Charitable Choice in the Workplace

A low-cost benefit for employees.
A lasting benefit for your community.

Thank you for your interest in local payroll giving choices. We look forward to working with you to develop an employee giving program that is efficient, manageable,and rewarding for you, your employees, and the community. To get started, contact the local OGC member in your community (go to Member Directory now) or Matthew Howe, OGC   Executive Director, nacg@maine.rr.com, Tel. (207) 761-1110.

Whether your company has employees in one location or nationwide, OGC and its members will work with you to customize a workplace campaign that meets your needs. If you are designing an electronic or intranet-based campaign, OGC can provide local federation listings in the format you require (or direct links to our web site directory) and assist with the development of on-line pledge forms.

Models for Success

Additional payroll giving choices can be introduced with minimal effort, and the time it takes to develop a new format for your campaign will be more than rewarded by positive feedback from employees and new benefits for the community. Experienced local and national representatives of OGC are available to meet with your company to help determine the most effective and efficient model for presenting charitable choices to your employees.

To help your organization consider future directions in workplace giving, we offer three simple models below. These models assume your company is already conducting a payroll giving campaign. If your company does not currently have a program in place, OGC representatives can help you set one up.

The Side-by-Side Campaign

This is the simplest format for adding choice in workplaces of all sizes. In a "side-by-side" campaign:

1. The local OGC member(s) brochure(s) and pledge form are distributed to employees at the same time as the brochure and pledge form from your local united fund.
2. Employees may complete one or both pledge forms and return them to your campaign coordinator or payroll office by a specified date.
3. If a presentation is desired, a representative of an OGC member will come to your workplace to give a brief talk on behalf of our local choices, preferably at the same time as the united fund presentation.
4. Employee payroll deductions are transmitted by your payroll office directly to OGC affiliates and the local united fund. Just allocate the necessary payroll field(s) for OGC members and issue a check bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly (whatever suits your system best). The knowledgeable staff of OGC affiliates will partner with your staff to develop the simplest approach possible.

The Side-by-Side Campaign with a combined pledge form

The same format as above, except employees are provided a single pledge form that lists the charitable federations offered through your campaign. Consolidating all pledge activity onto a single form gives employees a clearer presentation of the choices available to them and simplifies pledge processing for your payroll office. OGC will provide free graphic design services to help you develop a combined pledge form. You may review and download a sample combined pledge form (format is PDF).

The Combined Partnership Campaign

This model is best suited for campaigns that serve more than 500 employees and include three or more charitable federations. It is characterized by:

1. A name and theme for the campaign that embraces the diverse charities being represented.
2. A single combined brochure that describes the company's objectives and lists the participating federations and their member agencies.
3. A single combined pledge form which lists the participating federations and provides ample space for entering agency designations.
4. A company campaign committee that works with representatives of the participating federations to develop campaign literature, a solicitor training program, special events, and other necessary elements of the campaign.
5. A decision by the company whether to outsource various campaign management services such as brochure and pledge form design and production, campaign reporting, and fiscal management.

The Benefits

Whichever model you choose, your expanded giving program will bring new values and benefits that build on the strengths of your traditional campaign. More payroll giving options will:

• Inspire and mobilize employees to give more and increase their level of participation.
• Grow total giving in your workplace without additional cost.
• Give your employees clear choices on issues that address their diverse interests.
• Create a flexible, open atmosphere during your charity drive
• Add a new company benefit that gives employees pride in their work and their community, and builds new bridges from your workplace to the community.

Thank you for your interest in payroll giving choices! We look forward to working with you to develop an employee giving program that is efficient, manageable, and rewarding for you, your employees, and the community. For more information, contact the local OGC member in your community (go to Member Directory now) or Matthew Howe, OGCExecutive Director, nacg@maine.rr.com, Tel. (207) 761-1110.