How to use your corporate events budget for charity

Howard Lake | 14 May 2013 | Blogs

Think the limit of an away day is a paintballing trip or a strategic thinking session run by an overpaid expert who is too fond of ‘blue sky thinking’? Think again. When it comes to planning your company’s next team building event, take a moment to push the envelope and think outside the box – make double use of your events budget and help a good cause at the same time, by turning your training exercise into a corporate volunteering effort.

If, like many companies, your event involves a big budget to motivate, develop and reward your team, then it makes even more sense to help out a worthy charity and do some fundraising at the same time. The two are not only achievable, but work well together – though the more traditional school of thought might see team building activities purely as pitting staff against each other in a challenge situation, turn things on their head and you see that your whole company working together for one full day can utterly transform a charitable project. And by adding the charity element you’ll be further encouraging your staff to excel.

Food for thought –team running cookery workshops for homeless people

The corporate events department at Chillisauce has worked with countless companies to design and organise a series of team building events that have taken the traditional notion of fun-only away days and added to them a real sense of purpose in helping others. From developing marketing campaigns for charities on a low budget to taking to the street to open food stalls and raise funds for good causes, there are no real limits to the options available to you. But how should you go about making sure your event is a success for both you and the charity, and that it meets your company’s development goals? Here are our top tips.

Project inspiration: plan, design and set up a marketing campaign for a charity that doesn’t have the resources

Know what you want to get out of it

Just as you should for any training exercise or team building activity, start by asking yourself where your company is now, what problems need fixing and what you want to make better. If your teams need to improve their communication with each other or with your clients, you should identify this as your goal from the outset so your activities can be moulded to suit. Have realistic expectations, too – one away day won’t solve everything, but provided you lay the groundwork properly it can be a tangible part of the solution.

Find the right match

When you come to choose a charity to work with, don’t just settle for the first one you come across – or even a high-profile one that you know your staff will immediately recognise. Instead, identify a link to your company; look for a cause that genuinely needs your help and possibly won’t get it otherwise; and if you can, try to find an organization based locally. That way there is a greater chance your staff will pass by regularly (perhaps even every day on the way to the office) and get a reminder of what they have achieved – or at the very least they will have the opportunity to pop by every so often.

Project inspiration: The Apprentice-style activity where teams spend the day raising as much money for charity as possible

Know your people

You know your staff best – think about how many of you there are, where your collective skills lie and what you can realistically achieve in a day. You don’t want to overload people so that they feel they can’t deliver, but equally you want people to feel challenged rather than under-estimated. Meticulous planning is key to make sure your team get the most out of the day and aren’t left standing around. And don’t forget, your staff might have talents beyond those they use in their day jobs – so have an open conversation to discover any hidden expertise. Mix up different staff who don’t usually work together; you’ll get a good balance of skills for the project, your people will forge new relationships and you will all reap the benefits long after the away day.

Project inspiration: helping run a zoo for a day, designing and building new animal enclosures

Equip yourself

Chillisauce always hires experts from the thousands at their fingertips to support projects, train and oversee training. It’s important that your staff feel supported and able to do a good job, rather than seeing themselves as a bunch of amateurs just doing their best – but equally important is making sure those experts are great with people and hit it off with your staff from the word ‘go’. Equip yourselves with the right physical tools, too, so that you can do a great job and feel proud of the result.

If you are breathing fresh life into the garden of a nearby hospice, you don’t want to be doing it with old equipment you rustled together from your own back yard on the morning of the away day; that can only put a dampener on your session.

Refurbishing hospices, homes and schools – from barbecue building to giving an entire youth centre a makeover!

Stop and breathe

Build a good, hearty lunch into your schedule – not only will you need it if you’ve been laboring hard all morning, but it will give you all a chance to take stock of what you’ve achieved so far, what you’ve learned and what needs to be done to make the afternoon a success. It’s a real buzz builder: people often don’t realise quite how much they’ve done until they take a step back, so this is a great chance to give your team a boost – and of course, a chance to catch up socially and for teams who don’t normally work together to mix in a non-work setting.

Project inspiration: get key people from the charity to explain the impact of the company’s day

Pat yourselves on the back

End the day with a short talk by someone from the charity, to thank your team for their effort and to explain the impact it will have on those who will benefit.

This is important in order to spell out to staff how they have helped others in ways they might not immediately realise. Double up and tell the story on your internal newsletter, web site and social media too; just make sure you’ve snapped lots of photos throughout the day to show off your achievements!

Michael Chidzey is the Head of Digital Marketing at Chillisauce, famous for corporate events, team building days, company parties & launches, experiential marketing campaigns, activity weekends, stag dos and hen nights.

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.