|
Home About Us Agency Listing Community Impact Campaign Resources Success Stories Volunteer Resources Heart Club |
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
2008 Campaign Bright Ideas
Below are fun ideas and photos from the 2008 campaign. Read through the rally ideas for inspiration for your company's activities this year. You can use the links at the top of the page to read a summary on a specific rally.
If your company is planning a fun and exciting rally, and would like to be featured in United Way's weekly campaign update, please contact Brandi by email or call 336-2095.
2007 Campaign Bright Ideas
CorTrust Bank
Great Western Bank
Lewis Drug
Tiger Corporation
Butler Machinery
Midcontinent Communications
Encore
Wells Fargo Bank
Girl Scouts-Dakota Horizons
Sanford Health
Eide Bailly
The First National Bank in Sioux Falls
Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota
First PREMIER/PREMIER Bankcard
CIGNA Tel-Drug
Architectural Roofing
HSBC
LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation
CNA Surety
StarMark Cabinetry
Avera Health
Capital Card Services Heart Club Luncheon
Wells Fargo Financial
Sioux Empire United Way Staff
Younkers
CorTrust Bank and employees set a goal for a 10% increase over the previous year's giving. Several fundraising activities were held in October and resulted in more dollars toward that goal. First a chili cook-off was held for the staff and "Chef Chuck Oster" came away with the title.
Chuck Oster with his award winning chili.
ECMs Trina Lyons and Diane Mulloy also planned a book sale, bake sale and lastly a pumpkin decorating contest, each one a more successful fundraiser than the last. Successful both in the fun had and funds raised. The employees whose pledges were increased 10% were awarded hours of PTO.
As the campaign wrapped up, CorTrust reached a 21% increase over last year's giving. And once again, because there was 100% participation, CorTrust Bank has matched its employees giving.
Sweet Success at Great Western Bank
This year ECM Rhonda Jones put
together a committee to help spread the word about United Way and
encourage participation. The committee attended training and worked
hard to be fun and creative while educating employees about how
United Way impacts the community. Goals were set, including pies
in the faces of managers when certain participation goals were
met. If Great Western Bank had 100% participation, CEO Jeff
Erickson, would be among the ranks.
Great Western Bank celebrated a 118.5% increase in giving with an
all-employee celebration. There were food and games, results were
announced, and the leadership got pied – including Jeff himself!
Ready, set....
Pie!
What a way to show your support of Sioux Empire United Way, great job to the volunteers and the leadership who took a pie in the face. That's truly a sweet success!
Serving Up Success at Lewis Drug
Lewis Drug served up a competition among it's different locations to start their campaign off. The winning store would receive a free meal served up by the loosing store managers, as well as a traveling trophy and bragging rights!
The Brandon Lewis Drug & the 57th Lewis Express beat all the other stores with 100% participation and 4 Heart Club members. Their United Way committee members let us in on their secrets of success: information, taking part in the UW agency tours, personal invitations to their fellow associates and working together. They highly recommend taking part in the agency tours, it helped them get others excited!
From left to right: Gene Elrod,
Vice President of Human Resources; Kacey McCarthy, Sioux Empire
United Way; Cindy Elifrits, Sioux Empire United Way; Barry Muller,
assistant Manager of Lewis Express; Sheila Arends, winning Store
Manager; Mark Griffin, President; Justin Richter, Chief Pharmacist
of Lewis Express; and Scott Haugen, Manager of Lewis Eastgate.
All the managers of the other Lewis Drug stores in Sioux Falls helped served the winning store. What a great group of leaders who are not just good sports, but great sports!
Lewis Express staff are served a
great meal for their
successful campaign!
Great job to ECM Marcy Mattern and all of the committee volunteers of Lewis Drug. What a fun way to thank your staff!
Tiger Corporation heated things up with their campaign this year, holding their rally on October 31, the day of their annual chili cook-off event. Employees participated in a contest for the best chili, soup, salad and desert with prizes going to the winners.
Tiger Corporation staff all got a chance to attend a rally and learn
about Sioux Empire United Way.
ECM Wendy Kerkhove and committee member Carrie Puthoff followed the Six Day Campaign, which proved successful for Tiger Corporation this year. Employing giving increased to 75% and their Heart Club givers more than doubled.
Employee giving increased by over 75%! Great job Tiger
Corporation!
A variety of incentives including vacation days, Dairy Queen Blizzard treats, and lunch with CEO Shawn Cleary motivated the employees to invest with their heart. Employees received treats each day of the campaign, and on the last day each participant received a Thank You for participating.
Food and Fun at Butler Machinery
Food and festivities helped to make the Butler Machinery rally week a success. ECM Sharon Vortherms organized the week of activities for October 22 through 26, with games such as candy jar guess, Bingo and a putting contest.
Taking a break from the food and festivities
to learn about Sioux Empire United Way.
With a taco feed on Tuesday and a brat feed on Thursday, employees had enough energy to participate in activities and learn about the Sioux Empire United Way and its partner agencies. All of the fun paid off, employee contributions increased 4 percent this year. Great job to everyone at Butler Machinery!
Getting into the Groove at Midcontinent Communications
Staff at Midcontinent Communications had a blast from the past on October 22, going back to the swinging 60s! During their United Way week, staff were encouraged to dress in their favorite 60s gear, competing for a prize. They also got to test their knowledge of the decade with a 60s trivia competition. And finally, they got their groove on with a hula-hoop contest.
Getting into the groove during the hula-hoop contest.
Along with the fun and games, staff had the opportunity to attend several different rallies throughout the week. By attending a rally, their name was entered into a drawing. Their name was entered into the drawing additional times by turning in their pledge card and by making a donation with their pledge cards. Prizes included $100 gift card, MP3 player, portable CD/DVD player, a wireless home theatre system, and a snowboard.
Midcontinent Communications staff enjoy the campaign fun!
The swinging time added up to an 11% increase in their campaign total! Great job to ECM Veronica Culp and all of the volunteers!
Encore kicked off their United Way rally on October 24. Staff participated in a chili cook-off and learned about United Way from speaker Cindy Elifrits.
Staff cast their votes for their favorite chili, and prizes were awarded to winners. Incentives for investing in the United Way this year included cash and gas cards. What a great way to warm up to investing in United Way! Thanks to ECM Beckie Kaufmann and her team of committee members!
Wells Fargo Bank kicked off their campaign the week of October 8 with plenty of clowning around! Before kicking off their campaign, ECM Larry Young and his team of volunteers used weekly communication to build anticipation and educate the staff about Sioux Empire United Way.
Wells Fargo Bank staff clowning around!
One of their goals this year was to ask
everyone and show them the benefits of investing in Sioux Empire
United Way. They did this by holding rallies throughout the week at
several locations. By holding several rallies, they reached an
additional 100 team members this year! Other goals included to
increase their participation and Heart Club members by 10%.
Team members who attended a rally joined others under the big top to
learn more about United Way, hear from an agency speaker, listen to
a personal message from Pam Hanneman, Sioux Empire United Way Board
Chair and Wells Fargo Bank staff member, about Heart Club
membership. Attendees also were entered into a drawing for ½ days
off (Intermission time), Stampede tickets, movie theater gift cards,
and a holiday limo package.
Ring Master, Larry Young leads the staff in the circus fun.
By choosing to invest in Sioux Empire United Way, staff were also entered into a drawing for Minnesota Vikings tickets and $100 cash gift cards. Additionally, staff who joined the Heart Club were entered into a third drawing for a 3 day, 2 night hotel get away.
All of this clowning around is sure to lead to a successful campaign!
Girl Scouts-Dakota Horizons staff celebrated their campaign on October 15 with a Hawaiian theme. Employees snacked on fruit, punch, and other goodies. They also got creative, crafting a Girl Scout uniform with only newspaper and tape.
Girl Scout staff in their newspaper uniforms.
The campaign gave their staff a chance to mingle and get to know one another. All of the employees had a chance to earn a prize, ranging in price from $5 to $25.
ECM Paige Carda and the rest of the Girl Scouts staff had plenty to hula for at the end of the campaign. The Hawaiian themed campaign ended with 100% participation and over $5000 total.
Sanford Health kicked off their employee campaign on October 19 with a staff rally. Staff from different departments and locations were invited to come learn more about United Way and the Starting Strong program.
During the kickoff, employees heard from Sioux Empire United Way Campaign Chair and Sanford employee, Ray Trankle. Ray shared that an investment in the United Way truly makes a difference in our community within 95 different programs. Staff also heard from one of the Starting Strong providers about the importance of preschool for young children.
Staff attend the Sanford Sioux Empire United Way Campaign Kickoff.
Finally, Jay Powell and Cindy Elifrits, United Way staff quizzed those present about what they believed was the most significant thing about United Way. Answers included, that one gift can make a difference in so many lives, that so many different programs are involved in United Way, that there are 950 volunteers who help keep United Way’s costs low, and more.
At the end of the rally, ECMs Matt Houcks, Tim Bjordal and Jennifer Anderson announced that this year’s goal is $525,000! Everyone was encouraged to take what they had learned at the rally back to their perspective departments and to encourage one another to consider giving more.
ECMs Matt, Jenn, and Tim announce they will draw one employee at
the end of the campaign,
who will get to drive a Mercedes for a month!
Over the next few weeks, the different departments and divisions of Sanford will be holding their own rallies and campaigns. The kickoff was a great start to what we expect will be a great campaign!
Eide Bailly kicked off their United Way
campaign with an office wide meeting on October 8. Employees heard
from Karen Fogas with Youth Enrichment Services, watched the video,
and purchased raffle tickets for gift baskets that are valued at
$300 each. At the end of their rally, pledge cards were collected
and drawings were held for underground parking, Stampede and SD
Symphony tickets, as well as a SD Symphony CD. Separate drawings
will be held for new Heart Club members for two weeks of underground
parking.
Goals include reaching $43,000 in employee giving and having 100%
participation. If the goals are met, Eide Bailly staff will be able
to wear jeans the last Friday of every month and have the
opportunity to purchase casual day stickers for every Friday during
the summer.
Great job to the team of Eide Bailly volunteers who put together a
fun time for their staff!
The First National Bank in Sioux Falls kicked
off their campaign the week of October 1, with a number of different
rallies for all of their locations. ECMs Jill Mockler, Erin Fossell,
and Brian Larsen put a little competition into their United Way
activities this year.
All First National Bank employees were placed on four different
teams: Bill’s Screamin’ Eagles, Cal’s Caring Contributors, Dick’s
Dynamic Donors, and Jan’s Stewardship Superstars. The teams are
competing in three different challenges:
-
Pledge Card Sprint - team with all pledge cards in first will be in a drawing for four ½ days of PTO as well as cash gift cards.
-
Participation High Jump - team with highest percentage of team members participating will be in a drawing for six full days of PTO, and various cash gift cards.
-
Penny War - the winning team will have lunch delivered to them on October 31.
To ensure everyone has a chance to win, an individual challenge will help FNBSF staff Build a Stronger Community. All employees who make a pledge are entered into a drawing for various PTO and cash gift cards.
The penny war was started, during the rally.
All of these challenges have First National Bank in Sioux Falls staff running to their goal of $66,000, and they’re already 90% of the way there. That’s a track record of success!
Family Fun at Avera Heart Hospital
Avera Heart’s campaign kickoff was a family affair, with staff invited to participate in a family fun carnival. The carnival included a fishing pond and face painting for kids, with bean bag toss and a cake walk for adults. Everyone who attended received popcorn and candy and drawings were held for various gift cards and prizes.
Above left: Picking out a duck from the pond, the duck they
got determined their prize.
Above right: Going fishing at the fishing hole.
During their campaign week, they set out to answer the question of “where does the money go” with emails about Starting Strong, and holding rallies throughout the hospital, ensuring that all staff would have the opportunity to learn more about United Way. Employees who increased their pledge by $1/week were entered to win a Spa package (couples massage and gift basket) or a Romantic getaway (hotel suite, dinner at Johnny Carinos and a movie).
One of the kids takes their chance at the bean bag toss.
The campaign wrapped up with a pancake feed for all of the staff. Great job on including your families in the fun Avera Heart!
Staff from First PREMIER Bank and PREMIER Bankcard got together on September 20 to learn more about the amazing impact First PREMIER has on the United Way campaign.
Employees learned about last year’s successful campaign and that this year’s goal is $305,000 and 96% participation. ECM Nancy Kunz shared some of the great incentives available for First PREMIER staff including: all Heart Club members receive a free logo wear shirt, if the different locations reach 90% participation they will be treated to a free pizza party, and staff who join the #1 Club will receive a free vacation day.
Miles & Dana share the goals for First PREMIER.
Additionally, all staff who turned in their pledge card received a BINGO card. BINGO was played throughout the week of September 24 with prizes including $500 gift card to Best Buy, various sports tickets including Vikings, Skyforce and more, golfing outings and several other prizes.
First PREMIER staff also heard about what an amazing difference Big Brothers Big Sisters has made in the lives of Kyle & JR. Kyle, a senior at Augie is JRs big brother. Together the two of them have went to the zoo, gone biking, went camping and more. JR has taught Kyle about Japanese cartoons and Kyle has shown JR that there is more to do than play video games.
Earlier in the week First PREMIER Heart Club members were treated to a breakfast, led by HCC, Tom Schmidt. Attendees learned more about what their Heart Club gift is doing to make a difference in the Sioux Empire.
Creating Magic with the United Way
CIGNA Tel-Drug helped to create some magic with a full week of United Way activities. Monday, September 17th started with a popcorn treat for all of the staff. Tuesday was a special Heart Club day, with Heart Club members wearing their Heart Club attire and receiving a surprise delivery. Rallies were held throughout the week at all locations. Finally on Friday, drawings were held throughout the day for special prizes.
Employees play a game of stand up/sit down during one of their
rallies.
Staff who are able to give at certain levels receive a free vacation day, and any staff who become Heart Club members receive a 2nd vacation day. Another great incentive for their staff is if they give $10 per pay period, they will be able to wear jeans every Friday during 2008!
The magic results of their campaign include, a 52% increase, up to $137,647, a 63% participation rate, and 172 Heart Club members, including 61 new members! Due to meeting a 57% participation rate goal, the corporation is providing a $15,000 corporate gift match. To celebrate their success, CEO Dave Long donned a bunny suit to serve treats to all employees.
CEO Dave Long, spreads the news of CIGNA Tel-Drug's campaign
success!
Great job to ECMs Kelli Baumberger, Dave Long and the rest of their team for creating magic for CIGNA and United Way!
Architectural Roofing ECM Paula Gruenhagen took on the challenge of
running a first time campaign for their company. Her well thought
out rally included information about United Way, the video, and
Spanish language brochures and pledge cards.
By taking time to make sure everyone heard and could understand the
message of United Way, Architectural Roofing achieved an 80%
participation rate with over $7000 in already! Great job Paula for
getting your co-workers excited about United Way and helping their
community!
Personal Touch Pays off for HSBC!
HSBC used several different activities for their United Way campaign. A used media rummage sale gave staff an opportunity to donate gently used media or the chance to purchase the donated books, movies and CDs. Employees also could purchase flower-grams, daisies with a note attached. Employees could then send the flowers to their fellow co-workers. Employees also had the opportunity to learn more about United Way partner programs and other community organizations during a one day agency fair. Finally, a raffle was held for front row parking.
One of the booths at the agency fair.
ECMs Ronda Green and Robynn Russell included a personal touch in
their campaign. Posters with employee testimonials about how they
had been touched by a United Way partner program were hung
throughout the buildings and all employees were able to participate
in a United Way meeting.
Great job HSBC for adding a personal touch to your campaign!
Back to School with LodgeNet Entertaimment's Class of ’08
LodgeNet Entertainment staff were taken back to their school days last week, with an education themed campaign. The students listened to Morning Announcements from the superintendent, participated in Show & Tell sessions from area community organizations, were provided Hall Passes to Education to learn more about partner agencies during an agency fair.
LodgeNet Entertainment ECM Deb Anderson and her team of volunteers educated the class on their goals for the year, including having 90 Heart Club members, 70% participation and $117,000 total in giving.
The royal court announce that over $130,000 has been raised
already.
Their week of learning wrapped up on Friday with a Homecoming celebration! The class selected their King & Queen through a penny war. While celebrating their homecoming, the students also learned that 93 people pledged to become Heart Club members, and the campaign total is already over $130,000!
volunteer committee.
What a great back to school effort from LodgeNet’s class of 2008!
ECMs Kelli Bueckens and Carrie Rehnke put together a carnival spectacular for CNA Surety staff last week. Their staff participated in department rallies at the beginning of the week, and received a carnival treat of popcorn.
The end of the week staff got to play carnival games, including a fishing game, cake walk, ball toss, ring toss, and bowling. They also participated in a chili feed, and held a penny war to select a winning manager. The two winning managers ended the campaign week by becoming human sundaes. CNA Surety staff got a chance to cover the managers with ice cream and various toppings.
Above right: Two CNA Surety managers were the lucky winners of
the penny war/human sundae competition.
What’s a carnival without prizes? Employees had a chance to participate in a raffle drawing, with the grand prize being a Ninentdo Wii. Heart Club and #1 Club Members were entered in a drawing for a one night stay at Residence Inn and dinner for two at Texas Roadhouse and two people will win this one. Other employees who make a pledge are entered in an additional drawing for more exciting prizes. Finally, if they meet their goals for participation, dollars raised and Heart Club members, three managers have volunteered to dress up as a hippie, bearded lady and a ring master.
All of the carnival fun paid off, CNA Surety 35 employees have
already pledged to become Heart Club members and 58 became #1 Club
members. Their employee giving is already over $58,000. What a
marvelous menagerie of activities!
StarMark is Going for the Goal!
Workers at StarMark were treated to a football extravaganza on
September 19th. All StarMark staff were invited to one of the staff
meetings/United Way rallies held throughout the day.
ECM Janet Flom and committee member Michael Ebbing along with other
volunteers put together a great football themed silent auction.
Auction items included football themed baskets for area teams, bath
and body basket, vacation days, and movie passes. The items got the
StarMark team fired up and raised nearly $4,000.
StarMark volunteers with one of
the silent auction items.
During the rallies, auction winners were announced. Team members
also learned about the raffle drawings that will be held for new
United Way supporters, individuals who increase their pledge, and
Heart Club members. In total 4 individuals will win prizes of their
choices, including refrigerators, televisions and more!
The StarMark team is definitely fired up and going for the goal!
Kicking Off for the United Way!
Avera Health started their work week off with a pep talk for
United Way. Team members, led by ECM Teresa Miller visited several
departments on Monday to kick off their United Way week.
The referee pulled out the yellow flag on different reasons for not
giving to the Sioux Empire United Way. And the coach encouraged her
team to turn their pledge cards in early to be eligible for
drawings. Prizes include: 4 vacation days, gift cards, stadium
seats, blankets, coolers and more. The team was cheered on to go for
the goals, including 70% participation, 10 new Heart Club members
and 100% of pledge cards returned.
Above Right: Coach gets the Avera Health team fired up.
Other activities during the week include a chili feed, trivia day, United Way video day, crazy socks day, and Avera Spirit/wear your Avera wear day. Way to get the crowd roaring for United Way, Avera Health!
Starting Strong, Stepping Up, Giving Hope
Wells Fargo Financial held multiple rallies on September 11. All of their staff were bussed to the rally site where they enjoyed refreshments and learned more about the Sioux Empire United Way. ECMs Jason Poppens and Jason Woidyla emceed the rally and provided a Strong Start with a game of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
Nick Grant and Kim Bartels were the lucky contestants to test their wits against a 5th grade level quiz. Could you answer questions like which city is the closest to Phoenix - Pierre, Helena or Salt Lake City? Here's a hint, it's not Pierre or Helena.
Wells Fargo Financial employees finding out if they are smarter than
a 5th grader.
The two Jason's then shared Wells Fargo Financial's plan to Step Up, including having a total of 300 Heart Club members and a total of $220,000 for employee giving. By achieving their goals, all employees will be able to wear jeans during the month of December.
Anne Jackson, CEO, offered ways to Give Hope providing examples of what $1/week, $3/week and more can provide within our community.
Wells Fargo Financial volunteers ready to help out with their rally.
Employees also watched a campaign video, heard from Sioux Empire United Way President, Jay Powell and were provided information about Starting Strong by one of the local providers.
All of their hard work has gotten their campaign off to a strong start for sure, preliminary results show 100 new Heart Club members and over $250,000 has been turned in already! Great job Wells Fargo Financial employees!
Capital Card Services Thanks Heart Club Members
Capital Card Services held a luncheon event on August 30 for all of their Heart Club members and executives. 65 guests were treated to lunch, and a program that included information about this year's initiative, Starting Strong in the Sioux Empire.
Above left and right: Capital Card Services staff enjoy their
Heart Club luncheon event.
Heart Club Coordinator Robin Wiebenga together with ECMs Jan Widmark and Darin Nagelhout provided an event that thanked Heart Club members for their support, and informed them of what their gift does in the Sioux Empire. Their goal is to have 54 Heart Club members this year. At the end of the luncheon, guests were awarded door prizes, including: lawn chairs, stadium chair, cooler, Capital mugs and lawn darts to go with Capital's campaign theme, Sun-n-Fun.
Like many local companies and organizations, the Sioux Empire United Way has its own rally to raise money for United Way through employee pledges. ECMs Kristi Kranz and Susan Miskimins held this year’s campaign during the week of August 6 and the theme was the “Jewels of the Sioux Empire” – the jewels being volunteers, agencies, agency clients, and donors. Daily competitions for the staff to be the first to locate a “treasure” brought out the competitive spirit in all. Contestants needed to solve word puzzles and riddles with a United Way or gem theme to locate the hidden treasure before their co-workers.
Above left: Kacey & Cindy celebrate winning
the first prize of the week.
Above right: Coleen, Chelsea, Jay & Susan try to decode the
clues to the final treasure hunt.
Aside from the week being fun for everyone, a recommitment to the betterment of the community came through in the final totals. This year’s total raised from the staff of eleven is $9,927.00, an increase of $1,156.31 or 13% over last year. Sioux Empire United Way staff now have nine Heart Club members and two #1 Club Members, and 100% participation.
Younkers proved that they have heart by including a message about United Way during their staff Take 5s the week of August 27. ECM Susan LaLonde used the time already scheduled for short staff meetings to talk about United Way and share a message from a partner agency program.
