Super Campaign Strategies

Is your campaign lagging? Do you need to increase participation or perhaps you'd like to enlist more Spinnaker Club members? Whatever the situation, there's a strategy for you.

Once you have mastered the Model Campaign Techniques, you can use these strategies to bring your campaign to the next level of success. During your evaluation of last year's campaign, you will determine which category fits your company profile. Feel free to call on United Way campaign staff to assist you (464-7281).
Click on one of the strategies below to read more about it:

Spinnaker Club Giving ($1,000 or more)
Increasing Awareness
Increasing the Average Gift
Increasing Participation

Strategy: Spinnaker Club Giving
For companies with a high participation rate and high per capita giving.

• Ask top management to endorse leadership giving by hosting a special leadership giving event (for those who have the potential to give $1,000 or more).
• Appoint a leadership giving coordinator to your planning team to do peer-to-peer asks for leadership giving.
• Ask United Way for print materials targeted for Spinnaker Club solicitation.
• Encourage employees to plan their giving for the year and give all donations through United Way of Southeastern Connecticut.
• Explain that if employees combine their gift with a spouse/partner to equal $1,000 or more, both will be recognized as leadership givers.
• Provide the names to United Way for year-round communication (targeted newsletter, reception, etc.).
• Secure the support and endorsement of CEO and upper management for your campaign plan. Ask that they make a leadership gift.
• Challenge leaders in your company to surpass what was raised last year.
• Continue utilizing successful strategies used in past campaigns-group meetings, agency speakers, campaign committee.
• Make the campaign fun for employees. If structured properly, the campaign can be a morale-booster, not simply a charity drive.
• Provide incentives around the activities and giving levels you want to encourage such as a day or 2 of paid vacation when a person gives 2% of their salary.
• Thank employees for giving and for considering a gift.

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Strategy: Increase Awareness
For companies with high per capita giving but low participation rates.

• Use all venues of communication to publicize your campaign. Use the free print materials that United Way has available including posters, brochures, sample e-mail messages, videos and success stories. Report campaign events and progress in your company newsletter or intranet. Encourage employees to visit United Way's website at www.uwsect.org.
• Use United Way's bureau of trained agency speakers to educate your staff about how donations are helping the community. We can arrange for speakers from our partner programs to present at one of your group meetings. All of our speakers have gone through a professional training session to learn to present their "story" in less than 5 minutes.
• You may also want to seek employees who have received help through a United Way partner program and encourage them to speak about their experience at a group meeting. This way, other employees will see that United Way helps everyone-friends, neighbors, family members, coworkers.
• Promote volunteerism throughout your organization. Participate in United Way's Day of Caring or another volunteer project. United Way can assist a group of employees from your company by matching them up with a project at a local non-profit organization. Projects range from painting to reading to children to planting a garden. It's a great team-building exercise and builds enthusiasm for the campaign. In addition, employees get to see first-hand how their United Way contribution is making a difference in the community at a non-profit organization.
• United Way's website also has a listing of current volunteer opportunities throughout Southeastern Connecticut at our partner programs. Mentor a child. Teach someone to read. Drive a senior to a medical appointment. Prepare and deliver a meal to a homebound individual. Find out more about local volunteer opportunities at www.volunteersolutions.org/uwsect.
• Plan special events for your employees to attend and gather information. Special events make your campaign fun and help educate people.
• Remember to promote United Way in your company on a year-round basis, not just during campaign time. Sign-up for our free, monthly e-newsletter called Be There on our website (www.uwsect.org). Forward this e-mail to others in your company.
• Check with United Way campaign staff to be sure you're on our mailing list to receive By the Way, a newsletter especially for Coordinators. It contains information about United Way events, activities, funding to programs and volunteer opportunities.
• Send monthly "did you know" e-mails to staff with quick bullet points about United Way and our partner programs.
• Display United Way posters throughout your building during the entire year.

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Strategy: Increase the Average Gift
For companies with low per capita giving but a high participation rate.

• Encourage employees to use payroll deduction as the preferred and easiest way to give. Stress that it is easier to give more over a period of time.
• Encourage employees to give at suggested levels and build an incentive around it. For example, give one hour's pay per month and receive a t-shirt or give 1.5% of your salary and receive an extra paid vacation day.
• Also provide incentives for employees who give more this year than last year.
• Promote leadership giving throughout your entire campaign.
• Encourage employees to plan their giving for the year and give all donations through United Way of Southeastern Connecticut.

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Strategy: Increase Participation
For companies with both low participation and low per capita giving.

• Increase employee education through group meetings, agency speakers and even an agency tour.
• Solicit employees in a group or one-on-one, never through employee mailboxes or by leaving pledge cards on desktops. Use everyone on your campaign committee to personally contact all employees either at a group meeting or with a follow-up for those who missed the meeting.
• Provide incentives based on levels of giving.
• Emphasize that 91 cents of every dollar raised through United Way goes directly to local programs that help people and make the greatest community impact.
• Encourage payroll deduction as the easiest way to give.
• Establish realistic goals for yourself. If you can't employ all of the model campaign techniques in the first year, try adding just one or two at first and build on that the following year.
• Implement a "new hires" program so that all employees have an opportunity to give. If possible, make United Way part of every new employee orientation stating that your company supports and believes in United Way. Provide a packet of information to each new employee with a brochure, pledge card and letter of endorsement from your CEO and/or labor representative, if appropriate. See the sample New Hires letter in the back pocket of this guide.
• Run a solicitation for retirees from your company. Many retirees will give towards your campaign, they simply need to be asked. Find out about getting the mailing list of all retirees and send a letter of endorsement from your CEO and/or labor representative, if appropriate. Include a brochure of United Way's partner programs and point out the diverse services available to them in the community. Read a sample letter to retirees that you can customize for your campaign.
• Make sure that every employee at your company receives a pledge form and is asked to give. United Way campaign staff would be happy to suggest ways to effectively reach all employees at multiple locations and varying shifts.
• Talk with top-level management about contributing a corporate gift or creating a corporate match program. Employees are more apt to give when they know that the company truly supports a cause at every level.
• Make the campaign fun! Create a sense of competition within company groups and departments. Hold themed events or competitions with prizes.

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