Employee Giving Strategies for Community Colleges-Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This webinar, hosted by Meg Natter from CASE, focuses on employee giving strategies at community colleges, featuring insights from leaders at several institutions. Panelists include Tim Allison (New Hampshire), Heather B.B. Stevens (Spokane, Washington), Sue Samenago (Michigan), and Noah Sipostich (Montgomery College, Maryland). <br /><br />Heather shared how Spokane Colleges built an employee giving program from scratch, achieving about 20% participation by using authentic, grassroots communications featuring regular employees instead of executives, and offering multiple annual campaigns including food drives. They emphasize patience and long-term relationship-building.<br /><br />Noah discussed Montgomery’s robust direct mail appeals, newsletters, and payroll deduction programs, with gifts from small amounts to named scholarships. They celebrate donors uniquely through events and personalized stewardship like videos and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Sue described Muskegon’s rapid progress raising employee giving from under 20% to 60% by focusing on culture-building, emphasizing percentage participation over dollars, organizing multi-week campaigns, and offering flexible payroll deduction. Emphasis on trust has led to more unrestricted gifts.<br /><br />Tim highlighted New Hampshire’s system-wide efforts across seven colleges, promoting employee giving as a collaborative “walk the talk” culture, acknowledging challenges but steady growth.<br /><br />Panelists discussed challenges like competition with United Way campaigns, incentives, timing of payroll deductions, stewardship, and maintaining employee engagement. They stressed the importance of recognition, consistent communications, and leveraging employee donors as ambassadors.<br /><br />The webinar included practical tips on campaign logistics, volunteer engagement, and integration with other fundraising efforts. Overall, the session provided valuable models and inspiration for strengthening employee giving in community colleges.

Keywords

employee giving

community colleges

fundraising strategies

participation rates

payroll deduction

donor stewardship

campaign management

employee engagement

volunteer involvement