A campaign that is fresh and fun makes your job more enjoyable and creates increased awareness among your co-workers. In this guide you will find examples of special events and ideas to help ignite an exciting and effective employee campaign. As the employee campaign coordinator, the most important thing to remember is to have fun with your campaign!

 

Share the fun!

Be sure to take plenty of pictures at your special events and contests, and send them to ljanssen@unitedwaypoco.org if you would like your organization to be featured in campaign updates, electronic newsletters, and future Fun Ideas guide. Let your great ideas inspire someone else.

 

    Breakfast of Champions

    Lunchtime Festivities

    Afternoon Treats

    Yummy Anytime

Have you ever wanted to be a secret agent? Give clues to employees in the form of riddles. The department or individual who figures out all the riddles receives a prize at the end of the campaign.

Executives participate in an all-day competition to end the day with the shortest tie. Employees buy the privilege of cutting an inch off their favorite executive’s tie. Give prizes for the shortest tie, ugliest tie, etc.

Employees will need to divide into teams. Each team will be given a Chia Pet to care for. The Chia’s hair may be trimmed, primped and styled. Prizes will be awarded for fullest growth, longest singe sprout, most original, etc.

Set up a pre-determined course. Use timers to see who can run the course in the shortest time. Charge per attempt.

Hold a spelling bee, charging $5 entry fee. Gallery observers place $1 bets on their favorite participants. Present winner with special award.

Bring in hand-made or purchased ornaments to hang on a tree. Names/numbers are chosen until all ornaments are picked from the tree. Raffle tickets are sold for $.25 each or five for $1.

Start the day off right by cooking breakfast in the company cafeteria. Don’t forget the bacon, sausage, butter and syrup!

If your organization has a third shift, charge employees for a midnight breakfast served by the executives and other day employees. Ask your United Way representative to schedule an agency speaker.

Wheel a serving cart through the workplace and sell bagels, doughnuts, cookies, Danish, coffee and juice.

For more distinguished coffee drinkers, offer a latte stand during a morning rally. Give examples of what giving up one cup of coffee, one soda or one candy bar a day can do for a person in need. Ask if they can donate that same amount (or more) each week to United Way.

 

Great autumn activity Grill sweet corn and charge by the ear. Be sure to have plenty of Wisconsin butter and salt available!

Ask employees who enjoy cooking to create a lunch box to be auctioned on a specific date.

Organize a potluck lunch and have everyone bring in their favorite dish. Charge employees to have lunch.

Employees cook their favorite chili. Charge employees to sample the entries and vote for their favorites.

Join with other companies near your business to have a cook out with games and giveaways.

Create a sports theme to coincide with football season. Hold the party in the parking lot. Serve hot dogs, chips, soda and peanuts. Play a game of flag football or video football with participants donating an entry fee.

 

Ask each employee to donate an item for a company bake sale.  Have items available for purchase.

Sell candy with your company or United Way’s logo on it.

Set up an ice cream bar with a variety of toppings and charge by the scoop. Or try selling root beer floats!

 

Encourage employees to donate their favorite recipes to be collected, published and sold in a company cookbook. Request employee’s children to provide illustrations.

Who can eat the most in a given amount of time (hot dogs, pie, crackers, pickles, etc.)

Host a whipped cream pie throwing contest. Get management to be the targets and have employees pay to play.

 

Have a Halloween party, create a haunted house and have a pumpkin carving, pie eating or costume contest.

Have some fun, beach style! Sand, sunglasses, beach balls and some festive music make your office a whole lot hotter. Give out Lifesaver candy for donations.

Use a traveling theme to host a “Bon Voyage” party as a victory celebration. Contributors are given “passports” to get into the party.

Employees can create original and funny home or work videos. Have a viewing party and charge and entrance fee of donations.

Decorate a door to a room where employees for a one time donation would be invited to enjoy snacks & refreshments.

 Theatre Party

Employees can write skits that involve the United Way. Perform skits at kick off party, luncheon, or have a company movie night.

Hold a pot luck lunch with a certain theme. Employees can make food, add decorations to the office and dress according to the theme.

Sell flowers at the office to employees. This works great in conjunction with Administrative Professional’s Day or Sweetest Day!

This is a great Halloween idea. Get flower shops and restaurants to donate dead flowers. Employees pay to have a dead flower bouquet with a message sent to another employee.

Ask employees to donate old items (books, CDs, videos) for a company or department-wide sale. Unsold items may be donated to charity.

On a piece of paper write down a prize or United Way fact.  Place each piece of paper in a balloon and have balloons available for employees to purchase during the campaign. The money for each purchase goes to the United Way.

Fill plastic eggs with raffle numbers. People buy eggs or “chances” for springtime prizes such as potted flowers and gift baskets.

50/50 drawing-  Employees can put their name on a dollar bill for a drawing to see who receives half of the money collected. The other half goes to the United Way.

Set up a dunk tank in the parking lot. Have executives take turns on the “hot seat.”

Employees can get their cars washed by the boss. Have managers/CEOs available to wash/wax/vacuum employees’ cars. Get neighbors or neighboring business involved by having the carwash open to the public. Charge a small fee for the service to donate to United Way.

Hold a workshop at lunch or in the middle of the day for employees to relieve stress.  Things to include are neck and hand massages, exercise and facts about what causes/relieves stress.

For a donation, employees can cast votes for the co-worker or manager who will “kiss the pig” at the end of the campaign. This would also work with goats, cows, or any other animal.

If your business does not have a casual dress code, then offer employees the option to dress casual one day a week through the campaign.  Have additional casual days available to purchase.  

Auction off staff services (i.e. babysitting, oil change, lunch for a week), executive parking spaces, donated merchandise or services. Or ask each department to sponsor, create, and fill a theme basket (spa, chocolate, golf, etc.) for the auction. 

Ask employees to come to work with their favorite hat or ask them to create a crazy hat. Set a time to model the hats around breaks or lunch.   Award prizes for the most creative. Email pictures to United Way.

 

Let employees know that at a specified time there will be a “hula” and/or jump rope contest, & encourage them to practice during the week prior to contest date.  Play some fun music.  See who can hula or jump rope the longest or most hulas or jumps.  Hula or jump rope towards a goal or line & back.  Award prizes.

Measure for distance and accuracy. Charge per each attempt.

Organize a golf outing for employees. Participants pay an entry fee. Have goofy prizes for highest score, most putts, longest game, etc.

Play real or improvised games with teams of employees. Charge an entrance fee for each participant. Have spectators bet for the winning team.

Provide putters and build a nine-hole course featuring slinkies, staplers, chairs and other creative obstacles. Participants sign up in teams of two.

Charge an entry fee to compete and provide a prize for the winner.

Use 2-liter plastic bottles filled with water for bowling pins and a frozen turkey as a ball.

Set up a ping pong table and charge a tournament entry fee.

Set up a croquet course on a nearby lawn and charge a tournament entry fee.

Run a tricycle race around your building using children’s tricycles.

 

Employees can put pennies in a jar set up for their department. At the end of the given time period the department with the most pennies wins.  Departments can sabotage jars by donating sliver which can be subtracted from the amount.  Give proceeds from the jars to the United Way.

Employees can take pictures of legs, arms, eyes or other body parts. Or have employees bring in baby photos of themselves.  Guess which picture belongs to what employee.  Charge $1 per guess.

Jam out to your favorite tunes with a lunchtime lip sync or air guitar contest. Have the audience vote for their favorite with a donation.

Employees make a donation to vote for the singing group of their choice.

Employees can create with a   jingle for the United Way.  Each employee sings their jingle over the PA system.  Prize goes to the best jingle.

Top Ten Lists

Ask employees to write a top ten list of reasons to give to the United Way.  Award prizes for most creative list or most original ideas.

Set up three or four video machines in a small conference room. Employees pay to play and try to beat the previous players’ scores. This can take place over several days with many repeat players.

Display a jar filled with skittles, M&M, or peanuts.  Have employees guess how many are in the jar to win the goodies inside.  Charge $1 for each guess.

Employees dress up like famous personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Nixon, or Elvis. Employees pay to vote on the best costume.

Envelopes available for purchase with one containing a prize such as Packer tickets and the rest containing United Way facts. Make sure all the envelopes look the same and have employees pick one.

Ask employees to show off their hidden talents.  Award prizes for funniest talent, craziest talent, and most creative.

Groups of employees compete around a chosen board game. They may move their piece for every returned pledge card, for every $10 raised, or for participation in volunteer activities.

Sell Bingo cards for a small fee. Send e-mails sporadically throughout the week with one or two Bingo numbers each time. The first person to get Bingo should let everyone know by sending an e-mail to all users.

Involve employees’ children by asking them to make a picture that shows giving or sharing. Display the artwork. Sponsor a contest and give a prize to the top three artists.

Contestants pay to enter the ugliest tie, earrings or socks contest. Take pictures of the participants and have employees ‘vote’ on the ugliest apparel by contributing a dollar.

Leave fun clues and have the employees find the items hidden within the office.

Employees or departments carve and decorate pumpkins. Vote by placing money in container for each pumpkin.

Set up a race track in your office and use desk chairs for employees to compete in drag races.  Have employees place bets on who they think will win with proceeds going to the United Way.

Hold a Hot Wheel car race and have employees sponsor their favorite car.  Have separate heats and award prizes to the winner.

Just like the “Price is right”.  Set up a game board with slots full of prizes or of course Plinko slots. Prizes can range from football tickets to cash. Employees can pay $2 for three turns.

Take-off from the reality show “Trading Spaces” and have employees decorate each others cubicles and offices.

Give each person a pin & have them pin it on their shoulder.  Instruct everyone they cannot use the words Ex. yes or yea, etc. When they do, the person they said this to gets their pin(s). The person then adds the pin(s) to their other pin(s), the person with ALL the pins at the end of the day wins a prize.

Take-off the popular television program by voting people on or off your “Campaign Island.”  Each dollar contributed is a vote for that survivor.   

Ask managers to agree to do something crazy if employees meet a certain goal.  For example managers can do a polar bear jump or wear a tutu to work. 

Purchase a small amount of plastic flamingos and place them in someone’s office. The right to determine where the birds land next is up this employee’s discretion and a donation to the United Way should be encouraged. Employees can purchase “flamingo insurance” to insure flamingos do not land in their office.  Charge a premium which can be donated to the United Way. For variation substitute an ugly lamp!

Designate a day as “Brown Bag Day” every month. Encourage staff to bring their lunches on that day and donate the money that they would normally spend going out to lunch.

Encourage employees to donate their favorite jokes to be collected, published and sold in a company joke book.

Make up special forms and sell them to employees as an anonymous way to give a compliment to someone in the office. Charge one dollar per compliment. Or attach the messages to helium balloons.

Take on another company in your field in a campaign goal challenge.

Employee/Manager Switch

Ask managers to take the place of another employee and do work they would not normally do.   Work could include answering phones or running machines.  For a small twist have employees rent a boss with donations to the United Way.

Construct a board with several topics listed on it.  The categories should be about the United Way and its partner programs.  Under each topic list some facts that are true and some facts that are false.  Have teams of employees pick out the true facts.

Ask teams of employees to get together to do a fun volunteer project.  They could paint a house, do yard work, or do some light repairs to someone’s home.  Have team leaders award prizes for fastest to climb a ladder or quickest to change a light bulb.

For those employees who donate at least a days worth of wages to the United Way, give them an extra day of vacation at the end of the year.

Invite a group of employees to tour one of the many United Way agencies.  This is a great way for employees to see how their donations are used to help the community.

 

Carnival

Hollywood Glamour

Roaring Twenties

Fifties Sock-Hop

Australian Outback

Wild, Wild West

Survivor

American Idol

School days

African Safari

Around the World

Popular TV/Movies

Superhero

Hawaiian Luau

Disco

80s

Sports

Disney

Casino Royale

NASCAR

Indy 500

Medieval Times

New York! New York!

 

Bonus vacation days

Day off for birthday

Sleep in for a day     

Subscription to favorite magazine

Reserved parking space

Open Vending machines

Longer lunch

Catered Lunch

Paid hours to volunteer

Traveling trophy for department with highest participation         

Dinner Cooked by Executives

Early dismissal on Friday

Flowers

Limo Ride

Phone Cards

Candles

Casual days

Lunch or dinner with the CEO

Company Memorabilia (Mugs, hats, shirts)

Health club membership

Short term membership to YMCA

Spring cleaning/housekeeping services

Sports Tickets

Restaurant gift certificates

Gas Coupons

Lottery Tickets

Movie/Video Rental

Golf/Golf Lessons

Company Car for a day

Mall Gift Certificates

Books

Family Portrait

Massage

Manicure/Pedicure

Plants

Bring your pet to work day

Weekend Getaway

Family Vacation

Airline Tickets

 

Donors and campaign volunteers need to hear how important their contributions are to the community. 

Here are some ways to thank your volunteers:

Hand out awards, certificates, and pins.

Produce a special “Thank You” addition of your company newsletter.

Handwritten thank you notes from executives.

Surprise people with a note, flowers or balloons.

Plan a “Thank-You” breakfast, lunch or ice cream social. Have management serve the food.

Organize singing telegrams performed by coworkers.