Three things to ask before starting fundraising at work

Anne-Marie, our Head of Fundraising, shares her top tips for fundraising at work.

By Anne-Marie Wynne on May 2, 2019

At its best, fundraising in the workplace is the perfect platform to bring your team together, take a break from your everyday pressures and help make a real difference to those who need extra support in their lives. However, managed badly it can become monotonous, leave people feeling obliged to donate, or left out of an activity because it’s not accessible to them.

So, to make sure your fundraising hits the right note in your organisation, here are my top three Questions to ask before you set out on your fundraising mission!

1. Why are we doing this?

The motivation behind fundraising needs to be established and communicated to all those involved. Many organisations choose their charity because a member of staff has benefitted from their help at some point and they would like to give something back, others chose a charity because it aligns with their strategic goals – reaching a specific audience or working in a similar way to solve a problem – for example, housing organisation may choose to support a housing charity, or a supermarket may support a food bank.

Once your purpose is established you need to communicate this to your team and anyone else who may be involving in your quest (customers/suppliers etc.) – the best way to do this is through telling your story. If your charity has been chosen by a member of your staff ask them to share their story; this is by far the most powerful way of communicating your cause. If it aligns with strategic goals take time to really understand the charity and visit them so that you can build your own bank of stories.

2. How will the organisation support the activity?

Employees respond well to a fundraising challenge when they feel that the organisation is also committed to the cause.

What can you do as an organisation to enhance the efforts of your employees? Matched funding is a fairly common option, however, other valued elements include offering a few hours off everyday duties for the organisers of the activity, volunteering days at the chosen charity, internal recognition such as ‘fundraising champion’ certificates and the organisation sharing information of their endeavours on their website and social media feeds.

Employees also respond well when senior managers get actively involved – offering to donate a raffle prize, joining in the challenge or being prepared to put themselves in a slightly ridiculous situation!

3. What do our staff like to do?

Fundraising works best when it taps into the motivations of the people in your organisation.

Do your team love cake or are they an adventurous bunch? If you have a young team who love socialising then a social fundraiser (quiz night, danceathon) could be your winner, but if you’re competitive and driven then a challenge event may suit you better (static cycle, participation in a local run) if your team is full of keen bakers and sugar addicts you can’t go wrong with a bake sale!

Find out more of how your organisation can support us

There are lots of different ways your work place can support St Ann’s and it can be a really rewarding partnership with lots of opportunities for team building, boosting morale and having some fun!

Find out more here