Houston, We Have a Problem

We talk to many organizations and see many corporate and employee giving programs. Although there are lots of variations, there are also recurring problem themes and issues. Here are a few of the common things we hear:

• “We give a ton of money away to many worthy causes but it doesn’t seem to resonate with our employees and clients in ways that help our business. Is there a better way to create some business wins to attract more budget and resources to our programs?”
• “Our efforts and expense in advertising what we do around CSR cost almost as much as what we invest in the programs themselves. Are we deploying our budget to the greatest effect?”
• “We have a very successful United Way campaign that hits the annual target but our people – especially the younger ones – are increasingly detached; they want more empowerment, choice and transparency.”
• “Our employee giving campaign has so much management “support” that people are participating but are feeling obliged rather than altruistic. By making participation dutiful, aren’t we missing an opportunity to connect with them on emotional issues that matter to them?”
• “The technology that powers our programs is clunky, out-of-date and not user-centric, and we seem to have to pay for every new feature we might want. Isn’t there a more current software solution that is easy to use, easy to implement and can grow with us?”

How many of these apply to you or your company’s programs?

We could go on, but we can all agree that there certainly are lots of opportunities for doing things better. Before we get to how to do that, let’s first make sure that we’re focused on the right outcomes.

In our next post we’ll discuss how refocusing the ‘why’ of your workplace giving program can benefit the desired outcome of your program.

In the meantime…
We’d love to hear what you think! What are the pits and peaks that can make or break a workplace giving program?

Tell us on twitter @benevity #goodWPG #badWPG