How Boutin Jones raised over $30k

Encouraging your employees to come together for a good cause is what workplace giving campaigns are all about. But how do you kickstart one? How do you motivate participation? Local giving days are the perfect opportunity for companies and corporations to step up their social impact by implementing a workplace giving campaign. By doing so, companies can enhance their corporate social responsibility (CSR), strengthen their presence and impact in the local community, and cultivate a culture of generosity and community involvement among their employees.

Boutin Jones is a law firm that made waves during the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s Big Day of Giving (BDOG). They hosted a group giving campaign page for their employees to donate to during BDOG, utilizing the Mightycause Group Giving tool to track their community impact. Despite setting a goal of $10,000, they went above and beyond by raising $31,056 from 129 donations to benefit over 100 local causes, further fueled by a generous matching incentive from Boutin Jones.

The Mightycause team was thrilled to have the opportunity to sit down with Donna Courville, shareholder at Boutin Jones, former board member of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, and the self-appointed Chief Cheerleading Officer of their Big Day of Giving campaign.

As the lead organizer of their workplace giving campaign, Donna developed a plan to educate employees about the local giving day to help them understand its value to the community. She made sure to keep the campaign fun and engaging with in-office activities and events to make it a success. Learn how they turned their philanthropic spirit into a powerful force for good through workplace giving.

Our interview with Donna

Mightycause: Donna, thank you for joining us. To kick things off, can you share why your company decided to host a group giving page for Boutin Jones on the Big Day of Giving?

Donna: Absolutely, and thank you for having me. Our firm has been involved with Big Day of Giving since its inception, but it used to be done in a very manual way directly with the Foundation. When I learned about this group giving page, which would easily track and show our impact in real-time during the campaign, I was excited to give it a try. I also saw an opportunity to align our firm’s existing charitable efforts with this impactful day. Instead of our traditional holiday donations, we redirected those funds to BDOG, working closely with six organizations to ensure our contributions were maximized.

M: That’s fantastic. Could you tell us more about the $3,000 BOOST match your firm offered?

D: Of course. We wanted to incentivize giving without creating competition among our employees. So, we offered a $3,000 match to the first 100 organizations supported through our group giving page, regardless of the donation amount. Additionally, our firm allocated $12,000 directly to six organizations.

M: It’s clear you put a lot of thought into engaging your employees. How did you spread the word and encourage participation?

D: Employee engagement was really the key to our success, so we formed a committee of interested team members to help spread the word and be there to answer employee questions during the campaign. We wanted to help employees see the value of BDOG in the community, so we tried to move beyond just the ask to donate. Of course, we sent emails to the team in advance of the day and on the day of the event with a big clear donate button, but we felt in-office engagement was a key supplement to that. We decorated the office with signs and balloons, and made plans to add specific “I Gave” decorations to the offices of employees who participated. 

On the day itself, we hosted a mid-day ice cream social to bring employees together in a celebration of giving. We had mini-contests like “what’s the total going to be at the end of the day” where winning employees could receive a $25 gift card. This really helped the employees connect their giving to the larger impact of the BDOG campaign in the Sacramento community. 

M: It looks like some of your employees created their own fundraising pages, what drove that decision?

D: We wanted employees with specific connections to causes to channel their support. It was a way for them to take their commitment to the next level, especially if they were involved as board members or had personal ties to certain organizations. The group giving page allowed us to feature those personal fundraising pages alongside gifts that other employees were making during the campaign, so it was a great way to showcase all the different ways that Boutin Jones employees were getting involved. 

M: Your initial goal was $10,000, but you raised over $30,000. What do you attribute that success to?

D: It was a combination of factors – our dedicated employees, the BOOST match incentive, and the personalized approach to encouraging donations. Most importantly, it was the collective effort of our entire firm rallying behind a common cause.

M: Thank you, Donna, for sharing your insights, and congratulations on your remarkable achievement.

D: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure discussing our journey and the impact we’ve made together.

Utilize Workplace Giving

Boutin Jones is an excellent example of how an internal champion can make a significant impact by creating a workplace giving campaign centered around community. Through their campaign they were able to grow their philanthropic efforts, boost employee engagement, and support their local giving day.

Contact your local giving day to see what types of programs they have for workplace or employee giving.