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Ready to become a Second Harvest Hero? Here are a few steps that will help you plan and organize your campaign.
Step 1: Rally the team
Select a campaign leader to head the campaign internally and be the prime contact for communications with Second Harvest. Make sure to choose someone who is committed to the cause, has available time, and has a “can-do” attitude.
- Engage support from an executive leader to show your team that this campaign is supported from the top. This will make it easier to make your campaign a priority. For school teams, consider having your principal on board.
- There are a few specific roles you’ll want to assign to
Campaign Committee Members: - Finance, to coordinate all financial aspects of the Hero campaign
- Communications, to coordinate all communications related to the campaign
- Events, to plan and implement specific campaign events
Step 2: Organizing your campaign
Set your goals:
With your team, set qualitative and quantitative achievable goals for the campaign in terms of organizational engagement and fundraising targets. Make sure to consider all resources available to your team!
Plan the campaign:
Fundraising should be fun! Choose events that your organization will enjoy and allocate enough planning time for each event. Be sure to space out your events appropriately to avoid donor and team fatigue. Meet regularly with your campaign committee to review your progress and communicate impact. Ensure there are opportunities for those who are working or learning remotely to be able to participate virtually.
Host a Kick-Off:
With the executive lead, introduce Second Harvest and your campaign plan to the entire organization to raise awareness and excitement for your upcoming events. Your Second Harvest Hero representative will be pleased to speak to your staff about our mission and the impact of your fundraising efforts.
Create an online fundraising page:
Ask your Second Harvest representative to set up an online fundraising page for your team. Sharing this link is an easy way for people to donate and learn about Second Harvest. Donors will receive a tax receipt immediately when they donate online.
Promote the campaign:
- Remind your organization about upcoming events to ensure maximum participation
- Request promotional materials like hero capes, masks, posters, and stickers by either contacting your Second Harvest representative or by using the form
- Display posters in prominent areas, wear capes and masks during your fundraising events
- Organize a fundraising challenge! For larger companies, stoke some friendly competition between different departments or floors in your office, or consider challenging another company in your building or industry. For schools, consider challenges between classrooms or a nearby school
- Use your company’s intranet to highlight your fundraising campaign and include a link to your online donation page. Schools can engage families with information about the campaign in newsletters or emails
- Include campaign updates during regularly scheduled staff meetings
- Place a story in a company or school newsletter to highlight the campaign
- Regularly communicate your achievements, such as when you hit a fundraising milestone, or highlight the success of a fundraising event. Make sure to include photos!
- Report your progress regularly to your executive leader and be sure to highlight the work of team members who have gone above and beyond in their fundraising or campaign planning efforts
How to wrap it up:
Ensure all donations are received and be sure to collect the necessary information for those requesting tax receipts. When collecting donations online, all information is already collected, and the tax receipts are provided automatically. Send campaign materials to Second Harvest by arranging a courier pickup with your Second Harvest team lead or submit your raised funds to our new Hero account.