Nurturing charitable causes through fund raising campaigns - includes related article on alternative funds

HR Magazine, Oct, 1997 by Kate Walter

EXPANDED GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

Four years ago, J.P. Morgan and Co. of New York also added Earth Share to its annual giving campaign. "We picked that group primarily because we felt our employees had a strong interest in the environment," says managing director Hildy Simmons. "We also felt Earth Share was not competing with human service organizations and would not draw dollars away from United Way. We wanted to expand opportunities for giving around another set of issues we thought concerned our employees."

Simmons says a quick analysis indicated that adding another fund did not reduce contributions to United Way, but attracted some new employees and prompted a sizable number to give to both. J.P. Morgan has an open United Way campaign in which employees can designate the charity of their choice-provided it meets United Way criteria. The company also makes a corporate gift to United Way that matches employee donations.

"We have not added anybody else because we feel we cover our local territories with United Way and we have a matching gifts program that allows employees to give to anything they want," explains Simmons. "Also, we don't want to add to our administrative burden or create confusion for employees - and that's an issue."

J.P.Morgan runs a relatively low-key campaign with no pressure on employees to give. The company has more than 15,000 employees worldwide, but the campaign is mostly domestic. In 1996 it had 28 percent participation, raising $373,389 for United Way and $152,556 for Earth Share.

The company has experimented with phone and e-mail systems to make giving easy. Employees can either make a one-time contribution, which is deducted from the first paycheck of the year, or authorize regular deductions. It's all done electronically and handled in-house by the payroll management system. Campaign materials, also produced internally, address the importance of both charities.

"We try not to say that air is more important than food," says Simmons. "Our goal has not been to push employees to give a certain amount but to increase the levels of employee participation and to do that by making it easy and engaging."

OPENING UP THE CAMPAIGN

Setting up a new campaign involves planning time and a willingness to staff it professionally or with an employee committee.

"It's not a big deal, but it's an additional commitment on the company's part," says John Coy, president of The Consulting Network of Vienna, Va., a private firm specializing in workplace giving that recently helped The Prudential Insurance Co. and Sears, Roebuck and Co. develop new campaigns. The biggest challenges are deciding how big to make the list of choices, and how to add these choices to the payroll deduction process, Coy says.

"We look at employee culture, the vision and mission statements, and the way the company is dealing with other kinds of benefit programs: Are there multiple choices for health care? For 401(k) retirement plans? Next, we look at community relations and employee relations goals and then survey the employees and find out their interests."