One great way to get employees engaged as a team is a charity drive. Annual drives create camaraderie among your employees. After a few years, however, the drive can become routine and employees may lose interest. Here are a few ways to get the team excited about giving back again:
Make It a Race to the Finish
Every company has subgroups. Some are inherent to any company: shipping & receiving, sales, marketing, etc. Then there are the cliques that form much like in any other social environment. Decide which would make the drive more fun and competitive and announce the teams.
Once you’ve set the teams, it’s time to find the game. Employee engagement is bound to increase as your teams strive to outdo each other. A canned food drive can get the most competitive people participating. Find the types of food desired and assign values to the weight of the cans based on the contents. Employees will soon find themselves raiding store shelves while looking for the best values to beat the other teams.
Expand the Options
Often times, the CEO or HR manager have deep rooted attachments to the cause but do the employees relate? If they can’t, consider opening up the options. Take some time to survey employees and the causes they care about. Some of them may already donate to a cause year-round or may even participate or run their own organization in their spare time. Surprise them with a drive that includes the very causes they support.
Try to keep things fair, nobody wants to see several charities do well while another person’s suggestion gets ignored. Try choosing five charities and set the donations to $5 increments. This way, each charity gets $1 for every donation. Set up an electronic campaign to keep the drive transparent and employees engaged.
Giving back does not have to get stale. Take time before the annual drive to find innovative ways to change things up and keep things fun for the team.