Revamped Safeco campaign posts record-breaking results

Change can be good, especially when it leads to a spectacular workplace giving campaign.

According to preliminary results, employees at Safeco Insurance Company raised $1.175 million, which breaks all of the company's previous fund-raising records. The company runs a national campaign involving 14 cities across the country.

Led by Danielle Clark, campaigners at Safeco adjusted their strategies to make the campaign more educational, engaging and accessible to all employees. The biggest change was the increased involvement of the Safeco leadership group at every level: fund-raising, communications and volunteerism.

"People want to know that the leaders are involved," Clark said.

CEO Paula Reynolds led the way in making campaign communication more personal and heartfelt. The campaign team worked with Reynolds to tell employees about her own motivations for giving back instead of delivering a "canned" campaign message. Campaigners also filmed testimonials from 12 employees talking about their community involvement and posted them on the company intranet. They spent a significant time doing what Clark called "grassroots talking;" one-on-one conversations about the tradition of giving of Safeco and the importance of each employee and the company as a whole being a community leader.

"I think messaging is really important. We tried to take it down to that personal level," Clark said. "The theme of our campaign this year was 'What matters to you?'"

To further engage employees, Safeco campaigners made it easier to volunteer during the campaign. Volunteer activities have always been a big part of Safeco's campaign, but in the past, they were confined to just one day, which was typically a Friday. Clark and her campaign team realized that it was hard for the company to have everyone out of the office on the same day and that many staffers don't even work on Friday. To ensure that everyone could participate, they dedicated the entire second week of the campaign to volunteering and added two Saturday options as well.

The entire company celebrated the end of the campaign at its annual Mariners night at Safeco Field. All employees were invited to attend with their families. Clark invited anyone who lead a team of volunteers and anyone who helped with the campaign to a volunteer appreciation party before the game. This amounted to more than 100 people.

All Safeco employees were publicly recognized at the game for their giving and community participation.

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