How to jumpstart your staff morale with a GivingTuesday event

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.”
– Booker T. Washington

Giving isn’t limited to financial donations; people can give their time, skills and other resources to support causes that matter to them. This is the central idea behind GivingTuesday—a global social movement that celebrates generosity, charity and altruism. 

Taking place annually (this year, in 20025, on 2 December) on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States and the popular shopping events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it champions compassion and philanthropy over the consumerism that holds sway in the preceding days.  

A GivingTuesday event is not just an excellent way to give back to the community; it can also be an incredible staff morale booster for your company or organisation.     

Benefits of incorporating social good into work events

Fusing social good into your organisation’s work events presents an array of advantages to your brand. Here are some of those benefits. 

Boosts employee morale. According to the Charities Aid Foundation’s survey, 57% of respondents agree that their employers’ attitude towards good causes boosts employee morale and engagement at work. Seeing their organisation’s commitment to social causes can give employees a sense of purpose and pride in their role.

Reflects positively on your organisation. In an era when much of the workforce—particularly the younger generation—prioritises a commitment to social responsibility by potential employers, such an initiative makes you more appealing to job seekers. This leads to greater talent attraction and retention. 

Enhances reputation. Customers are increasingly socially conscious; giving back to the community or the planet fetches you their loyalty and trust. Similarly, it generates positive media coverage opportunities and strengthens your organisation’s image. 

Brings fun and relevance to CSR. GivingTuesday is a fun-filled way to meet your corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations. Tying charitable deeds to brand events helps your organisation reach CSR goals.          

5 Tips to grow employee morale with a GivingTuesday event

The following tips can easily boost your employee morale on this year’s GivingTuesday.  

1. Define your mission

Set clear goals about what you want to achieve with your GivingTuesday event. Create a target to ensure you take the right steps towards reaching it. Since the occasion presents ample opportunity for employees to connect as they give back to society, your goals could be to increase team bonding, employee engagement or general morale on your team. 

The goal could also be to foster a culture of charity among your employees. Consider choosing a charitable cause as the focus of the event. Explore a cause that aligns with your organisation’s values and resonates with your team.   

2. Communicate and create awareness

Promoting the GivingTuesday event within your organisation is an efficient way to lift your employees’ spirits. Provide education about GivingTuesday as well as what you want to accomplish as an organisation during the event to instil both excitement and a sense of purpose. 

Leverage internal communication channels to inform your team about the upcoming event. This includes emails, internal newsletters and collaboration platforms such as Slack. Meetings within the organisation equally present a great opportunity to promote the event in advance.        

3. Integrate employees into the planning process

Invite your team to share their thoughts and ideas on how to implement the event. Welcoming and encouraging their input nurtures a sense of relevance and ownership of the event from the outset.

Also, it affords you more creativity to help ensure the event runs optimally.     

4. Organise different activities

Offering a variety of ways to participate will help keep your employees interested. Spice up your GivingTuesday event with a range of fun activities. Besides allowing them to give back to society, it also presents an invaluable opportunity for them to bond over non-work-related concerns. Likewise, some of these activities can help gather support for your charitable mission.

Here are some ideas! 

• Hold friendly competitions that are related to GivingTuesday. If your social cause of choice is to promote a healthier environment, for example, you could set up a challenge to see which team among your staff can gather the most litter in the community.
• Provide volunteer opportunities that match your organisation’s charitable mission. This will allow your employees to assist where help is needed. 
• Set up fundraising and donation campaigns to allow your employees to support nonprofits with their cash or items. And, this activity makes it possible to gather support from the rest of your organisation’s partners and community

5. Gauge impact and gather feedback

After the event, measure its impact so you can follow up on your original goals. If the targets were hit, you’ve undoubtedly created an effective template for boosting staff morale and giving back to society. 

If the goals were not achieved, identify what needs improvement. Find out what your employees thought about the event and what they feel can be done to enhance future events. Their suggestions can help make subsequent GivingTuesday events more successful. 

A GivingTuesday event, when done well, is a wonderful way to boost employee morale, foster staff connection and uphold philanthropy. Applying these tips in your GivingTuesday event of 2023 and beyond will keep your staff in good spirits as you power social good.

Need more ideas? Find out how Award Force gives back to the community on GivingTuesday.