It’s difficult for many financial institutions to raise awareness in the community, especially in cities where there are dozens of competitors. One excellent way of raising awareness is to get involved in the community through charitable service. Showing the community that your financial institution cares by getting involved in their issues and positively impacting their world will not only provide a great outcome for the region that you serve, it will help to raise awareness of your business.
One organization that decided to start their commitment to community service in 2010 is the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Thomas Lombardo, a Financial Services Industry Relations Officer, was one of several employees who established a committee based on a strategic initiative by the organization. He had seen a long tradition of volunteerism by employees through informal channels, but there wasn’t any formal strategy or project for the Federal Reserve employees to rally around. So, he and other committee members convened in November with the expectation that they would commit to some community development work on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 18, 2010. They partnered with a local organization known as Philadelphia Cares, which helped them identify different areas with needs to fill on the Greater Philadelphia Cares' Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.
The Federal Reserve employees were only told to “save the date” when the committee began its search for a community project in November, 2009. At that time they recognized that there were already many employees who had commitments to do other types of community work on MLK Day. Once told to save the date, the employees didn’t know the details of the day until they were told during an employee kickoff on January 11. After the guest speaker, a local policeman, expressed the value of community involvement, they announced the opportunity for employees to sign up to volunteer on MLK Day at the John Welsh Elementary School. They received 65 signups at the kickoff meeting.
The John Welsh Elementary School was an excellent alignment with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia because their research had shown that the greatest impact on success in life is made through early childhood development. The elementary school needed painting, assembling of furniture and other housekeeping activities done by the volunteers to help rejuvenate a run-down facility. This was also an excellent opportunity for the Federal Reserve employees to participate in service with their families. Volunteers revitalized the third floor of the elementary school and were given t-shirts to show their involvement.
Since that day, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has established their own program called PhillyFedCares, which will work on projects that aid the welfare and education of children throughout the year and advance the organization’s desire for good citizenship. "We are proud that a group of our employees will be among the many volunteers doing community service during Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We also look forward to doing other community service projects through PhillyFedCares," says Tom Lombardo. They are planning another day of volunteering in the spring and on September 11, 2010, which is known as the 9/11 Day of Service. They also took the initiative to launch an internal website for community involvement, so that more employees can get involved next time.
If your financial institution is not currently involved, or not heavily involved, in the community it may be difficult to know where to start. Here are some suggestions:
Form a committee. In order to organize community involvement for the greatest impact, the first action is to establish a committee that will choose the charity, set event dates and organize the internal and external communications.
Choose a charity. There are many needs in every community, so the work of charities can run the gamut. Selecting just one or a few is a daunting task. The committee should focus on charities that will help them achieve their goals of awareness. This means selecting a charity that best aligns with the goals of the financial institution. You must also be careful to select a charity that will be able to handle the volume that you may send. If the charity only needs a few workers and you have dozens, then it’s best to select another charity that will be able to handle the number of staff members that would like to participate. There’s also the issue of skill and families. Choosing a charity that can allow your workers to participate within their skill sets is important. The decision needs to be made whether families will be invited to participate, or whether only employees will be allowed. Establishing parameters of the way your financial institution would like to work will make the selection process easier.
Set the event date. To have employees go out and do charity work means making the decision as to whether or not the financial institution will be paying its employees to donate their time to the community. If there isn’t payroll available, then the date needs to be set on a weekend or holiday when the employees will be off. However, don’t be disappointed if the turnout is lower than anticipated.
Promotion. Ensuring a high level of attendance means effective communication internally. These methods would depend on the organization and how they disseminate information to the staff, but can include internal posters, memos and emails. Once attendance is established, communications to the community are important to make sure that the good work you’re doing doesn’t go unnoticed. Having everyone wear a t-shirt, hat or lapel pin with your company name on it is one way to show that you’ve come out en masse to help with the community. Many events on certain holidays are illustrated in the media; this will give you an opportunity to get the word out to the entire community about what you are doing.
