HOW TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE (AND FUN) CAMPAIGN

Meet With Your United Way Representative

The first step in any campaign plan should always begin with talking to your United Way Representative:

United Way Staff and Loaned Executives are terrific resources for best practices and ideas to make your campaign fun!

Review last year's campaign data
Discuss 2007 action plan
Develop a timeline
Set goals for your campaign using your Goal Setting Worksheet

Great Ideas to Make Your Campaign Fun!

Personalize Pledge Cards:  Type or print each employee's name on a pledge card.  Personalizing pledge cards is proven to increase a campaign's effectiveness because employees feel more a part of the campaign.  It will also allow for easier tracking of outstanding pledge cards.

Decide on a Campaign Theme:  Your campaign should fit the personality of your company.  Make it fun and inviting!

• Have your CEO and other senior managers valet park employees' cars for a small donation.
• Raffle special prizes&a day off or a parking space.
• Hold a company-wide Talent Show or Womanless Beauty Pageant.
• Give out casual day passes to employees who give at a certain level.
• Sell foot-long pieces of duck tape, and tape your boss to the wall!
• Have departments compete in a United Way Fundraising Effort.
• Hold a silent auction.

It's also a great idea to secure and/or purchase incentives.  Incentives can help you increase both participation and average gift levels.  Look within your company and to outside businesses and vendors.  You'll be amazed at what you find and you don't always need a budget to make this happen!

Campaign Materials
Utilize these campaign materials to promote United Way in breakrooms, elevators, on bulletin boards and other high-traffic areas. 

• Campaign posters 
• Informational emails
• Goal thermometers
• Printed campaign messages on payroll stubs

Seven Steps to Success

CEO Support:
As with any project, your United Way campaign works best if you have support from the top.  That's why it's important to meet with your chief executive officer to gain his or her endorsement.  Sample letters are included within this guide for use during campaign.  These letters may be used before the campaign to inform your employees of general information about the campaign.  It may also be used after the campaign, as a thank you to all those employees who contributed.

Set Goals:
Goals can be based on: Giving by payroll deduction    Suggested company giving guidelines      

Employee participation
A goal setting worksheet is included on the Campaign Coordinator's CD to help you establish an aggressive, yet attainable goal.

Recruit Campaign Committee:
With the support of top management, select a campaign team to help you plan and run the campaign.  Be sure to include employees from different departments, different shifts (if applicable) and management as well as non-management employees.

Utilize Agency Speakers & Tours
Seeing is believing!  Show your employees how their gifts work by taking them on an agency tour, or by having an agency speaker at your employee rally.   Many companies have also utilized employees at their own companies to give testimonials to their fellow co-workers.

Leadership Giving
Conducting a Leadership Giving campaign is one of the best ways to increase the results of your overall campaign.  Leadership givers help ensure a positive future for Central Georgia by making annual gifts of $1,000 or more.  Also if one of your employees' spouses is employed by another United Way supporter, they may each give $500 or more to be named Leadership Givers. 

Conduct Employee Rallies:
A brief, 20-minute employee meeting or rally featuring the United Way video, a message of corporate support and a powerful speaker will spark the kind of caring that leads to the most successful United Way campaigns.

Say "Thank You":
Thank you programs demonstrate appreciation for your employees' commitment to caring and build on the momentum for the next campaign.  It can be as simple as writing a thank you note or as elaborate as throwing a victory party.  Don't forget this important step!

Remember to use many of the great ideas on the Campaign Coordinator's CD.  This helpful tool can be found in your United Way materials bag.  If you or your team need an additional copy, please contact your United Way representative today!  For several tools right here at your fingertips, please visit our "Downloads" section of Coordinator's Corner.