Nearly 80% of charitable donations are made in the last quarter of the year. Employees are able to maximize deductions, not to mention are feeling the most generous around the Holidays. This fall is a great opportunity to engage with employees who might not be as engaged other months of the year, creating a life-long love for giving.
Here are 5 low-lit giving campaigns you can run with your team this fall…🍂
1. Toy Drive
Hosting a toy drive is a great way to rally your team and spread holiday cheer. There are many opportunities to create excitement around a toy drive. Make it competitive and track through departments. Host an event to end the drive like “gift wrapping” or “stuff the stockings” during business hours. Create buzz through marketing and communications. If your company offers donation matching, customize goods by unit pricing for match opportunities.
2. Run a One-Day Giving Madness Bracket on Giving Tuesday
Giving Madness is a gamified giving experience, meant to create excitement around giving. Structured like the famous college basketball tournament, a company starts with 16 nonprofits in the giving bracket. Employees vote (each voting experience includes a nonprofit profile that advocates awareness) to advance their favorite nonprofits through four rounds over the course of one day, one week, or one month. Other times of the year, a one week bracket is recommended. However, a one day bracket is a great idea for an experience on Giving Tuesday, the biggest giving event of the year!
3. Virtual Thanksgiving Food Drive
Volunteering at a food bank during the holiday season is a great way to feel connected to the community and a great idea for a team event as well. However, if you are looking for something more low-lift or have a remote team, a virtual Thanksgiving food drive event works great too. Thanksgiving is a busy time for most food banks and an overabundance of food donations may create more challenges. Encourage monetary donations but include item values so employees can visualize the value add of their donation. Provide a company match if you are able.
4. Create a Campaign through Millie
Through Millie’s campaign feature, you can create fully customizable campaigns or easily use a pre-built campaign template. Campaigns are built around a cause area and consist of lists of nonprofits to donate to, volunteer programs unique to the campaign, and options to set goals and a match (with cap options).
Check out a list of ideas for campaign themes to run this fall:
- Make a Difference Day | Oct 22
- National Career Development Month | November
- Veterans Day
- Thanksgiving
- Giving Tuesday
- International Human Rights Day | Dec 10
- Holiday Giving
Check out our social impact calendar (and subscribe!) for a complete list of social impact holiday ideas for your next campaign.
5. Veteran’s Day Greeting Card Volunteer Event
Rally your team around supporting the troops with a card writing volunteer event for Veteran’s Day. Prepare for the event by researching “best practices,” like what you should and should not include. We recommend choosing 3-5 orgs, like Support Our Troops, to gather information on best practices to present at the beginning of the event. Engage the team by choosing a team member, ERG lead, or team lead to research and present the best practices.
Millie’s team hosted a “Card Bonanza” last fall that was a big success. Leading up to the event, each remote team member received an Amazon gift card for purchasing greeting cards and pens/markers of their choice. The event was remote (a great option for either) and supported three cause areas. After each cause area was presented by different team members, there was time for writing together while sharing experiences and/or listening to music. It was such an impactful and fun team building event!
There are so many options and opportunities for giving back this fall that options may feel overwhelming. Resources may be limited for most corporate social responsibility initiatives as well. Don’t let that discourage you from the many low-lift social impact opportunities that you can still offer your team this holiday season.
