A give BIG business boost

The Business News Staff

Staff

January 27, 2023

GREEN BAY – Nowadays, as part of overall culture, some businesses are focusing more on community involvement and giving back – both company-wide and with their employees.

In an effort to support businesses in these endeavors, as well as support the 45 nonprofits of this year’s Give BIG Green Bay, the Green Bay Community Foundation is offering a Business Boost initiative to help businesses organize events and coordinated-giving opportunities for their employees in connection with the annual giving event.

“We know how important employee engagement is,” Dennis Buehler, Greater Green Bay Community Foundation president and CEO, said. “The support and services that nonprofits provide to our community touch so many people, including their employees, and for businesses to demonstrate how important it is to help them connect with their passion is a powerful tool.”

Give BIG Green Bay is a 24-hour online giving event designed to provide a simple way for the community to donate to 45 selected nonprofits.

This year’s event is set for noon Feb. 21 to noon Feb. 22.

Buehler said the goal of Give BIG Green Bay’s Business Boost initiative is to help engage, connect with and empower employees to give, as well as highlight a company’s commitment to the community.

Though Give BIG Green Bay has been around for several years, Buehler said this is just the second year of the Business Boost initiative.

“About a year ago, we were getting inquiries from business leaders about how they could be a part of this,” he said. “We piloted a program, kind of quietly with about six or seven businesses, to see if we could build some employee engagement efforts to focus on that momentum that happens throughout the day.”

Buehler said the pilot businesses had a lot of success and the decision was made to bring it back this year and open it even further.

Dennis Buehler

“Amerilux, Breakthrough, Associated Bank and Elevate 97 – those are all businesses that participated (last year) and certainly set the pace for what we think could happen this year,” he said.

Buehler said the foundation doesn’t have a set goal in mind for how many businesses they’d like to or think will participate.
“We’re hoping we’ll grow beyond the initial six or seven businesses,” he said.

Parker Wolf – a senior client delivery manager with Breakthrough, one of the businesses that participated in the Business Boost pilot program in 2022 and is set to participate again this year – said part of the reason the company chooses to participate is that Give BIG Green Bay organizations align with the Breakthrough vision and mission.

“Breakthrough team members are passionate about serving and supporting the communities in which they live, work and play,” she said. “Being able to track and view the impact of their donations is meaningful and creates camaraderie between team members and other organizations.”

Program details
Buehler said the Business Boost toolkit provides participating businesses with:
A customized business profile on giveBIGgreenbay.org to share information about the company’s philanthropic efforts.Sample email, flyer poster and social media templates, as well as graphics to help spread the word to employees about how they can get involved with Give BIG Green Bay.Guidance on how to engage employees.
Buehler said each business can decide how they use the materials and guidance to best engage their employees.

“We wanted to make the toolkit unique to each business,” he said, “because we know employees are concerned about issues of mental health, education, the environment or any number of different issues. I think within their culture, their organization, something like this can allow everyone to be a part of something bigger than just engaging on their own – that momentum can be infectious.”

Buehler said the community foundation wanted to create a toolkit that allows businesses to make it about their organization.
“(The online) business profile allows the business to talk about what their goals are for the community,” he said. “Maybe they’re going to set a goal for their organization, their employees they are going to try to reach that day.”

Buehler said it allows employees to give to any of the 45 nonprofits selected for this year’s event while adding to their company’s grand total.

“As employees donate during the 24-hour giving window through their businesses portal, then they can see a unique scoreboard of how dollars are coming in for the day,” he said.

Last year, Wolf said the Business Boost initiative allowed Breakthrough team members to share their personal experiences with the chosen organizations to raise awareness.

“It was great to hear about so many of our team members taking part in their community,” she said.

Wolf said it’s also a fun way to create a little “friendly competition” within a business, while at the same time supporting the community.

“Several people in the community don’t recognize the scope of not-for-profit organizations in the greater Green Bay area, and this event is a great way to highlight serving and supporting these organizations,” she said. 

Wolf said people don’t donate mainly because they were not asked.

“This event provides a direct path to supporting local not-for-profit organizations,” she said.

Day-of events
Buehler said as part of the employee engagement focus, Business Boost participants can choose to hold day-of events to spark momentum and excitement, as well as create awareness of the Give BIG Green Bay event and the nonprofits it supports.

“They can have luncheons and events or team building activities – creating a unifying effort, but still allow the employees to contribute to the organization they are passionate about.”

Businesses can host day-of events to create excitement and encourage giving during the Give BIG Green Bay 24-hour giving window. Submitted Photo

“The more we can grow that network and that momentum, and it’s been proven in the last five years, we see that compounding effect,” he said. “So, anything we can do to provide tools that can expand those networks, we’re interested in doing.”

Buehler said the community foundation is proud of how the community continues to rally around the nonprofit sector.

“These organizations do such important work on the frontlines of some of the most important issues in our community, and we all need to participate, finance, support and remind people constantly that being a philanthropist isn’t always about the headlines and the biggest gifts in our community,” he said. “Anyone can participate. As little as $10 or as much as their economic circumstances will allow – every dollar makes a difference.”

More information on Give BIG Green Bay and the Business Boost initiative can be found at givebiggreenbay.org.