Close to Home -- Rethinking Holiday Giving

Workplace philanthropy campaigns during the holidays need to be given the pink slip. This shortsighted fundraising model not only gets lost in the sea of December personal spending; it also encourages a one-shot approach to doing good that limits the ability of service agencies and nonprofits to meet dire year-round needs.

Even when the economy is doing well, concentrated giving during a single, compressed period makes little sense. It's not as if poverty, homelessness, hunger and health issues disappear after the holidays. The best employee-giving programs offer ample choices and the chance to make a real impact on one's community all year long.

Too often, massive, one-size-fits-all operations such as the United Way prevent relationships from forming between donors and recipients. Cutting a philanthropic check each holiday season or even spacing out giving through regular charitable payroll deductions won't maintain a donor's interest and fails to build strong connections between donors and the charities they support.

In my work with Washington's Catalogue for Philanthropy, a nonprofit that raises donor awareness of the area's best small nonprofits, I've learned that cultivating deep and lasting donor-recipient partnerships is the only way to foster sustained giving. One example of such a partnership is the Catalogue's work with CGI Federal, an information technology and business services provider that wanted to provide its employees with a comprehensive, year-round giving program. The Catalogue built an online portal for CGI Federal through which employees can donate to Catalogue charities, look up charity events, and find information about numerous volunteer opportunities. Charities benefit from the donated time and money, and CGI Federal employees benefit from the ease with which they can select giving and volunteer opportunities that match their interests, strengths and availability. The efforts have also cemented the image of CGI Federal as a company that makes a concerted effort to help the community and create a positive culture for its employees.

Large efforts such as the United Way can also lead to uncertainty about how donor money will be used. While the organization has steadily rebuilt its reputation after damaging financial mismanagement scandals a few years ago, it might be impossible for it to ever ensure the quality of charities and the financial transparency that characterize smaller operations. Thumbing through the 2008 Catalogue, donors can choose to support a performing arts organization for at-risk kids in Northeast Washington, housing for teen parents in Arlington, home-delivered groceries for the elderly in the District and Maryland, or one of the Catalogue's 65 other carefully vetted charities. And they are afforded an intimate glimpse into how their money could be spent. An $85 gift to Horton's Kids, for example, will buy one pair of eyeglasses to help a child see the classroom blackboard.

This year my workplace is reexamining its holiday giving campaign. I hope we scrap the program completely, replacing it with a year-long and personalized approach to giving that provides true value to both employees and the community.

-- Melissa McCabe

Arlington

The writer, a Georgetown University graduate student, participates in the school's Center for Social Impact Communication, providing communications consulting to the Catalogue for Philanthropy, Greater Washington. She is also on the board of Community Health Charities of the National Capital Area.