Most businesses are concerned about revenue streams, sales targets and creating value. It’s not immediately obvious that supporting a charity and getting involved in the community can help a business succeed and boost team culture and morale. But they are intimately connected! One simple program can join the dots and at GoodCompany we can create a Workplace Giving Program that involves employees making small, regular donations to charity through pre-tax salary via payroll giving. It meets employee expectations; they want to be supported to contribute to causes they care about and be recognised for giving back to the community. And it pays dividends to both hearts and bottom lines. Doing good is good business; the benefits of a robust giving program are numerous.

To establish a Workplace Giving program, we recommend considering the following elements;

1. Make giving easy. Use our technology platform which makes it simple to sign up, donate and learn about charity projects and causes all on the one platform – nice and easy! So, let us put the muscle in to run it all, so you can focus on growing your team building and bonding activities, fundraising events and volunteering programs.
2. Giving is personal. Let people choose causes they care about. Dictating charities that you expect staff to connect with is unlikely to engage everyone, as each individual will connect with different charities based on their life experiences. Choose our platform as it lets people donate to charities of their choice, with your support, and it’s easy to facilitate with small and large teams.
3. Secure leadership support. Senior business leaders need to be visible and vocal advocates of your program. Ensure that they endorse your plans to embed giving in your culture and inspire staff to participate. Get the CEO on board, get the marketing and communications team on board to drive the awareness and fun, and really get people to be ambassadors for each charity of their choice within your team culture.
4. Integrate Workplace Giving with Volunteering and Fundraising. It’s a powerful proposition to let staff choose how they give, whilst it’s great for your business to support different types of contributions to the wider community, be they time, talent or treasure. A program that empowers staff to give in a way that suits them personally is likely to be the most successful, and it’ll assist you in attracting new talent, retaining current staff and being an employer of choice! If you cannot commit to all elements for program launch, select a platform that has the flexibility to include volunteering and fundraising down the track.

Congratulations – you’ve decided to set up a Workplace Giving program at your office. Your employees will thank you with higher engagement, greater productivity and it’ll build an enhanced team culture. Charities will be thrilled that you’re giving back. And consumers will value your good deeds when making purchasing decisions. You’ll attract better talent, and retain existing employees and you’ll build a team culture with team bonding activities through volunteering and fundraising events… but there’s a few things we think are important to consider and get set up before you launch.

1. Appoint a Program Manager. As with any project, it’s important to establish program ownership. It’s also valuable to nominate Workplace Giving
   Program champions throughout the business who can spread the word, motivate teams and promote campaigns.
2. Create a Brand. A strong Workplace Giving program needs a strong name. Make it relevant to your organisation, meaningful and aspirational. Create a logo and build brand awareness as you would with any other program or project in the business. If you are only setting up Workplace Giving initially, it’s worth thinking about a program name that can be expanded down the track to include other forms of giving, such as volunteering or fundraising, and become a broader program name. Our consulting team can help you develop a unique name to enhance your program success.
3. Make it a Match. Matching staff donations is one of the most compelling reasons for people to join a Workplace Giving program. It demonstrates that you have skin in the game, amplifies your collective impact, and donors will feel a profound connection to your business for supporting them to give to causes they care about. We can automate matching and also have tools such as Charity Gift Vouchers to engage staff in matching, and empower you to give the gift of giving all over again.
4. Be Transparent. Explain to staff why a giving program is important for your company culture, why you are motivated to ensure it succeeds and why your leaders support it. It’s also important to be transparent that 100% of donations via GoodCompany go directly to charity, via both payroll deductions and credit card.
5. Set Goals. As with any business project, set expectations about what you’d like to achieve at launch, in your first year and ongoing. Participation is recommended as a strong indicator or program success, while you can also measure total dollars donated monthly, in total, charities impacted etc.

1. Time program launch strategically. Selecting a launch date based on annual calendar events will lend support and credibility to your Workplace Giving Program. Generosity is often paramount at EOFY or Christmas time, so consider this. Alternatively, a specific business milestone such as an anniversary may be more meaningful to your team. We recommend selecting a time that works well with your business calendar, avoiding any overlap with other big projects, and trying to connect with people when they are likely to feel most generous.
2. Lead with business leaders. Best practice is to launch with communications from the top; at an event, via email, in publications or via video and then support via social media, Linkedin, internal intranet sites, internal comms, kitchen room posters, reception desk signage, and so on. Select communications channels that best suit your organisation. We recommend saturating every channel to ensure that all staff receive the message that this program is important to your business and you want to see it succeed.
3. Create buzz with your creative. Develop launch creative that is impactful, memorable and inspires action. You can also select from the range of resources on our site that make it easy for you. We recommend thinking outside the square and being creative. Use a range of communications mediums, have fun and create talking points around the office. We can help tailor a unique launch campaign – please shout out! We also have free monthly campaigns in all various social, digital and print formats that are free to use, and assist you to support certain times of the year which can assist in driving your message forward – you can download these directly off our Website in JPG and PDF format.
4. Inspire with incentives. Behavioural psychologists have long argued that we do what is rewarding, that it’s human nature to be inspired by incentives. They motivate action and communicate the value of that action. Charity Gift Vouchers are a unique incentive tool, as they empower recipients to allocate the donation amount of your choice to the charities and projects of their choice. It’s a fun and engaging way to kick off your program.
5. Lastly – Plan your next steps. Subsequent campaigns reinforce your commitment and are critical to success. Think about when you could integrate a campaign into other company events or occasions, or alternatively, run a stand-alone campaign to encourage anyone who did not sign up during launch, to get on board.

1. Tell new starters about your Workplace Giving Program. Some new employees, especially Millennials, will want to hear about the ‘good’ you do for the community at interview stage, and perhaps even sway them to see you as an Employer of Choice at the Application stage if it’s widely regarded your company supports workplace giving. Including Workplace Giving collateral in their welcome pack is recommended, as well as during on-boarding and via staff inductions.
2. Communicate about the program. Often. Tell stories about your program. Interview people who participate; as donors, volunteers and fundraisers. Highlight the emotional and rational benefits of joining. Incorporate your giving program into other cultural events or leadership updates to convey that the business takes success seriously. Build a sense of pride in your collective impact in the community. Invite previous volunteers to speak at staff meets or team meetings and tell their stories of their experience volunteering, etc.
3. Run creative campaigns. We recommend running campaigns 2-4 times a year, at meaningful times when people feel more generous (such as EOFY and Christmas) as well as other times that are important to your business. Keep it fresh, have fun and make your program a living breathing part of your company DNA. We also have free monthly campaigns in all various social, digital and print formats that are free to use, and assist you to support certain times of the year which can assist in driving your message forward – you can download these directly off our Website in JPG and PDF format.
4. Reward people with Charity Gift Vouchers. For work anniversaries, birthdays, or a job well done for an entire project team, Charity Gift Vouchers reinforce the importance of your program and get more people involved in giving. It proves that you’re serious about having a positive impact in the community.
5. Integrate Workplace Giving, Volunteering and Fundraising. Research proves that volunteers donate nearly double the amount of money than non-volunteers. You can harness this goodness and facilitate the generosity of donors and volunteers within the one program, on one platform, under your company brand. You will amplify your impact in the community, empower staff to give in a way that’s personally meaningful, and engagement levels will soar.