Over the last few days I have been looking for good research on workplace giving.  I have to conclude that there’s not a lot, or that I’m just not good at finding it.  There’s some content at Charity Navigator and many charities have information on their sites about how to support them in the workplace.  I have also spoken with several HR people I know and gotten their feedback.

Workplace giving seems to fall into four buckets:

• Combined Federal Campaign(CFC) – far and away the largest, this is a workplace giving behemoth for all federal, military and postal employees and generates many millions in donations every year.
• United Way(UW) – under the national organization there are nearly 1,300 local United Ways that partner with large employers for workplace campaigns.  The emphasis is on larger organizations with several thousand employees and a high-engagement model.
• Community Foundations – other foundations in some geographies compete with United Way to manage workplace campaigns for large and mid-sized companies.  Their approach is generally similar to UW, but perhaps with a different emphasis on where the money goes and how decisions are made.
• Ad hoc – a lot of companies run their own workplace campaigns on an ad hoc basis with little or no external management.  Workplace giving campaigns can be very time-consuming and require a fairly significant time commitment from the company to be successful.

I’m certain their are other models, but these are the biggest models I can find.

For the most part, donor/employee options are limited in workplace giving campaigns.  CFC provides a list (albeit large) of approved charities, which are reviewed and approved by the OMB.  UW campaigns often fall under 3 or 4 focus areas (e.g. childhood education, health, etc.) and the money is donated through to organizations selected by the local UW leadership.  The same model holds true for community founcations.

Ad hoc workplace campaigns are often driven from the top, with a committee or individual screening and selecting charities to include – often with extensive employee input.  Supported organizations are almost always local, and typically small so the impact from the local employer can be meaningful and appreciated by the charity.

Somehow the ad hoc campaigns feel the most real and connected to the community.  That’s the sense I get from folks.