The season of giving back to our community is here! While every day of the year is a great time to give back to the Lakeshore where we live, work, learn, and/or play, this month United Way of the Lakeshore provides even more ways to give back to uplift local children and families.
Days of Caring will occur over three days in Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana this month. These days are the largest single-day volunteer opportunities we have in our region. With support from our presenting sponsor, Cannon-Muskegon, and event sponsor, Kindred Marketing, community members will have the opportunity to make a difference on Friday, September 8 in Muskegon; Saturday, September 9 in Oceana; and Friday, September 10 in Newaygo. We invite you to visit our website to learn more about Days of Caring and to sign-up to participate.
Days of Caring also serves another purpose, in addition to giving back with our talents to improve the lives of our friends and neighbors – it’s the kick off for the United Way of the Lakeshore Community Campaign! For over 100 years, our community has banded together and through our collective generosity, raised the funds to uplift those in need in our community. We truly are Better Together when we Live United; it makes a HUGE difference for everyone throughout the Lakeshore. Last year, 133,000 families were positively impacted by United Way of the Lakeshore and our partner agencies who are doing amazing work around access to health, early childhood success, youth success, and economic mobility across Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana Counties.
Take a look at our 2022 Impact Snapshot to see some of the results of our collective work.
The Value of Giving
United Way and YOU – where it all comes together! One of the key components of our collective impact is through Workplace Community Campaigns. Your gift and the gifts of others makes a difference. Employees are making an investment that benefits the entire community, not just one program, issue, or population, and this leads to a stronger, more sustainable place to live, work, learn, and play. When you give to United Way, our partner agencies are able to leverage the contributions by combining them with others and strategically investing those gifts in results-driven programs and initiatives to maximize the impact we have in the community. An example of this is the Child Abuse Council for Muskegon County. For every $1 they receive through United Way of the Lakeshore, they are able to use these donations as grant match and turn $1 to $2! Employee donations are also able to be leveraged by other endowments and funds through United Way of the Lakeshore, like the Robert Tuttle Fund, which doubles a leadership gift ($500 or more a year) for anyone under the age of 40!
We invite you to Meet Marie, who will demonstrate how each of our individual gifts come together to create powerful impact.
Benefits to Giving
There are several benefits to giving outside of the impact that happens on our community. Research shows that for companies that give charitable gifts and encourage their employees to do the same have the following benefits:
- Community Leadership. Creates a bond of interest between employer and employee; each knowing the other is working for the community’s best interest. Companies prosper in healthy communities and tend to stay and increase their employee base. Companies outside the area are more likely to invest in communities with a well-educated workforce, attractive and safe neighborhoods, a strong educational system, and social services that address and reduce health and human service needs.
- Corporate Recognition. Campaigns demonstrate to employees, customers, and the public at large that community service, impact, and leadership are a company priority. Companies that participate in campaigns are often recognized in events, media, marketing materials, and other platforms. Companies receive third-party recognition from United Way and other nonprofits and can also use campaign participation and results in their own internal and external communications such as websites, press releases, and annual reports.
- Easy Administration. Workplace campaigns are efficient and easy to administer. Payroll deduction is easy for employees and spreads giving throughout the year producing larger employee gifts.
- Improved Customer Relations and Loyalty. Market research shows that customers are more likely to purchase goods and services from companies that support their local community. Supporting nonprofit organizations and the community through the campaign shows that a company provides more than a product or service — it provides support for the local community as well — creating good community relations.
There are also great benefits for the employees that give charitably through their workplace. These benefits include:
- Education of the community around them. Campaign information about charitable organizations expands employees’ knowledge about their community.
- Enhanced Employee Relations. Running a campaign provides a way for employees to improve their community. Also, participation in a campaign committee or events can help develop teambuilding skills and boost morale as employees learn to set goals, work together, and achieve positive results.
- Investment. Companies and their employees may be able to receive tax deductions and/or credits from charitable giving as well as enjoy the ease and convenience of payroll deduction.
- Satisfaction. Allowing employees to donate to an organization that addresses issues that are important to them provides greater employee satisfaction. For example, United Way provides many choices to employees through education, financial stability, and health areas included on pledge forms as well as a variety of special local United Way community initiatives.
- Workforce Development. Running a campaign provides leadership opportunities for the campaign, committee, or event leaders as well as those aligned with affinity groups that empower employees to create new strategies to reach their networks.
Lastly, United Way Community Workplace Campaigns benefit the entire Lakeshore (Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana Counties). Workplace Campaigns result in:
- Education. In many cases, employees (and their friends and families) are unaware of the programs area organizations provide. Running a campaign provides an easy way to bring the community together, convey educational messages, and expose employees to resources they may have never known about.
- Expanded Outreach. The workplace provides new and expanded avenues for community outreach, making it easier for more employees to give and take an active part in vital community service activities.
- Increased Partnership. Employee campaigns encourage cooperation and collaboration among charitable organizations, as well as between companies and nonprofits. These partnerships help reduce duplication and build more meaningful community coalitions.
- Delivering Impact/ Getting Results. Funds raised during workplace campaigns go directly back to the community to improve lives.
- Service. Your employees will be able to tap into a wealth of year-round opportunities through our volunteer opportunities that benefit the community directly.
Join Us and Get Started Today!
Your colleagues care about many different causes. Partnering with United Way of the Lakeshore to facilitate a workplace giving campaign allows your colleagues to give to what they are most passionate about, while also knowing their workplace is committed to giving back.
United Way staff are available to help connect your team with the issues facing our local community and the individuals and organizations addressing them. Through campaign kickoffs, special events, pledging, and more – your colleagues can help us uplift local children and families.
Organizations of every size and industry can run a successful campaign. United Way makes it easy to give online and via payroll deduction, and has lots of campaign ideas to share! Your organization may also receive recognition for your involvement.
Let us help create a fun and easy way to meet your corporate social responsibility goals while building stronger teams, create a deeper connection to the community, and be recognized for your impact.
Contact us today about how to get started by reaching out to me at either (231) 332-4007 or via email at james@unitedwaylakeshore.org. As Paul Newman once said, “I don’t see it as philanthropy, I see it as an investment in the community.” Let’s come together to invest in this amazing Lakeshore that we call home to inspire positive change and make a difference for our friends, colleagues, and neighbors!
