Charlotte Baldwin on the bigger picture: The wider benefits of fundraising within your business

In an ever competitive business world, finding ways to engage and retain employees has become paramount to a successful long term operation. Gone are the days when people considered a job as being ‘for life’ and there has been a rise in serial ‘job-hoppers’ who are constantly moving between organisations as they progress up the ranks.

It costs an organisation far less to invest in retaining their existing employees than it does to recruit new people, once you consider recruitment fees, training and the initial drop in productivity during the induction period whilst they are getting up to speed with the role. For this reason, the focus has grown on finding ways to motivate, inspire and engage workforces so that they feel really connected with the company they are working for, and actively want to remain there. Studies have shown that feeling like they are making a difference is an important consideration for employees, particularly younger ones, and this is where fundraising as part of your company strategy can help. Not only can it help employees to feel like they are contributing to a bigger cause, it’s a great publicity vehicle for your business and could help to attract even more great talent into your organisation.

Fundraising objectives

The great thing about fundraising is that it can be as big or as small as you like. In-house fundraising can feature smaller, singular events such as a colleague taking part in a sponsored run through combined team efforts such as office bake sales or mountain climbing challenges. Even the smaller efforts can still have a big impact on employees as well as your local community,  not forgetting the scope social media can have in sharing these fundraising efforts and achievements. By supporting employees in their fundraising efforts by providing budgets, a donation or authorising time away from work, you are actively promoting a culture which nurtures the passions and hobbies of your staff. For larger, ongoing projects, creating a central fundraising support page on a platform such as Just Giving will help to centralise  donations as well as spread awareness on a wider scale.

Benefits to employee engagement

Striving to maintain higher levels of employee engagement helps to provide a healthy and productive working culture. Team building exercises, bonuses or seasonal gatherings are a way of showing appreciation, but regular fundraising initiatives help to connect with them at a far deeper level because it allows them to help make a difference to others. Opening such opportunities to all staff will encourage unity and boost morale within teams through working towards a common goal. Dedicating a team or committee to initiate, organise and execute the fundraising across the organisation is a good way to ensure longevity and success of fundraising initiatives.

Utilising ‘business skills’ in charitable initiatives

Fundraising is undoubtedly needed for many charitable organisations who are primarily self-sustaining, but often, there are other ways in which they can be supported alongside cold hard cash. Volunteering is an avenue which is often considered by organisations, but as is so frequently assumed, this doesn’t mean just offering a spare pair of hands. Many charitable initiatives are in desperate need of help with real business skills such as marketing, accounting, social media, graphic design and so forth. Allowing staff to utilise their business skills for good is an extremely effective way of boosting their confidence, knowledge and capabilities, whilst also providing meaningful contributions outside of the business.

In summary, fundraising is often considered an afterthought by many organisations, when in reality it should form a core part of their culture and the spirit of the organisation. By finding ways to ‘do good’ outside of the core business operations, staff will feel more motivated, engaged and supportive of the business as a whole. Organisations are here to make money of course, but working for a business is now so much more than that. Staff who feel like their work makes a difference are much more likely to remain loyal and committed to their employer, which in turn will help maximise productivity and performance.

By Charlotte Baldwin 

About the Author

Charlotte Baldwin is Operations Manager at IQ Cards, a fundraising company that provides schools and establishments with the necessary tools to fundraise via selling high-quality and unique gifts designed by pupils. For more information visit: www.iqcards.co.uk