Creating an Employee Giving Program

As a company, employee giving programs can help to demonstrate to your employees that you care about corporate social responsibility. These programs present the opportunity to create a connection and commitment to a charity’s cause, like the mission of Food Banks Canada.

By providing employees with the opportunity to give small or regular donations you can promote a simple way for associates to build a relationship with your charity of choice, improving employee engagement and satisfaction.

According to the Benevity Engagement Study, turnover is reduced by an average of 57% among employees who engage in workplace giving and volunteering. It is clear that employees who give, volunteer, or do both are more connected and engaged — but how do you get started?

Corporate Fundraising Events

Fundraising is a great way to raise money and bring people together in the workplace to support Food Banks Canada. Through every size of event and the funds that are raised, we can further support the national network of food banks that are creating long-term solutions to food insecurity. Plan and host office events such as bake sales, lunch potlucks, office casual days or food drives with your staff. The more social comradery, the better!

Employee Payroll Giving

Providing staff with the opportunity to give to Food Banks Canada through their paycheck is a simple and effective way to realize your company’s vision of corporate social responsibility while having a direct impact on reducing hunger in the country. The amount donated is tallied on the employee’s T4 each year, or, depending on payroll systems, they will receive a tax receipt from Food Banks Canada.

Gift Matching

Gift matching is a great way to incentivize employees to participate in an employee giving program. It shows your company’s commitment to Food Banks Canada’s cause and allows for the strengthening of social bonds between leadership and staff. Coming together toward a common goal demonstrates that purpose and profit can both exist within a corporate environment, while amplifying your impact.

The Example of Bayer

Bayer is a global life sciences organization focused on health care and nutrition.

Supporting Food Banks Canada since 2018, Bayer organizes two employee giving campaigns annually. The company has been known to encourage philanthropic activity through various types of engagement and volunteer programs while also offering employee donation matching. Since 2018, the company has raised close to $900,000 in employee and company contributions.

Prior to the pandemic Bayer held an annual golf tournament and raffle for employees. When the pandemic sent everyone home, Bayer transitioned to virtual program creating a contest where employees prepared a meal using non-perishable food items, sharing their creations on an internal social media site to be judged by their peers. The intent was to highlight the difficulty of staying nutritious using only non-perishables (a challenge faced by many food bank clients), while promoting the value of monetary donations to help food banks acquire critical fresh products.

Last April, with many people still working remotely, the company asked employees to share memories of their favourite childhood meal, via an internal social network, while pledging donations. They wanted to ensure that children facing food insecurity would have the same opportunity to make these precious memories. Through the campaign, Bayer’s employees raised more than $11,000 in support of Food Banks Canada’s After the Bell program.

Later in 2022, during Bayer’s annual ThanksForGiving campaign, the company organized an employee challenge where teams were tasked with building structures using the non-perishable items they were intending to donate, while making a small financial donation in the form of an entrance fee.

When the food and funds were collected on behalf of Food Banks Canada, more than $16,000 was raised along with more than 2,000 kilograms of non-perishable items accumulated through the “canstruction” challenge.

“We have a motivated team of employees who are compelled to support their community,” said Derrick Rozdeba, Vice President of Communications, Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability. “It was incredible to see how many employees participated in the canstruction challenge we ran this year. They wanted to help our neighbours with much needed food donations, but also wanted to ensure that funds were collected and directed in support those living in northern and remote communities where food affordability is much more challenging.”

Final Tips

As seen with Bayer, a combination of employee giving strategies can be used to achieve your charitable giving goals and build company culture. Get creative and remember to include any staff who are willing to help in the planning process.

If you’re considering choosing Food Banks Canada for your employee giving program, send us an email and tell us all about it. A team member will be in touch with you within 2 business days to discuss your idea, explain next steps, and share our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) guide.

You can reach us at [email protected].