American Red Cross
Since its founding in 1881 by visionary leader Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has been the nation's premier emergency response organization. As part of a worldwide movement that offers neutral humanitarian care to the victims of war, the American Red Cross distinguished itself by also aiding victims of devastating natural disasters. Over the years, the organization has expanded its services, always with the aim of preventing and relieving suffering. The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors—across the street, across the country, and across the world—in emergencies.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 60 (Columbus)
BUSINESS TYPE: Non-profit
Quick Tips:
- Make everyone return their pledge cards, even If they don’t pledge.
- Start each day with a United Way message on your internal website.
- Keep it simple, while varying the campaign from year to year.
Go with the Guidelines
Red Cross sustains both a high participation rate and a high dollar amount average gift. One factor to which they attribute that success is an emphasis on guideline giving, which includes an automatic increase of a person’s pledge when that person receives a pay raise. In fact, Red Cross coordinates the timing of their pay raise period – early September – to coincide with their United Way campaign.
Red Cross kicks off each year’s campaign with a short, entertaining presentation, and tries to vary the campaign from year to year. But the emphasis is on keeping it simple, and going with what works.
Subtle Persuaders
Red Cross believes that a company’s chief executive must set the tone for a successful campaign and send signals that he or she is interested and supportive of the campaign and of United Way.
When pledge cards go out at Red Cross, they are accompanied by a confidential cover letter citing what each employee gave the previous year. They believe this information is helpful, as it reminds people of their commitment to United Way. And, although Red Cross encourages people to do their part with fair, non-judgmental verbiage, they also require each and every person to return their pledge cards. They have found that this practice increases the odds of participation.
Positive Reinforcement
Having a plan, knowing the elements of the plan, and executing against those elements has been a winning formula for Red Cross. They always keep a positive viewpoint when relating information, selecting the strongest indicators and focusing on them. Even if you don’t necessarily achieve 100% participation, Red Cross believes that should always be the expressed goal, based on the rationale that if you go into a campaign with a lesser goal—say 75% participation, you are, in actuality, telling 25% of your employees that they do not have to participate.
