Conscious Choice: Charity Buddies

December 2001

Charity Buddies

by Jane Burren

An increasing number of workers these days find themselves "time poor, cash rich." Finding the time for volunteer work or to fund raise for charity is much harder than writing a check. Continued commitment is another problem — you sign on to a volunteer roster with the best of intentions, but as time goes by you find yourself making excuses, getting caught up by work, being "too busy." Yet personal involvement is so much more satisfying than just giving money, and it can add a sense of purpose and community spirit to life.

What about banding together with a "charity buddy"? Just as an "exercise buddy" or a "diet buddy" can help you succeed with your exercise and healthy eating programs, working as part of a team can ensure your success in supporting your favorite charity. This idea is growing in popularity, with many employers recognizing the desire of employees to give something back to the community, and putting structures in place to support that objective.

Cathie Kennedy, founding director of Spinifex Communications, a public relations company based in Melbourne, Australia, recognized this need some years ago. Each year she and her employees select a charity for which they will provide free services during the coming year. Selecting the charity is a democratic process that involves everyone in the agency — anyone can nominate a charity, and Cathie also receives request letters from charities aware of her program. The team nominates the amount of time they will spend working for the selected charity over the coming year, and then the account is run like any other, with an initial planning meeting to decide objectives, and progress reports throughout the year.

Open Software Associates, an international software development company for which I formerly worked, had a similar plan. A committee formed to select a charity that was active world-wide in the same locations as the company offices, and shareholders voted to donate a percentage of profits to the selected charity each year. The company also pledged matching annual leave time, whereby an employee who spent vacation time working with the charity could have a matching amount of additional leave, also to be spent working for the charity.

This idea was more effective in theory than in practice — while many people had good intentions, few came to anything. In hindsight, I would suggest that the committee that formed to select the charity continue after the selection process, moving on to organize company events and fundraisers to benefit the charity.

The process can be implemented in any workplace, large or small. Start by selecting a charity to support. How you do this will differ according to the number of people in your workplace or workplaces, and people’s preferences. As a starting point, you might like to consider questions like the following:

• Is there a charity that’s particularly well-aligned with your business? For example, if you’re in the building industry, you may choose to support a charity such as Habitat for Humanity that builds houses for those who are economically disadvantaged.

• Is the charity active locally so that you can get involved easily? Does your organization have more than one office, and do you want to select a charity that’s active everywhere the company is?

• Does the charity have particular religious or political affiliations? It’s important not to offend or marginalize anyone in the workplace — for example, don’t choose a Christian charity if it will upset atheists, Muslims, Jews, or other religious groups.

• Is the charity reputable? If possible, have your CFO look over the charity’s financial reports from previous years, and try to choose a charity where a high percentage of money reaches the grassroots level where it’s needed, rather than being chewed up on items like administration costs.

• Ask others in the workplace what selection criteria are important to them.

When you have a set of selection criteria, ask for nominations and evaluate the charities against the criteria to select the best — or most acceptable — match.

Once you’ve selected a charity, it’s time to get everyone involved. Think about:

• Posting newsletters from the charity on the company notice boards, or by e-mail

• Advertising fundraising events that the charity is running, and encouraging people to attend. What about a corporate table at fundraising dinners?

• Organizing a monthly morning tea, and collecting contributions for the charity

• Running a casual dress day and asking for donations

• Distributing order forms for any merchandise such as t-shirts or Christmas cards that the charity sells, and arranging a bulk purchase

• Donating products or services if the charity can use your organization’s skills or the things you manufacture

• Investigating fundraising activities such as chocolate sales whose profits can go to the charity

• Selling tickets for raffles being run by the charity

• Building a corporate team to volunteer together once a month or for special events (for example many environmental groups run clean up days; the Australian Anti-Cancer Council runs "Relay for Life", a sponsored twenty-four-hour team marathon event; Habitat for Humanity builds houses, and extra pairs of hands are always welcome)

• Instead of sending corporate gifts, send a card letting your clients and suppliers know that you’ve made a charitable donation instead.

• As an employer, be flexible about employee arrangements that involve charitable work — for example, employees may want to devote a few hours during the working day to the charity, and make up the time later.

Choose to make your workplace a more valuable place — start today by approaching the CEO, human resources department, or your own supervisor about choosing a corporate charity. Charity doesn’t have to begin at home, it can just as easily begin at work!

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