Rooting Employee Giving in Your Organization’s Purpose
If there is one key lesson business leaders are taking away from the pandemic, it’s that doing good first makes all the difference. Businesses do well when they do good (in the world, for their employees, clients, suppliers, communities and our planet).
EY recently found that companies with high social standards and good company governance were more resilient against the pandemic’s impact. Furthermore, those that have embedded environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into their business models and products had higher economic growth.
If you’re not a believer yet, or you’re not sure how doing good in the world translates to bottom-line outcomes, here’s another data point from Edelman. As stated in the 2021 Trust Barometer, 86% of respondents stated they expect companies to take action beyond their business and product, and 63% are more attracted to brands that make the world a better place.
Businesses thrive when they see themselves as part of society, not separate from it. This begs the question - what are practical ways we can do good within our own business? Here at Kane, one of the ways we do so is through employee giving.
Real-world application: United Way of Racine County Workplace Giving Campaign
We realize the importance of integrating employee giving into Kane’s larger purpose of putting good into the world, and we’re so proud to be involved with United Way of Racine County’s (UWRC) annual campaign and to support its efforts through our workplace giving campaign. Kane was founded in Racine and we’re thrilled to help UWRC achieve its mission.
UWRC’s campaign plays a vital role in closing gaps in our community and empowering people of all ages to achieve their potential. We saw first-hand how the organization quickly stepped up during the pandemic to provide emergency services, provide access to the technology needed to run socially distanced programming and address inequities in health services for vulnerable communities. Sponsoring a workplace campaign makes a difference for the people UWRC serves and it connects our workforce with our community. That engagement is crucial in strengthening our company.
We launched our employee giving campaign with the goal of achieving 100% team participation. To get there, we built our strategy around a few key principles:
Highlight how UWRC aligns with Kane’s values. Kane is developing its first Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability (CCS) strategy. This means we’re moving beyond philanthropy and partnering with organizations that share our values, fight for the issues we care deeply about, and where we feel that, by working together, we can make a measurable difference. UWRC, with its focus on skills and youth employment, entrepreneurship, women’s economic empowerment, financial literacy and health and wellbeing is a perfect fit.
Provide learning opportunities. We were delighted to host Alberto Huerta, senior director of investor relations at UWRC at our Halloween-themed, “Kick-off Party.” Alberto’s talk and the conversation that ensued was an important chance for the Kane team to understand how their funds would be used to support critical community needs. It was also an opportunity for the team to see how businesses can make a difference by partnering with and supporting nonprofit organizations in our community.
Make it fun. Perhaps the best way to drive engagement amongst employees for a workplace giving campaign is to make it fun for everyone. We chose employee leaders to help us design and launch the campaign just before Halloween. They packed the campaign with lots of fun activities such as a themed kick-off with Halloween swag, a happy hour, trivia and raffle prizes to celebrate giving and give Kane’s employees a chance to earn a few prizes too.
When our communities win, we all win. Kane is proud to be a purpose-driven branding, marketing and PR firm where doing good for all our stakeholders is what drives us. Furthermore, we are proud to help our clients and businesses in the greater Milwaukee region find their purpose and design strategies and programs that help them thrive while doing good. Contact us to find out more about our purpose-driven brand approach.
