LBG Canada Increases Total Community Footprint by $115M, with Stakeholders

In 2016, stakeholder contributions enabled by LBG Canada companies totalled $115 Million. $54 Million of that total was employee giving!

90% of LBG Canada companies have a matched giving program, typically this involves the company matching dollar-for-dollar a charitable donation made by an employee. Some companies choose to match at a rate of 2:1 for donations made by executives. Matched giving essentially doubles the contribution and conceivably incentivizes charitable behaviour by sending a positive message to employees about the company's commitment to community.

Matched giving can be completed through payroll deductions and several systems exisit to facilitate the process such as United Way, Benevity, Sponsorium and others.

An excellent tool for group fundraising is United Way and we encourage you to read the article posted on the SiMPACT website about ENMAX's positive experience with the United Way. Fundraising activities can be a catalyst for socialization among employees and foster a sense of community at work.

As our friends at Realized Worth would say, it's important to let employees choose to direct their donation to a charity/charities that matter to them. While the company may have a priority focus area for charitable investments, a matched giving program is equally about honouring employees and the causes that matter to them.

It's well known that the Millennial generation represents an increasingly larger proportion of the workforce. When you consider that 81% of Millennials expect companies to make a public commitment to good corporate citizenship (IABC), tools such as a matched giving strategy can be used as part of an integrated employee engagement and recruitment strategy.

In summary, employee giving can be an effective way to not only maintain/increase total community investment, but also contribute to an employee engagment strategy. When you consider the average contribution per employee is $206.26, what could that mean for your company?

For more information on engaging employees or other community investment tools/issues, please visit: www.lbg-canada.ca/blog