2021/2022 Campaign Leaders Guide Running a United Way Campaign (In-Person, Hybrid or Virtually)
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2021/2022 Campaign Leaders Guide Running a United Way Campaign (In-Person, Hybrid or Virtually)
A Message from the
Campaign Chair
Hello, I’d like to start with a sincere thank you for representing your organization as a United
Way Campaign Leader. When the pandemic hit in spring of 2020, a new generation of
leaders was born. These were the people who felt that they couldn’t stand on the sidelines
as the virus swept through our region. Some of these leaders were new to the role; others
were well-suited to continue leading their communities; and some passed on the baton
to the next cohort. Most of you today fall into that second category — you’re a Campaign
Leader because you’ve demonstrated your commitment time and time again. As we
continue to focus on region-wide recovery, we’re thrilled to have you at the helm, helping to
shape a stronger, more equitable Chicago region.
At KPMG Chicago, we stand behind United Way’s belief that the zip code a person lives
LINDA IMONTI,
in should not determine their destiny, and we have seen how community-led plans and
MANAGING PRINCIPAL
vision can begin to make this possible through our investment in the Auburn Gresham
OF KPMG CHICAGO
Neighborhood Network. The work happening in Auburn Gresham is the work of United
Way—supporting partners who intimately know their community’s biggest challenges
and greatest opportunities, and then coming together to achieve common goals to
strengthen neighborhoods. This is why I believe there’s never been a better time to be a
Campaign Leader for United Way. With your initiative and leadership, we can revitalize
communities and create a Chicago region where every person can thrive.
As we continue to reimagine workplace culture, United Way is committed to keeping
our communities in the forefront of our partnership and helping you infuse the value of
community throughout your company. Our Campaign Leaders Guide provides new ideas to
engage team members and best practices for structuring a workplace campaign. Please
review the content in this guide and connect with your United Way representative to map
out your organization’s campaign goal. No matter the size, scope or tone of your campaign,
the United Way team is here to support your team.
Thank you so much for your commitment as a Campaign Leader.
It’s going to be a great year.
Find Campaign Email an United Way Representative
Campaign Toolkit (Print And Digital)
Resources Online
Engagement and Volunteer Opportunities
Social Media: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
5 Steps to Running a
Successful Campaign
We have updated our Campaign Leaders Guide to meet you and your teams where you are, whether that be
100% in-person, 100% virtual or a hybrid of the two. We stand prepared with tools and resources to execute a
successful campaign, with the underlying structure remaining the same—Plan, Inspire, Ask, and Thank!
STEP 1 We want to better understand your goals and how you would like to approach your campaign.
We also want to tell you more about our strategy for building stronger, more equitable communities!
Connect C
all your United Way representative to get started. If you don’t know who your contact is, call us at
with us 312.906.2204 or email donorhelp@LIVEUNITEDchicago.org.
STEP 2 The keys to campaign success are preparation and teamwork. Having the right group of campaign volunteers
will increase the success of your campaign and make your role much easier.
Make Set fundraising and participation goals, objectives and a timeline, and identify and recruit your team.
a Plan Configure an online giving platform for a more streamlined donor experience.
Learn about various strategies to make your campaign fun and engaging. Call us—we have many options
for in-person, virtual or hybrid activities!
STEP 3 Tell people how their dollars are making a difference. Share stories about our neighbors who are struggling to
make ends meet or those who have been impacted be racial inequities.
Inspire Promote a culture of giving back. A successful campaign requires frequent communications and reminders.
Co-Workers Engage co-workers in the campaign through virtual engagement and volunteerism. Don’t talk at them, get
them talking with each other, learning, and sharing.
Share your own personal story about why you support United Way.
STEP 4 The number one reason people don’t give is that they were never asked.
Make
K
ick off your campaign with a fun event featuring an energetic and inspiring ask to give! We can help you do
that virtually or in-person.
the Ask C
reate fun activities to drum up support and provide incentives for your colleagues to participate,
such as earning an extra vacation day if you give in the first 24 hours or purchasing raffle tickets to win
a free lunch delivery or a subscription to Spotify. Get competitive while giving back!
H
ave your company CEO write a letter or make a speech. CEO commitment and leadership helps drive
participation.
L et’s talk format. If peer-to-peer in-person asks aren’t an option, let us walk you through
email/virtual best practices.
STEP 5 Let us help you thank your donors. Remember, we can’t thank them if we don’t know them!
Sharing data is encouraged!
Convey R
eview campaign results with your United Way team.
Gratitude S
hare the impact! Publicize the campaign results in your company newsletter, intranet, social media channels
or a message from the CEO.
S
end individualized thank-you notes to each donor. Don't forget to say "Thank You!"
A Roadmap to Implementation
Now that you understand the Plan, Inspire, Ask, Thank structure, let’s get tactical!
PREPARE FOR STEP STEP STEP
YOUR CAMPAIGN 1 2 3
Every Core Best Practice Core Best Practice Core Best Practice
Campaign Schedule
an in-person or zoom
meeting with your United Way
Develop
a campaign theme, calendar Develop
of events and incentives, and recruit
a communications plan.
Order campaign materials (if in-
is Different! representative and any previous
campaign team members to review
additional campaign committee
members as necessary
person)
Visit the Campaign Toolkit online
This checklist is a successes and challenges from the Brief executive leadership on key at LIVEUNITEDchicago.org/
sample timeline to help previous year objectives of your campaign and campaign-toolkit to check out
plan and execute your Determine campaign dates, length, secure CEO buy-in campaign tools and templates,
United Way campaign. locations and/or virtual options, and Talk to your United Way including virtual options
Campaigns can vary in fundraising & participation goals representative about configuring an
length and be as short as Get
Bonus Best Practice
your co-workers involved! online giving platform
1 week. Your United Way Assemble a campaign committee Develop a plan to host in-
representative can help and assign roles and responsibilities
Bonus Best Practice person or virtual volunteering or
you right-size a timeline Develop Tocqueville Society engagement activities. Learn more
for your organization. Bonus Best Practice and Business Resource Group online at LIVEUNITEDchicago.org/
Choose Tocqueville Society engagement strategy by identifying volunteer.
and Business Resource Group donors and planning events
ambassadors
STEP KICKOFF YOUR DURING CAMPAIGN
4 CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN WRAP-UP
Core Best Core Best Practice Core Best Practice Core Best
Practice Host
a fun and engaging kickoff event! Track
progress and adjust strategies Practice
Train any campaign Invite
your CEO and United Way representative to talk and incentives accordingly Conduct a close-
volunteers and about United Way’s impact Send
online giving reminders out in-person staff
ambassadors—we If
virtual, use your company’s preferred platform (if applicable) rally or Zoom with
can assist (Zoom, WebEx, Skype, etc.) or host on United Way’s Continue
sharing United Way impact your United Way
Build excitement! Zoom account (up to 300 participants) stories and engagement opportunities representative
Share United Way Length
can vary. (Recommended @ 30 minutes) and make sure
Bonus Best Practice
impact stories and to discuss year-
Bonus Best Practice Host in-person or virtual events for
videos round engagement
Share calendar Record virtual or hybrid kickoffs for employees giving groups (e.g. Leadership or opportunities
of events and who have to miss it and share the video in smaller Tocqueville Society Givers), business Share the final
incentives with all gatherings, on your internal employee site, and resource groups, or business units campaign fundraising
staff campaign welcome email to create competition and increase total and don't forget
Host Tocqueville Society and Business Resource participation to thank and show
Group kickoffs and ask ambassadors to follow up Host an in-person or virtual Day of appreciation to
with donors Action or Care Project employees!
Virtual
Employee
Engagement
Incorporate our new virtual activities into your campaign kickoff or smaller group meetings and activities
during the campaign to inspire and build momentum. You can guide a discussion with data-driven
presentations, share recorded stories and examples of community leaders bringing our mission to life,
or participate in interactive sessions.
CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS:
STORY OF DATA Let United Way guide a conversation
about our city’s neighborhoods through a few different
lenses. Explore how health, income, and racial disparities
affect very specific geographies in Chicago and learn why
Data-driven
United Way takes a place-based approach and prioritizes 10
Neighborhood Networks.
Presentations WALK IN MY SHOES This brief, 10-minute
Some people are driven by online simulation gives employees a chance to “spend
numbers! Help make the case a day” in someone’s shoes who lives in a community
that is not their own. No homework is necessary, but
for support with presentations
participants who bring their curiosity and a willingness
and Q&A for employees who
to learn will absorb a mountain of information about
want to learn and understand the tough choices our neighbors make every day.
how United Way identifies the
areas of greatest impact. MEET ALICE ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Take a
deep dive to learn more about the growing number of families in Chicago that live above the poverty
line, but do not earn enough to afford basic necessities of housing, child care, food, transportation,
and health care. United Way’s research on ALICE families shows that there are pockets of ALICE
families everywhere—in the suburbs and throughout Illinois.
AGENCY PARTNER These nonprofit partners are
the trusted leaders who address specific community needs
like housing & rent assistance, childcare, healthcare and
food security. These tend to be smaller nonprofits, but
don’t let their size define their work because these agency
Storytelling partners make the biggest impact. We have videos that
Segments range from 2—20 minutes in length.
WHY I GIVE Show co-workers how important their role in the campaign is by telling stories about
Other people learn best when
why people donate. The best and most relatable stories will come from within your own organization.
information is shared through So please share your story, highlight a Leadership Donor, or ask someone who has either made their
stories and examples. Hearing first gift or been giving for 5+ years in a row to talk about “Why I Give.” United Way also has recorded
from community members donor testimonials that provide for 2 –3 minute-long stories.
who are involved in United
NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORK LEADER In each of the 10
Way really brings our mission priority neighborhoods, a lead nonprofit agency serves as what United Way
to life. We suggest watching calls the “Community Quarterback.” These Neighborhood Network Leaders
these videos together, followed share their unique perspectives on what life is like in their community,
by discussion facilitated by a plus their on-the ground strategies to improve the health, housing, food,
United Way representative. childcare, and educational opportunities in their neighborhoods. We have recorded conversations with
Community Quarterbacks that you can share that range from 3–30 minutes in length.
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS Members of our United Way team facilitate a discussion
with a small group of employees around community and solutions. Discussion prompts include regional
trends around health and human service issues, what employees see in their own communities,
possible solutions, and how your employees and/or your organization may contribute to those
solutions. There is so much brilliance and innovation in our region and we want to tap into what
Interactive employees think and engage them in solutions.
Sessions GET TO KNOW THE CHICAGO REGION ONLINE
QUIZZES Virtual quizzes can be completed individually or during
Employees want to connect
a group Zoom where live polling allows participants to see the
with each other as much as popularity of responses as participants register their answers.
they want to connect with their
VIRTUAL AUCTIONS Invite your leadership team or
communities. These sessions
individual business units to donate items or baskets for auction.
are designed to bring people If you’ve done live raffles and auctions in the past, there are great
together, have fun, and learn online options with 32Auctions.com, BiddingOwl, etc. that will
a thing or two about how attract employees who love prizes + stir some friendly bidding
campaign donations make a war competition.
real difference. LUNCH 'N LEARNS / HAPPY HOURS We organize lunch and learn (or happy hour!) discussions
on Zoom with leaders of your organization and members of the United Way Community Impact team.
Speakers come with a very brief presentation around a topic we choose with you. It also includes discussion
prompts so most of the hour together can be spent in conversation. The topics of these sessions can be
broad in scope, or more focused. Ideal for individual departmental or business resource group engagement.
Virtual Volunteerism
Group Opportunities (10 – 250) Individual/Small Group Gatherings
PACK AND LEARN Gather your team virtually and create “shoe CAREER PANELS Employees can volunteer to be a part of a
box” kits of supplies requested by United Way agency partners. While your virtual panel for high school students interested in learning about diverse
teams are packing their boxes, they can learn about our Neighborhood jobs and better understanding the education and experience path for
Network Initiative and hear from United Way staff and/or community various industries.
leaders working to support recovery efforts. All “shoe boxes” will go directly
RESUME PREP WORKSHOPS/MOCK INTERVIEWS
to the agency that requested the supplies.
Volunteers will serve as a 1:1 career coach via a United Way career
Types of Kits: Hygiene Kits, Baby Kits, workshop event, designed to help agency clients/students update their
Snack Packs, Literacy Kits resumes and/or prep for interviews.
PROTECTIVE FACE MASK PROJECT Non-profits across the SKILLS-BASED SUPPORT Our Neighborhood Networks
Chicago region are on the front lines providing support to families and represent a coalition of community agencies that provide the services
individuals in need. Many agencies are still in need of protective equipment and support needed to transform a neighborhood. We have surveyed
for employees and clients who need services. Help us create masks to these networks and have identified agencies that are seeking
send out to our agency partners professional consulting support in several fields. Detailed opportunities
Materials Needed: bandanas or t-shirts and scissors will be set up to ensure the volunteers are best equipped to meet the
needs of the agency partner.
DONATION DRIVE Agencies need a variety of supplies from
puzzles, board games and toys to PPE and baby items. Organize your
co-workers to collect and send supplies to agencies. This activity can
accommodate a virtual presentation or panel about our Neighborhood
recovery program.
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