Employee Giving: A 10-step formula for inspiring action

There is no better example of what defines BMO’s culture than the way we come together to make a difference in our communities. Over the last six weeks, more than 90% of our employees across North America contributed over $22 million to United Way and other registered charities through our annual employee giving campaign.

When I’m volunteering with United Way and Centraide throughout the year, I’m often asked how we achieve such extraordinarily high levels of engagement, mobilization and commitment to our Employee Giving efforts. The answer is that social responsibility is inextricably linked to our purpose as an organization. We’re all bankers but we’re not just bankers, and we’ve learned over time that we are strongest when we work together with our charitable and community partners to make change happen – neighbourhood by neighbourhood.  

When I dive deeper, no single thing defines our approach and we have no proprietary formula. However, our campaign is methodical and systematic, and – importantly – it is inspired and fueled by the passion of the many thousands of employees who participate. By sharing our formula beyond BMO, we can extend the impact and truly demonstrate the difference the business community can make.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Set a big audacious goal. At the start of every campaign, we establish a goal that challenges us to do more for those who need our help. Every year it gets a little harder and this year was no different. While it’s never easy, this goal inspires action.

2. Lead by example. It starts at the top with leaders “walking the talk” – giving generously, both in terms of their personal time and money, and acting as role models for their teams. Each year we assemble our senior leaders to kick off our campaign together with our community and charity partners, who brief us on what is needed by their organizations and really motivate us to dig in. Our leaders consider this opportunity to gain perspective important, and it inspires their generous response and campaign leadership.

3. Ambassadors lead the way. We mobilize a network of more than 4,000 Employee Giving Ambassadors – trusted employees who act as grassroots influencers trained to lead the way, engaging deeply with their networks to make authentic, personal, peer-to-peer connections and build support for the campaign that translates into tangible impact in the communities we serve.

BMO Employee Giving ambassadors: Tia Boranprasit, Chandler Kensington, Juanita Pierce, Sébastien Fauvel

4. Compelling campaign creative. Each year we establish a campaign theme and deploy creative to communicate a strong call to action. Our Ambassadors use this narrative framework to share their own personal perspective on the difference we are making and why they give themselves. This year’s campaign theme was Stronger Together – a story shared widely through our internal channels and, this year more than ever, through social media channels that matter to our employees, like Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn.

5. Disciplined operations. The same level of operational excellence, discipline and performance measurement that drives our bank is applied to our Employee Giving campaign. We provide campaign management, guidance, resources and tools for employees across the company, building high levels of trust and engagement that fuel participation.

6. Choice. Participation is optional and convenient. It’s also digitally enabled, personalized and open to everyone in the bank. Employees give what they can and direct their donation to a registered charity or charities of their choosing.

7. Relationships matter. BMO has longstanding partnerships with United Way and Kids Help Phone, among others. Their reputations for strong outcomes and organizational efficiency mean that our employees can donate to or raise funds for them with peace of mind, knowing that their contribution will be put to best use, delivering the greatest impact for the most vulnerable in our communities.  

8. First-hand experiences. We organize meaningful and memorable community visits for our employees, both during the campaign and at other times throughout the year. In doing so, we see first-hand where the greatest need is, how the dollars are used and the impactful role we can play as change agents. These powerful visits inspire our empathy and compassion – both of which are core values for our organization.

9. Progress that motivates. We provide regular performance updates, at all levels of our organization, and our leaders hold each other accountable for driving engagement. Reporting not only enhances employee ownership, it creates a social connection and motivates teams to work together to meet our campaign goals.

10. Sincere, timely recognition. With tens of thousands of colleagues involved in enterprise-wide Employee Giving, we recognize employees for more than just their financial contributions. We recognize them for their time, energy and effort in helping us to achieve our goals through the various activities and events they orchestrate as part of this formula.

This is our campaign formula and the outcomes for United Way specifically speak for themselves: participation rates consistently exceed 90% year over year and we have consistently raised more than $20 million annually in the past three years. Our relationship with our community partners doesn’t begin or end with the campaign; we maintain strong relationships with our partners throughout the year and our employees engage in volunteer efforts all year round. This is more than an annual gift – we’re in it for the long haul.

When we work together, with clear goals and systematic approaches to reaching them, we achieve great things. I’m particularly proud of what we accomplish each year by applying this formula to our Employee Giving efforts. In sharing this formula more widely, our hope is that our efforts can multiply beyond BMO. We are stronger together.