Because it serves 50,000 employees, the State of Oregon Employees Charitable Fund Drive (CFD) is the largest employee giving campaign in the state.  But a company of any size can replicate its success.

What you can learn from this campaign:
Careful planning: You might not need to start this early, but the State of Oregon starts planning its fall campaign in January of every year.  The CMO team and committee of State employees always have a calendar of activities, and keep a watchful eye on the tasks that need to be completed.

Leadership support: The increases in donors and dollars raised are partly due to strong support from State Agency heads and other people in leadership. They let their staff members know that the Charitable Fund Drive is important, and they encourage employees to consider making a gift.

Lots of charitable choices for employees: State employees can give to almost any issue that’s close to their hearts, with more than 850 eligible charities.  This level of choice shows that the State of Oregon thinks employees’ values and priorities deserve respect. It also engages more employees in the campaign, if they find nonprofits that interest them.

The Results:
Efforts to involve more State employees in the CFD have been successful in the past few years.  The campaign gained 1,080 new donors in 2007. Every year since 2004, the CFD has been increasing the amount of money it raises for nonprofits by an average of 9.5% every year. Last year, the increase was about $103,000.  The CFD raised $1.15 million for Oregon nonprofit groups last year.

The Challenges:
The sheer size of the State’s workforce presents an ongoing challenge.  Reaching 50,000 people in literally thousands of offices in every corner of the State requires careful planning, thoughtful marketing, and lots of phone calls and emails.

Disseminating information about more than 850 nonprofits is never easy, either.  Helping State employees to find charities that interest them, and providing information so they can research the nonprofits, has led the campaign to create a robust database that contains every group, some basic information about each one, and a link to their website.

How it’s run:
The CFD encompasses almost every issue nonprofits tackle in Oregon: arts, environment, human services, diversity, and medical research, among others. A Campaign Management Team (made up of Earth Share and Children’s Trust Fund of Oregon staff members) oversee the planning and daily details of making sure the campaign reaches into all State offices throughout Oregon.  That can mean interacting with hundreds of state workers who coordinate the campaign in their individual offices; creating the thousands of paper brochures that are distributed; working with State leadership from the Governor’s office on down to get support for the fund drive; and many other tasks throughout the year.

Hundreds of State employees make the campaign possible by acting as Agency and Site Coordinators.  They distribute materials, collect pledges, and plan events and other publicity to promote the campaign. The State of Oregon also has a team of employees from various State agencies who oversee the planning, budgeting and management of the campaign.