Webinar Wrap-Up: Change The Shape Of Corporate Fundraising

Posted by Ben Crook on 8 June 2017

Want to learn more about how corporate partners can engage their employees to increase funds for charity?

Our recent webinar, hosted by GivGo and industry experts from the EY Foundation and Harrods, shared tips and tricks on how to turn corporate wastage and unwanted goods into a CSR opportunity.

With a rapidly evolving landscape offering new challenges, especially in regards to the economic climate, it is important for businesses to reflect and review their CSR strategy and innovate where they can. Corporate social responsibility is a key issue for any organisation aiming for long term sustainability.

Nielsen.com, a leading global consumer insights company which specialises in corporate activity and data explains, CSR speaks to who the company is, what it believes in and how it is doing business. Companies that are able to get recognition for the softer sides of their business are on the right path to building a sustainable business for the future.

One of the most common forms of CSR involve corporate and charity partnerships. But these aren’t always as simple to execute as one would think.

What are the main challenges?

• Pressure and competition from other companies
• Budget cuts
• Loss of engagement

Much of the challenge is centered around dated fundraising techniques, which often leads to fundraising fatigue. It can be difficult to inspire staff and maintain momentum of a charity partnership if you are asking staff to do same thing year after year. Even if a successful partnership is in place, its often difficult to engage staff across locations and levels, or include those working from home or with flexible hours.

How does this effect charities?

Charities must plough more resource into attracting and winning corporate partners, and fight to keep them engaged to make the partnership more successful. Forbes conducted a survey in May 2013, which found that 89% of companies believe that their CSR activities lead to happier employees and 76% of companies believed they ended up with better more engaged employees as a result of their CSR programs.

How does this effect companies?

We’ve learnt that corporates want to find new ways of engaging employees to meet their outlined CSR in a simple, prompt and innovative way. Its important that they stand out for their CSR activities and seek new ways of showcasing their CSR footprint.

To compliment that, charities want long term corporate partnerships that become more effective in terms of impact on staff. Long term partnerships take time to build and more efficient ways to demonstrate ROI are in demand. To make it work, both parties need a clear understanding of each others needs; this means increased engagement and visibility on both sides, in order to have a clear indication of the fundraising impact and to see results in real-time.

How can both charities and corporates work together effectively?

As a leader in fundraising technology, Givergy recognised there was a need for a product that complemented and enhanced the CSR strategies of businesses across a range of sectors, with an emphasis on employee engagement and sustainability.

In response to this demand we launched GivGo, a bespoke technology platform that offers corporates the opportunity to leverage the power of their own employees to raise money for charity in a new and innovative way. They can further their corporate social responsibility programme, whilst giving employees across levels and locations the chance to take part in auctions, prize draws or to simply donate directly to a chosen charity by utilising unwanted goods, unused merchandise or donated items.

In our latest webinar, hear from Harrods and the EY Foundation on how they increased employee engagement and turned unwanted goods into a CSR opportunity with GivGo!

Ben Crook

Chief Operating Officer

Ben is at the forefront of every project in Givergy, listing and actioning constant improvements across the business. With over a decade of experience in the charity and events sector he brings a deep understanding of what the fundraising industry needs to operate effectively and efficiently.