Philanthropic Technology Vendor, JK Group, Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Plainsboro, NJ - December 22, 2011 - It’s one thing to “talk the talk.” It’s another thing for JK Group’s 200 employees to “walk the walk” by raising $12,000 in one month for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK).  During the month of November JK Group decided to host an internal fundraiser to support a local Food Pantry. With twenty years of experience running fundraising programs for over 300 Fortune 1000 companies, JK Group employees knew how to maximize this effort.

“JK Group has the fortunate advantage of learning from some of the world’s greatest employee engagement programs. We chose TASK through a highly democratic process and that collective choice resulted in 100 Percent participation” said JK Group’s CEO Brad Galle.\   What are some ways to increase participation for a fundraiser?

• Make it fun and diversify activities– JK Group employees created games, contests, and raffles to encourage people to participate.  Since each week had a different theme with multiple activities, there was something for everyone to enjoy.

•  Get upper management involved – The executives were very involved in the fundraising activities. Upper management agreed to be pied in the face, and $1,400 was raised in a bidding war to decide who would wear a giant inflatable ballerina costume. (CEO Brad Galle “won” that prize)

• Make giving accessible for everyone – For this fundraiser, jokingly dubbed “Fun with Singles,” it only cost one dollar to participate in any event, which made it possible for employees at every level to give and participate.

• Set goals – When the announcement was made about the November fundraiser, the goal was to raise $2,500.

• Provide incentives to reach your goals – JK employees were told that if they raised over $2,500 that the JK Group would provide a double match, meaning the company would donate 2:1 if the employees raised over $2,500.

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