Feature image reading, “How to Embed Philanthropy Into Your Onboarding Process.”

How to Embed Philanthropy into Your Onboarding Process

70% of new hires can tell within the first week whether or not their new job is the right fit for them. The onboarding period is their first impression of your business, and it’s critical to their long-term success that they get off to a good start. 

Your corporate social responsibility (CSR) program and philanthropic efforts are important facets of your overall employee engagement strategy, so why not incorporate them into your onboarding process and introduce new hires right away? Highlighting philanthropy during onboarding will make a great first impression during that critical period and improve the likelihood that they remain engaged and satisfied with their role.  

Read on to learn more about intentionally embedding your philanthropy into your onboarding schedule to engage new employees. 

Include your corporate philanthropy goals in their first-week information 

Highlighting philanthropy during onboarding has two important outcomes. First, you demonstrate your business’s resolve and prove that your CSR work is not just lip service, and second, you give new employees the chance to get involved as soon as possible. As employees attend new-hire meetings and gain access to different software suites, make sure that your philanthropy program is included as mission-critical—not an afterthought. 

In your onboarding schedule, set a dedicated time for a human resources staff member or CSR specialist to sit down with new hires and explain how your business’s philanthropy strategy works. You might include: 

  • Your business’s history of philanthropy, the causes you’ve supported most, and the impact of your efforts over time
  • Why philanthropy is so important to your business and how it plays into your overall strategy
  • Why your business includes philanthropy in its benefits package for staff
  • Different opportunities for getting involved, from matching gifts to volunteerism
  • Steps to request donations, matching gifts, and volunteer grants

By including philanthropy in your new hire’s educational meetings, you demonstrate how firmly integrated it is into how your business is run. This is good for your new hire—allowing them to see your business’s values from the first day—as well as good for you, because philanthropic programs like workplace giving increase staff engagement and retention. 

Your business’s software stack likely includes project management tools, communication options, HR software, and many others. If you leverage CSR software to manage your philanthropy programs, make sure to incorporate it into your onboarding training, too. If you don’t, consider investing! According to Uncommon Giving’s CSR software guide, these platforms help you engage employees, increase trust, and improve your brand’s reputation. 

Encourage a volunteer day with a mentor in their first month

Once your new hire has been introduced to your business’s philanthropic goals, it’s time to give them the opportunity to engage in a more hands-on fashion. Your organization’s corporate volunteerism program provides the perfect way to showcase your values in action, while giving them a break from the office or computer during the stressful first-month period. 

The first month of their tenure is important for learning your processes and getting to know their coworkers, so it can be valuable on multiple levels to encourage them to take a volunteer day early on. First, it shows that your company really does want its employees to use those days. Second, it provides a great opportunity for them to connect with a more senior staffer, whether that’s an assigned mentor, their manager, or just someone who cares about the same cause that they do. If your team is geographically dispersed, it can also be a helpful way to encourage them to make an in-person connection with someone who is located nearby. 

This opportunity will also show your new hire how your corporate giving culture works in action. Don’t forget to tell them about any additional resources, like volunteer grants, that their nonprofit of choice might be eligible for after their day out!

Highlight your corporate philanthropy priorities regularly

In their first week, new hires learn about your corporate philanthropy programs. In their first month, they participate in a hands-on way. But what about the rest of their first year? 

Instead of relying on them remembering everything that was covered in their orientation, create regular checkpoints and reminders to share philanthropic opportunities with your whole staff. This might look like:

  • Incorporating your efforts into your ongoing staff upskilling and training efforts. Ask your HR or corporate philanthropy departments to measure what parts of your strategy are most frequently used and which receive less attention. Highlight the less-popular options in training plans, or, if you find that your staff aren’t interested in that particular option, consider replacing it with something more aligned with their interests and values. 
  • Planning a matching gift drive for the end of your fiscal year. Your organization’s matching gift program is a great way for staff to support their favorite nonprofits, but they may not be aware that they have to submit their matching gift requests within a certain amount of time. As you approach the end of the eligibility period, whether that’s your fiscal year or the calendar year, highlight this program publicly and remind staff to submit requests. 
  • Creating an annual report describing your business’s corporate philanthropy efforts over the past year. Highlight the nonprofits your staff volunteered for, which causes you donated the most to, and your programs’ impact. Show your staff where their efforts went, remind them of the opportunities they have for contributing, and build excitement for next year. 

Keeping your corporate philanthropy efforts front and center throughout the year will build your organization’s culture of giving, keep employees engaged, and continue to support the communities and nonprofits that your philanthropy serves. 

With these tips, you can improve your bottom line and boost employee retention by embedding your corporate philanthropy directly into your onboarding process. If you remain consistent and focus on what resonates most with your employees, you’ll see participation continue to grow.

The title of this post, “Tips for Planning Your School’s Fundraising Calendar.”

5 Tips for Planning Your School’s Fundraising Calendar

On average, K-12 schools in the United States are in session for 180 days. This means you have just under six months to raise all the fundraising dollars needed to fund extracurricular activities, enriching learning experiences, school supply purchases, and other budgetary shortfalls. Are you making the most of each day?

While effective fundraisers depend on dedicated supporters, robust fundraising software, and staff and students who are willing to pitch in, you also need a solid game plan for the academic year. This means mapping out when to hold that community Walk-a-thon or how to pace your ongoing digital fundraising campaigns—in other words, creating a detailed fundraising calendar.

In this guide, we’ll cover all the steps you need to create a strategic school fundraising calendar, ending with a checklist of the key components your finished calendar should include.

1. Set a clear goal and timeline.

First, determine an overarching fundraising goal for the year following the SMART goal framework. According to this framework, goals should be specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound. Align with everyone involved in your school’s finances and fundraising initiatives to outline a fundraising goal similar to this:

“Vale Elementary School will raise $10,000 to support the purchase of new computer equipment and fund a new tutoring program by the end of the 2025-2026 school year using methods such as year-long virtual fundraising efforts, a back-to-school event, a fall festival fundraiser, a winter dance, and a spring Fun Run event.”

Clarify the exact timeline for achieving these goals, indicating a start and end date. Depending on your school’s planning periods, your timeline may extend beyond the dates when school is in session.

2. Analyze past fundraising efforts.

Next, review data from past fundraising efforts to determine which ideas and methods are most effective. By selecting from strategies that proved successful in the past, you’ll drive more supporter engagement and increase the likelihood of hitting your target.

Make sure to consider:

  • The fundraising idea, analyzing the number of participants, the attendance rate (if there was an event), the number of donations, and the total amount raised.
  • The communication channels used to promote the event, and the response and conversion rates from supporters.
  • Specific marketing techniques, like sharing short-form videos about the fundraiser’s purpose, that garnered significant engagement.
  • Any gamification strategies used to engage supporters, such as a fundraising thermometer to publicly track progress toward your goal.

Additionally, reference any constructive feedback from donors and look for opportunities to improve your upcoming campaigns. For instance, maybe donors would appreciate more flexible donation options. Start planning how you can accept donations from more platforms going forward, so you’ll be ready for next year.

3. Diversify fundraising activities.

Avoid donor fatigue by keeping your fundraising activities varied throughout the school year. If you need inspiration, start with this mini fundraising ideas list:

  • Crowdfunding campaigns: Fundraise online by soliciting donations from your community. Typically, these campaigns route potential donors to a single donation page. Best of all, crowdfunding campaigns can run in the background throughout the year for any generous community member to contribute to.
  • Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraisers: These campaigns are similar to crowdfunding fundraisers. However, students will fundraise on behalf of your school and secure donations via personal donation pages. Some popular P2P campaigns for schools include Walk-a-thons (and other A-Thon fundraisers), Fun Runs, community service challenges, etc.
  • Fundraising events: These campaigns culminate in an engaging event. Raise money by charging for entry, selling concessions or products at the event, or offering smaller, paid activities (e.g., carnival games). Bonfire suggests fun events for schools, such as tie dye parties, shoe drives, and parents’ night off events.

Of course, your school can also select an academic-focused idea like a Read-a-thon. Review your learning standards and consult with teachers about what types of fundraising initiatives would best support students’ learning.

4. Consider seasons and holidays.

Before you start penciling in your campaigns, mark the following events in your calendar:

  • Holidays
  • School breaks
  • Testing dates
  • Other school or community events (e.g., pep rallies, homecoming, community can drives, etc.)

While it’s best to plan around occassions like breaks and draining testing schedules, it can be advantageous to place certain fundraisers near key holidays or seasonal events. For example, you might hold a candy gram fundraiser in February. Students will purchase a candy gram, a piece of candy with a custom message, from your school that will be delivered to the recipient on Valentine’s Day. Or, take advantage of the season of generosity at the end of the year with a Turkey Trot race or winter-themed activities.

Remember to keep the weather in mind as well, particularly for outdoor events. For instance, if you’re looking for a back-to-school event to hold in August, an air-conditioned, indoor raffle will go over better than a 10K race. 

5. Clearly assign roles.

Once you’ve built out the schedule, it’s time to outline who will be responsible for executing your fundraising activities. To ensure everyone understands their role, consider following the RACI framework to define who is:

  • Responsible: Indicate who is directly responsible for performing the actions needed to complete the task.
    • Example: The communications committee for the PTO might manage marketing efforts for a P2P campaign.
  • Accountable: Name who is ultimately accountable for the outcome and completion of the task. 
    • Example: The communications chair who leads the communications committee.
  • Consulted: Indicate the person whose input and expertise are needed before making a decision.
    • Example: The assistant principal must approve any communications before they are posted or shared.
  • Informed: Detail the people who need to be informed about the progress and outcome of the task.
    • Example: The PTO president and school principal would like updates on responses to the marketing efforts.

Often, these tasks will be completed by teachers, parents, and other community members who are volunteering their time to your school. Remember to thank and acknowledge volunteers by sending them personalized thank-you messages, recognizing them publicly, and even holding volunteer appreciation events.

School Fundraising Calendar Checklist

As we’ve shown, there are many moving parts to building a fundraising calendar, from brainstorming fun school fundraising ideas to allocating tasks to the right people. We created this checklist to ensure you don’t miss anything:

☐ Set fundraising goals for the year

☐ Choose diverse fundraising types and methods (events, product sales, online, etc.)

☐ Block out school holidays, summer vacation, testing dates, etc. 

☐ Pick tentative dates and space fundraisers out across the year

☐ Assign leads for each fundraiser

☐ Select the platforms and tools needed 

☐ Add fundraisers to school communications (newsletter, website, etc.)

☐ Draft a promotional schedule for each fundraiser

☐ Plan volunteer needs + recruitment timeline

☐ Include thank-you & results-sharing steps after each event

Creating a school fundraising calendar will ultimately save you time and money going forward. Armed with a strategic plan, you can avoid common pitfalls associated with a lack of planning, like cramming in back-to-back fundraisers in the spring to meet your goal. Organized processes will also enhance experiences for your volunteers, PTO or PTA members, and donors, strengthening the invaluable relationships you have with your community.