Inspiration

Media Release 21st of August – Workplace Giving Month 2014 Awards

Media Release

For Release: 21 August 2014

SEEK announced as the winner of the 2014 Australian Charities Fund Workplace Giving Month Awards. Businesses and Charities join to celebrate the most successful Workplace Giving Month campaign

 

The Australian Charities Fund (ACF) Workplace Giving Month Awards hosted by PwC in Sydney celebrated the success of organisations who’ve demonstrated an outstanding commitment in encouraging more Australians to support the community through smarter giving.

Over 90 organisations participated in this year’s Workplace Giving Month and record results from industry leading organisations were achieved.

SEEK Limited was the winner of two categories for its workplace giving program; Best Promotion and Program Growth Award. At the beginning of June 7% of SEEK employees participated in the program and by the end of June, 54% of staff had joined the giving program.

Meahan Callaghan, SEEK’s HR Director said, “We were absolutely delighted to win this year’s Workplace Giving Month Awards. Our workplace giving program ‘Small Change’ is more than a commitment from our employees, it’s a part of who we are at SEEK. It reflects our beliefs that we have a responsibility to the communities in which we work and live. I’m extremely proud of the way – with a modest investment in time, effort and creative thinking – that the SEEK team got behind our giving program. Most importantly, I’m delighted that our overall contribution to our charity partners will be significantly increased.”

A significant number of charities participated in Workplace Giving Month, supporting other charities through their own workplace giving programs and generating further awareness for their cause.

The Surf Life Saving Foundation was the winner of the Best Promotion for a Charity. The Surf Life Saving Foundation reached out to over 100 businesses to discuss its work and developed and distributed creative communications to engage further awareness.

Steve Francia, Surf Life Saving Australia Head of Foundation said, “We are delighted to win this award. The funding that we receive through our workplace giving program is a vital income stream that provides reliable and sustainable revenues that assist us to achieve our goals and help our volunteer surf lifesavers to do what they do best – save lives.”

I hope that our efforts will encourage more businesses to support and introduce workplace giving programs because with greater awareness and higher levels of participation, programs such as ours have the potential to really transform the way Australians can support charities with much needed financial support.”

Workplace Giving Month is part of ACF’s One Million Donors campaign – a mission to see one million Australians supporting charity through workplace giving.

The Australian Charities Fund CEO, Jenny Geddes said “Workplace Giving Month is a great opportunity to bring attention to an organisation’s corporate responsibility and proves, that with focus and support from the leadership team, staff participation rates can increase dramatically. In return, staff feel a greater connection to both the organisation in which they work and the community they live in.”

Other winners announced on the night were:

  • Bain & Company – Inspiration Award for employer
  • Devine – Inspiration Award for employer
  • JB Hi-Fi – Inspiration Award for employer
  • Good Beginnings – Inspiration Award for not-for-profit
  • Redkite – Inspiration Award for not-for-profit
  • Commonwealth Bank – Key Supporter Award
  • Val Morgan – Key Supporter Award
  • Foxtel – Key Supporter Award

ENDS