Volume 2
Issue # 14

December 31, 2002

"It's About People - Part Two"

Welcome to part TWO of this multi-part series which explores my voyage through the world charitable giving and workplace campaigns. The United Way hired me as a sponsored representative this past fall and here is my account of how it went. Look for the third and final installment of the series within the next couple weeks.

For Part One, Click Here

Click on the thumbnail pictures to see full-sized pictures!

It's About Overcoming Adversity And Doing the Work

Managing numerous employee campaigns comes with its rewards and its responsibilities. If you are reading this work term project in preparation for your own term with United Way of the Lower Mainland, one thing I can tell you is that you will never be bored. Quite the contrary, there will never be enough hours in the day or enough days in the week to get everything accomplished. This position definitely challenges one's time management skills.

As far as responsibilities, a sponsored representative spends about half of his/her time in the office and the other half on the road. While in the office, I reviewed each account's file in preparation for upcoming meetings, looking at the participation rates and total dollars raised each year, past representative's notes, and more. Also, I spent much time on the telephone and computer (e-mail) trying to track down my contacts and nail them down for a meeting, or to get details about their particular company and/or United Way campaign. Then, I was on the road. Driving to accounts located in Downtown Vancouver to Richmond to East Burnaby, I met with my ECCs and began the planning process for each individual campaign. Dates were set and calendars marked. I would also head out to my accounts for additional meetings if needed as well as to drop off supplies as they requested them. These supplies would include such things as additional pledge forms and brochures, posters, balloons and more. After attending their kick-off and wrap-up events, it was time to head back to the office and wrap things up. This would include tallying up all the pledges, counting all the money, and filling out all the necessary paperwork. Also, the file would need to be updated with this year's information and this followed a particular format. This year's file would be added to the company's file back at United Way in preparation for the next representative who would be handling that particular account (for 2003).

My fellow United Way representatives (coming from three groups: sponsored like me, volunteer, and on loan from various workplaces, such as Scotia bank) were very supportive, and we all lent a helping hand to whoever needed it with their particular campaigns. (You can see just a few of them in Appendix III.) Such help ranged from blowing up balloons to putting labels on pledge forms to getting in the mascot's costume (Care-y, an overgrown UW logo with a face) and walking around a shop floor. Getting along with the United Way team was definitely not an issue. It is absolutely a great place to work, and the people who come on board care about their community and are passionate about making a difference. Lifelong friendships are born here.

Care-y working hard at
Acres International

The two greatest challenges I faced during my time working for United Way were managing my time, and getting time with my contacts at the various workplaces. Between calculating the travel time it takes to get between West Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver to Gaglardi Way and Lougheed Highway in Burnaby (for example) and factoring in the possibility of meetings running late or running overtime, managing my time was a challenge. I had to keep in mind the status and progress of each of my accounts to ensure that I would go through all the necessary steps in running successful campaigns. As previously stated, the fundraising end of the campaign cycle has roughly three steps. First, I would have to establish meeting times with my contacts and plan the campaign. Second, the plans would come to fruition during the running of the actual campaign. Third, all the wrap-up and paperwork would have to be done. All of the campaigns, necessarily, were always at different points on this cycle. I prioritized by putting time-dependent events, like a pancake breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and initial meetings, on the top of the list. Things that could wait would, unfortunately, begin to move lower and lower on the priority list and very quickly I had many tasks left undone. For example, some ECCs preferred to give employees an extra few days to submit their pledges and put off the campaign dollars pickup dates. And so, I could not go through the account evaluation and wrap-up.