.

Several years ago, the National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy surveyed 227 companies about the results that the introduction of choice (i.e., offering other charities/charitable federation alongside those of United Way) had on their campaigns. They found that giving increased in 93 percent of the cases, and that it increased 10 percent annually 73 percent of the time.

Of the 227 companies surveyed, giving to the United Way also increased 75 percent of the time. According to the The Consulting Network’s Valuing Employee Involvement report, employee participation increased in 76 percent of the companies that offered a broader range of giving options, and total contributions increased in more than 90 percent of the companies.

Some examples from our partners:

· Responding to employee interests, Dell Computer assessed its employee workplace campaign and expanded it to include nonprofit organizations in addition to United Way charities. The result was phenomenal: participation increased, the number of leadership givers increased, and the number of employees engaging in volunteer activities increased. In three years, employee participation at Dell increased from 10 percent to 45 percent. Total giving jumped from $220,000 to $2.7 million.

Direct Giving – the official name of Dell’s campaign – highlights include:
br> - Completely Online - Dell employees were able to make financial contributions online, from the convenience of their home or office 24-7.

- Open Choice - Dell employees were able to make financial contributions to the nonprofit organization of their choice.

- 100 Percent Pass Through - The Dell Foundation covered the administrative costs of the campaign in total, ensuring that 100 percent of the employees' gifts were distributed to the designated charities.

- Won the following recognition and award: Largest Number of Leadership Givers in a Workplace Giving Campaign – United Way/Capital Area

- Involved the following six partner federations representing several hundred local, state, national and international charitable organizations: United Way, Earth Share, America's Charities, International Service Agencies, Education and Community Partners and The Dell Foundation.

For more information about Dell’s campaign, please contact Michele Glaze, Dell Foundation, 512/728-4173, Michele_Glaze@dell.com


• Just one week after the events of September 11th, American Express, the New York City-based financial and travel services company, ran its first expanded campaign that included United Way, Earth Share, and several other charitable federations. The new combined campaign saw an increase of $800,000, for a grand total of $4.5 million.

Please contact Earth Share to arrange to speak to Angela Woods at AMEX, the individual in charge of AMEX’s giving campaign: Robin Perkins, Earth Share, 240/333-0300; robin@earthshare.org