Review the final tax law guidance on payroll contributions and how it may affect your employees. On Tuesday, August 28 at 2 pm, United Way of America will be hosting a conference call to review questions on this new law. Email us to register.
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Check out the customizable 2007 Campaign Flash film. This interactive online campaign film allows you to include your company’s name and other text that fits your company’s campaign focus. Directions and source files are available online. Questions? Feel free to ask us for help.
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Thanks to the generosity and support of your company and employees, United Way is able to create lasting changes in the communities where you live and work. Read these real-life examples of the lives we are improving together. Our newest success stories include:
 Palm Beach County, FL
Washington, D.C.
Kansas City, KS
San Francisco, CA
Morris County, NJ |
Volunteerism is a highly effective way to engage employees, not only in your workplace giving campaign, but more importantly, in your company’s corporate social responsibility goals.
How do you reach young employees?
Volunteerism is a great way to connect young employees to your company, increasing morale and retention. Studies by Yankelovich, the leader in generational marketing, show Generation Y, or Echo Boomers (currently aged 16-28), want to get involved in their community – yet there is a disconnect in their desires and actions. As universities and high schools trend towards requiring community service hours and students are flooded with opportunities to volunteer around their campus and community, young people are willing and accustomed to getting involved. Because of this, young employees often feel it is important for their companies to offer tools and resources for community involvement. According to the 2007 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT research, 62% of young employees prefer to work for a company that provides volunteer opportunities.
Engaging experienced employees
New research shows that two-thirds of older, non-volunteering Baby Boomers are interested in community service – yet many of them don’t know how to get started. Employee volunteer programs are an excellent resource for your employees to get connected with volunteer opportunities in their community and offer non-profits their specialized skills. IBM is a great example of a company committed to connecting their employees with meaningful opportunities to use their skills to improve the community. Local IBM sites implement volunteer programs, inform employees of opportunities, recruit employees to participate and recognize the success of volunteers. In addition, IBM has a volunteer website that provides information for employees on key volunteer programs.
Retirees’ role in your company and community
About 50% of NCL companies engage their retired employees in the workplace giving campaign or their employee volunteer programs. This is great way to offer retirees an opportunity to remain connected with each other, the company and the community. Bank of America has created Team Bank of America, a worldwide organization allowing Bank of America associates, retirees and their families to work together to touch the lives of customers and improve communities through volunteerism and community involvement. Visit United Way of Metro Chicago’s campaign toolkit for great examples of ways to engage retirees through volunteerism or the workplace giving campaign.
Online volunteer management
Employee volunteer programs can offer a wide variety of volunteer opportunities and management resources through software solutions such as United eWay’s Workplace Volunteer Solutions. Workplace Volunteer Solutions, which has matched more than 1.2 million volunteers with opportunities, provides companies with a fully branded website to promote volunteer opportunities and events and access to a robust reporting system that tracks logged hours and employees’ interests. Also included with this solution is Board Connections, which connects interested employees with local board positions. Contact your NCL Account Manager for more information.
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United Way and CheapTickets are hosting a “volunteer vacation” for up to 100 retirees on October 26 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The event, held in conjunction with the Broward County United Way “Day of Caring”, will provide an opportunity for retirees to help build a Born Learning Trail and other community service activities. Travel discounts are available for retirees who would like to take a vacation with a purpose – or simply take a day or two out of an already planned leisure vacation. If you are interested in promoting this opportunity among your retirees, please contact your NCL Account Manager.
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United Way will be reaching several hundred thousand students through The 10,000 Hours Show in the 2007/08 academic year. The 10,000 Hours Show is an on-campus effort to recruit and recognize young volunteers who serve local nonprofits, culminating annually in a free concert just for volunteers. The program expects to involve 10,000 young people from campuses across the country, including the University of Arizona, University of Iowa, and Texas Christian University – and generate over 100,000 hours of volunteer service. To find out more about The 10,000 Hours Show, contact your NCL Account Manager.
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So your company already has an established volunteer program? Maybe it’s time to reenergize and refocus your program. The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship offers several high-level courses on volunteerism and strategic philanthropy. The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship has been a great partner and resource for United Way, and NCL companies may want to take advantage of their courses focused on best-practice sharing and peer-to-peer exchanges. Read more about this program including comments from past participants.
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Working through United Way International, employees at IBM, Pfizer and PricewaterhouseCoopers helped hundreds of families in Peru’s high country survive an unprecedented winter. Thanks to generous donations of clothing from these employees, United Way of Peru distributed winter jackets, pants, socks, blankets and food to more than 800 people living in an isolated, indigenous community in Lillinta, Peru. Read the full story here.
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A new study from Cone, LLC reinforces earlier findings that consumers really care about a company’s focus on corporate social responsibility. Key findings include:
87% of consumers are inclined to switch brands (assuming equal price and quality) if another brand is associated with a good cause – a 31% increase since 1993
Two-thirds of Americans consider a company’s business practices when deciding what to buy
83% of consumers believe a company has a responsibility to help support causes
93% of people feel it is important for their employer to provide them with opportunities to become involved in causes
72% of people wish their employers would do more to support a social cause
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On Wednesday, September 19, United Way of America is planning United Way Day on Capitol Hill. The event kicks off September 18 with a networking dinner and guest speaker. The day itself begins with breakfast, followed by a legislative update on the latest and greatest happenings on the Hill. Participants will then visit their Members of Congress, highlighting the legislative agenda of United Way of America as well as their home United Ways. This is a great way to create a United Way presence on the Hill as well as build awareness about the issues important to America’s working families. For more information, contact your NCL Account Manager or Director of Public Policy, Patrick McIntyre.
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More than 300 local United Way attendees and other diversity leaders and trendsetters met in Philadelphia August 1-3 to discuss strategies for leveraging diversity and inclusion in daily business practices as well as address community issues and emerging challenges. Many thanks to NCL companies UPS and Accenture for sponsoring the host city event, as well as Redia Anderson Banks, National Principal, Diversity and Inclusion from Deloitte & Touche for presenting.
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Many of you expressed concern about the tragic news of the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities. We are relieved to announce that all of our NCL partners headquartered in Minneapolis have reported their employees are accounted for. Specifically, we have heard from Xcel Energy, Target, General Mills, Best Buy, U.S. Bank, 3M, Cargill, Ceridian, Northwest Airlines, Travelers, Deluxe, SUPERVALU, and Macy’s North. We do know a couple of Wells Fargo employees were on the bridge during the collapse, but thankfully are doing just fine. We have also been in contact with Lauren Segal, CEO of Greater Twin Cities United Way, and all the local United Way staff and volunteers have been accounted for and are safe. For more details, please visit www.unitedwaytwincities.org. Many of you may have extended family members, friends or coworkers who were impacted by this. Please know we continue to keep you and all those affected in our thoughts. |
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UPS celebrates 100th anniversary by volunteering
On August 28, UPS will celebrate its 100th anniversary, commemorating “Founders’ Day” when founders Jim Casey and Claude Ryan borrowed $100 to start the American Messenger Company, a messenger service that would grow to become the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services. In true UPS fashion, they will celebrate this major milestone by focusing on people – taking hundreds of UPS executives, employees, and retirees to Seattle, the company’s founding city, to perform community service. Nearly 500 UPS volunteers will build a science-themed playground, refurbish ball fields, and renovate a school library for the children of South Seattle.
Giving back to the community is part of UPS’s culture. In addition to this special Seattle service project, UPS also partnered with United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta to volunteer for 100 Days of Caring over the 100 days of summer leading up to the company’s anniversary. UPSers volunteered at local United Way community partners, helping with landscaping, filing and many other much-needed projects. The community has raved about the incredible progress made, thanks to the many UPS volunteers.
Last year, UPS employees volunteered over 950,000 hours in addition to raising $59.3 million for communities through United Way. In 2006, for the seventh consecutive year, UPS, its employees, and retirees were the top national supporters of United Way. |
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