by Lisa Lyons
A new City of Hope employee-giving campaign, themed “Hope Starts with Us,” will kick off on campus on July 26. Its goal is to inspire and enable employees to commit their financial support to the institution. Organizers hope to increase the current participation level from 23 percent to 40 percent.
For many employees, working at City of Hope goes beyond simply earning a living. Helping fulfill the institution’s mission of preventing and curing cancer and other life-threatening diseases provides them with a sense of job satisfaction not present at most other organizations. Employee giving allows those sharing this special commitment to extend it even further.
Executive communications about the campaign will be dispatched the week of July 24 via interoffice mail, along with enrollment forms. In conjunction, select departmental representatives will assist and encourage their fellow employees to participate.
Mary Anderson, director of Employee Giving, is spearheading the month-long campaign throughout August. “Not only do we want to encourage those employees not currently in the program to join, but we want to publicly acknowledge those who have consistently contributed over the years,” said Anderson. Current participants will receive a lapel pin in their interoffice letter, while new members will receive their pin in September after the conclusion of the campaign.
The campaign also will feature opportunity drawings for all participants, current and new, featuring prizes such as preferred campus parking, unrestricted movie tickets, gift certificates for retailers See’s Candy and Urban Retreat, as well as a variety of City of Hope-branded items.
An employee-giving kickoff barbecue will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on July 26 in Heritage Park. Free hamburgers, turkey burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks will be provided, courtesy of sponsors Coca-Cola and First Class Foods. In addition, a pizza party will kickoff the campaign at Development headquarters in Los Angeles on August 2.
“It has been a few years since we reminded our employees about the importance of participating in Employee Giving,” said Diana Keim, senior director of Annual Giving. “This campaign gives us an opportunity to express appreciation for the many ways that employees already contribute to City of Hope’s success, and to explain how Employee Giving is a great investment in our mission.”
Both Anderson and Keim strongly feel that, by demonstrating a commitment to City of Hope’s mission in a significant way, employees can have a major impact on the external outreach campaign to local and national businesses and the community at large.
More details about the campaign and weekly progress reports will be made available for employees on the City of Hope intranet starting the week of July 24.
