Community Shares of Mid Ohio - Workplace Giving Campaign Samples

SAMPLES

In a continued effort to provide you with support to help make planning your successful workplace fundraising campaign as easy as possible, below we have included templates for campaign announcements, meetings and more. Follow the links below for more information on each:

Newsletter/Email announcement
Pledge Form
Campaign Checklist
Community Shares Talking Points
10 Minute Campaign Meeting

NEWSLETTER / EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENT

Do you want to make an impact in your community? Would you like to invest in making Columbus and Central Ohio a better place?

[Your company name] has partnered with Community Shares of Mid Ohio to give you, our employees, the opportunity to invest in your community. Starting [date], you will be able to make a donation to over 50 non-profit organizations making an impact in Columbus and Central Ohio. Community Shares has been working with companies for over 15 years to allow employees the opportunity to contribute through their paycheck to charities working on the issues and causes they care about most.

Simply fill out a pledge form with which organizations from the list you would like to support and the amount you would like to donate. Pledge forms will be due by [date]. Your donation will be deducted from your paycheck over the course of a year. Your donation could be as simple as $1, $10, $25 or more per pay. Every little bit goes to help creating change in Columbus and Central Ohio.

We will have a campaign kick-off on [date & time]. I encourage you to attend to learn more about Community Shares of Mid Ohio, their great members and how you can invest in your community. For more information please go to their website at www.communityshares.net or contact [company’s campaign manger].

CHECKLIST

Here is a basic checklist to help you with your campaign. Please feel free to modify it to fit the needs of the campaign you’ll be running at your company.

___Set campaign dates and notify Community Shares of Mid Ohio.

___Receive materials from Community Shares and review.

___Go to campaign section on Community Shares website for additional information..

___Plan and hold a kick-off event for your workplace fundraising campaign.

___Distribute pledge forms and brochures..

___Be available to answer questions from co-workers.

___Promote the campaign as much as possible.

___Collect completed pledge forms, even if they choose not to give.

___Give one set of copies of pledge forms to your payroll department..

___Contact Community Shares of Mid Ohio to arrange pick-up of pledge forms after campaign.

___Thank everyone who donated, participated and supported the campaign.

TALKING POINTS ABOUT COMMUNITY SHARES OF MID OHIO

When talking or promoting your campaign and Community Shares to your co-workers, you may get some questions about Community Shares of Mid Ohio. Below are facts about Community Shares you can mention when talking with co-workers and promoting your workplace fundraising campaign:

Community Shares of Mid Ohio (CoSMO) has been doing workplace fundraising for over 15 years.
CoSMO represents over 55 non-profits working to make an impact in Columbus and central Ohio.
CoSMO's board consists of a representative from each member organization.
CoSMO emphasizes that donors choose which charity they wish to support with their contribution.
CoSMO offers flexibility to donors by allowing them to support multiple charities and to allow them to contribute more to the causes they care about most by breaking their contributions out over the course of a year.

THE 10-MINUTE CAMPAIGN MEETING

Employees are brought together in small groups for a 10 minute presentation about your company’s workplace fundraising campaign. We recommend including a top management person, campaign manager and a representative from Community Shares or one of its member organizations. The meeting allows employees to hear first hand how their donations are making an impact as well as hearing from fellow employees as to why they participate in the campaign. This also provides a good opportunity to distribute pledge cards and have them turned in by the end of the meeting. We encourage you to do this during or at the end of a regular staff meeting to help save staff time and is the easiest way to inform employees about your workplace fundraising campaign.

Announce the meeting (or as part of a meeting).
Distribute pledge forms.
Have someone from management introduce the campaign portion of the meeting..
Guest speaker presentation/appeal to give/questions and answers..
Return pledge forms at end of the presentation/meeting so follow-up time will be shortened; have your campaign manager follow-up within 1-2 days, but no more than a week.
Express thanks.