Thank you for being an Employee Campaign Manager (ECM). Look throughout this section for Tips & Techniques for conducting a successful company campaign!

Schedule important dates
No campaign can be successful without taking time to make it so. But United Way wants your campaign to take as little time away from your job as possible. Many companies choose to have a few campaign events within the same day to minimize time away from work. Since over 150 Williamson County companies run campaigns within a few months, the earlier you plan your campaign events, the more likely you will have your first choice in availability of speakers, dates and tours.

Meet with your United Way LE or staff representative
Do this ASAP
• Select a date to attend Employee Campaign Manager training
• Set a date to conduct Campaign Team training

At least a month before you kickoff
• Set a date to kick off your campaign
• Set dates, times and locations for rallies - we can do as many of these as you need and at any time

If you want a speaker, please give United Way as much notice as possible
• Select tour sites, dates, and times

Set “thank-you” program date
• At least two weeks after all pledges are due

Keys to a successful campaign
Appoint a senior manager to lead the campaign
• Build a campaign team with representatives from throughout your organization (department, location, classification, etc.) to have a group that represents the cross section of your employee base.
• Set clear goals and develop a plan
• Increase participation – the number of employees participating
• Increase average gift – how much each employee gives
• Grow the “Community Impact Fund” – donors choosing to give to United Way’s general fund for making our community stronger

Recruit a team to help you
The best way to lighten your workload is to let others help you. Get others involved and engaged in the work. Team training is designed to educate employees serving as ambassadors about United Way.

• Be in touch personally with every employee by appointing a campaign team (ideally, one team member per 10 to 15 employees). The Campaign Team becomes your point of contact for educating employees and getting pledge cards completed
• Train your team using United Way tools, and give them specific tasks. Take them on a tour of a United Way-funded program to see the work firsthand
• Use incentives to keep the team focused and motivated
• The role of a Team Member is twofold: 1) To answer co-workers’ questions about United Way; 2) Be the key contact for educating employees and getting pledge cards completed – we suggest each Team Member be responsible for 10 to 15 employees

Sample Team Training Agenda:

• Overview of the Role of the Campaign Team 5 minutes
• Review of Your Company’s Campaign, 5 minutes
• Handling Questions & Objections 5 minutes - United Way Representative
• Role-Playing Team Members 10 minutes - you & United Way Representative
• Agency Tour 25 to 30 minutes

Tip: Incorporating your Campaign Team training with a tour is a great way to help educate and motivate Team Members.

Educate, engage and involve
• Donors who hear, touch and understand United Way’s message of community impact are more eager to get involved and give. Use United Way-developed materials and messages
• Printed Materials: posters, pledge cards and brochures
• Begin communications at least one week before making the “ask” or handing out pledge cards
• Conduct fun, education events that get people fired up. The United Way video, games and prizes and success stories spark the kind of caring that leads to the most successful United Way campaigns
• For groups of 25 or more, consider a speaker from a United Way-partner organization. They can tie together the message of community with real-life examples

Conduct Leadership Giving campaign for your key executives and senior managers
• Make targeted “asks” for the Robertson Association for Leadership Giving ($1,000), Cockrill Chapter ($5,000 - $9,999), Alexis de Tocqueville Society ($10,000+)

Say “thank you”
• Help United Way say “thank you” and keep your donors informed year-round. Provide us with the names and contact information (address and e-mail) of your givers
• Show your own appreciation. It can be as simple as writing a thank-you note or as elaborate as throwing a victory party

Key Messages
A Diverse Community • A Common Goal • The Best Way
Explain how, together, we all share a common goal to make our community stronger.

Your Williamson County workplace likely includes people from all parts of Middle Tennessee. Our goal is to engage the community in helping others. We all want to take care of the community in Middle Tennessee and United Way of Williamson County works hard to meet the needs in Williamson County and to help the United Ways throughout Middle Tennessee do the same.

The Best Way – United Way
You’re a generous person. You have many demands on your time, your heart and your wallet. And each is important. Your list probably includes your church, your child’s school, a favorite charity or a neighborhood group. Keep up the good work.

Add United Way to this list and you’ve added an entire community to your portfolio of caring. Now, you are helping people and changing conditions that lead to despair and violence.

Through United Way we can create the stronger community we all want.

With Payroll Deduction you are able make the most powerful contribution possible.

We can do more together through United Way than any one of us could ever do alone.

United Way of Williamson County is different from every other charity or nonprofit you know. Our United Way has a unique purpose – to help Williamson Countians agree on common community goals and work together to achieve those goals. Citizens invest their dollars, their time and their best ideas in finding solutions to the issues we care about most.

United Way keeps citizens informed and connected to the work of building a stronger and safer community. At United Way’s web site, www.uwwc.org, you can see statistics, stories and photos of how you and United Way are making a difference every day.

United Way is the largest non-governmental funder of health and human services in our community and in the nation.

Tip: Use these messages for daily quizzes or other contests in your campaign!

Engaging employees: the first steps
Attend ECM training and learn about United Way of Williamson County’s latest strategies and the tools to help you run a successful and exciting campaign. The training is conducted by United Way staff.

Benefits
• Network with other campaign managers and share best practices
• Learn how to run an effective campaign that will meet your goals
• Get invigorated and inspired about United Way’s work in our community

Frequently asked questions
“Is United Way really different from other nonprofits?”
United Way of Williamson County is fundamentally different from other nonprofits and many United Ways. As a true community building organization, UWWC takes its direction from our community. It exists for only one reason – to help us come together as one community to identify and work on the issues we consider most important. Today, your United Way has one mission – to bring together people and resources around our common community goal – a stronger community.

“Why should I choose the United Way “Community Impact Fund?”
Because contributions to the Community Impact Fund or general fund work right here in our own county – helping people and changing conditions that lead to a weakened community.

Through the Community Impact Fund, your dollars do the work that you instructed United Way to do – invest in 5 powerful strategies aimed at maintaining the quality of life. Volunteer community experts carefully monitor your investment and measure the results of these strategies. Americans are a generous people. We have many demands on our time, our hearts and our wallets. We give to churches, schools and our favorite charities. United Way asks that you add the Community Fund to this list. Do that and you’ve added over 60 programs that help an entire regional community to your portfolio of caring.

“Too much of the money raised by United Way is used for administrative purposes.”
Just 14 cents of every dollar raised is used for administration. United Way can be this efficient because community support and participation keep costs to a bare minimum. Examples: Volunteers serve on the Board of Directors. Volunteers serve in the investment process. Executives are “loaned” by businesses to aid in fundraising. Media services – radio, television, newspapers – donate time and space. But efficiency is not the only reason to give to United Way. Being part of a powerful effort to make our region stronger for all of us – that’s the best reason to give.

“My spouse gives for both of us.”
The success of our community’s plan to help people and change conditions that lead to crime and violence depends on each working person making a generous gift. We each have a community responsibility and United Way makes it possible for each of us to be powerful investors in community change.

“What if I want to give to an agency that is not supported by United Way?”
You certainly may, but we want you to understand that our partner agencies have gone through a rigorous process to receive funding. Local volunteers from the community study their financials and programs to ensure that contributions are used effectively and efficiently. Why? Because United Way is not in the “business” of raising money for nonprofit agencies. United Way exists for only one reason – to help us come together as one community to identify and work on the issues we consider most important. The United Way campaign is you chance to make a powerful investment in a carefully crafted 5-point plan designed to make our community stronger. All United Way asks is that you reserve United Way campaign time for your community.

“My taxes take care of the less fortunate.”
State and federal taxes do support some health and human services, primarily through public assistance programs. But taxes can’t do it all. United Way’s Plan has specific strategies aimed at increasing the economic self-sufficiency of families and individuals in our community. The result? Fewer people requiring public assistance. Also, issues of health, shelter and natural disasters – issues that sometimes fall outside most public assistance programs, affect many in our regional community. United Way continues its commitment to strengthening the social fabric of our community by helping meet basic needs.

“Our employees are low-paid; I don’t want to ask them to give.”
Almost universally, people have a desire to help others. Even a small amount each week can give an employee a sense of belonging to a larger community, a sense of making a difference. The amount of an individual’s gift through payroll deduction has a small impact on the donor’s take-home pay. However, this gift, when combined with others, will have a huge impact on the health and safety of our community. United Way believes that all employees should be given an opportunity to express themselves through charitable giving and to enjoy the emotional reward that comes from knowing that they’ve helped make our community a safer, healthier place.

“How many agencies does United Way of Williamson County support?”
The answer is 41. But there’s a different way to look at the issue. Because United Way doesn’t fund agencies – it funds a network of programs and initiatives, more than 60 at current count, which are working together to make our community stronger. Included are school systems, nonprofit agency programs, churches and community partnerships. All of these funded programs are directly connected to one or more of United Way’s 5 strategies to make our community safer and stronger or to meet basic needs. Remember this – when any agency or organization or group applies for United Way funding, they present a program or programs that specifically support one of the 5 strategies or meet basic needs. Volunteer investment experts review the case for funding and determine if investing in that particular program will indeed further our community’s goal for that strategy.

Tip: See more Frequently Asked Questions by going to the FAQ page on this web site.

Additional campaign materials
Donor Brochure
The brochure highlights United Way’s key messages, 5 key service areas and the benefits of the United Way. This is a must for every employee.

Pledge Form
Whether you use our pledge forms of your company designs its own, it is important that each employee receives one during you campaign. Make sure this form is filled out completely and signed by the employee. Remember to use your Campaign Team to help you distribute these and to make a personal “ask” rather than stuffing them into envelopes with payroll checks. Keep in mind: The #1 reason people say they don’t give is because no one ever asked them to do so.

Epledge
United eWay electronic pledging is an efficient and effective means of capturing donor pledges and transmitting them to United Way. No paper! Your United Way representative can share this great tool with you.

Great ideas and incentives to make your campaign fun & informative!
Use United Way materials and messages, and get great best practice ideas by going to Company Campaign section on this web site.

• Campaign ideas to engage employees
• Raffles/Incentives (daily winners)
• Meals
• Vacation Day
• Special event tickets
• Billable hours
• United Way branded items
• Special assigned parking space
• Company products
• Gift certificates/Coupon books
• Department pizza party
• Book fair
• Golf tournament
• Volleyball/Picnic/Dunking booth
• Food
• Bake Sale
• Chili cook-off
• Taste-Off (your company) festival
• Hot dog sales
• Ice Cream socials
• Breakfast sale
• Senior-level executives serve breakfast to employees
• BBQ at CEO’s house
• Bowling tournament
• Silent Auction
• Arts & Crafts fair
• Casual day
• T-shirt sales
• Day off to volunteer as a company
• Agency/Community tours
• Flea market (employee-donated items)
• Lunch & Learns
• Talent show/Karaoke
• Ugly tie contest/Kiss the Pig
• Education work games/Fact finds for prizes
• Speakers (from inside or outside the company)
• Stories from employees who volunteer or have received help

When to use incentives
For payroll deduction gift
For individual or department % increase in giving (put on pledge card the specific amount needed)
For departments that complete their campaign first
For turning in a pledge card
For new gifts
For attending a department rally or special event
For being a Leadership Giver (either for United Way or internal giving levels)
For giving fair share (% predetermined)
For most informative department campaign
For highest participation of department ($ or attendance at rallies)

Where to get incentives
Your vendors
Your own company
Your company sets a budget for premiums
Local businesses