When Federated Health looks at its history, we see some consistent groups who have been a part of the campaign nearly from its origins. The folks at Ontario Lottery and Gaming are one of those groups. They have been a partner with Federated Health for 35 years and have raised more than $2.8 million since 2011 alone. OLG has a culture of giving back and one of their cornerstones is volunteerism which makes their philosophy such a good match with Federated Health.
At Federated Health, when we think of OLG, we think of Barb Davis. Barb has been a leader with the Federated Health campaign at OLG since 2012 and makes it look effortless (although we know it is not!). Not only does Barb head up Federated Health at OLG each year, but she also leads their United Way campaign, as well as smaller outreaches when these campaigns are not in progress (if she has the time!).
Leading a campaign of this size takes a great deal of work, but Barb has the skill set and experience to get it done and often in difficult circumstances. The OLG has experienced a number of huge organizational changes over the years including a significant reduction in staff, but Barb and her team have been flexible and adaptable to ensure they are able to prioritize charitable giving at OLG throughout all of these transitions.
Preparation and Efficiency
The OLG campaign process should be studied as a fine art, and Barb shared that preparation and efficiency are pillars to their winning campaign formula:
- She always uses a very long campaign runway. That means she begins working on the Federated Health campaign as soon as she finishes with the United Way campaign; it is in early spring (March) that she creates her volunteer team, and they meet every week after that until the end of the campaign.
- She also pursues long lead times on all events that the volunteers are working on, and they meet every week to discuss where they are in the planning process.
- Launch day is the beginning of May and they run a tight, organized, and efficient three-week campaign.
Ongoing Feedback and Improvements
Barb understands that to engage OLG employees in the campaign, the campaign needs to reflect what they want to see. They often connect with employees post campaign for feedback and wherever possible implement that feedback into next year’s campaign. One way feedback is sought is through surveys to get a better handle on what people want. In past post campaign survey’s, they discovered that people like the monetization of some events but they also like some events to be just for fun and engagement purposes. Barb took this feedback and has implemented it into the campaign strategy. Engagement, adaptability, and ongoing improvements are additional aspects to OLG’s winning formula.
Partnerships
The final element of the OLG formula is key partnerships. OLG works hard to build and maintain strong partnerships with relevant stakeholders to make the most out of their campaign resources. For example, OLG tries to get all prizes donated to keep campaign costs down.
One of the most valuable partnerships OLG has invested in is the one with the Federated Health corporate team. OLG regularly provides feedback and works with the Federated Health corporate team to work towards large scale campaign improvements that lead to greater processes and efficiency, improved volunteer experience, and increased inclusivity of agency partners. This year, OLG was instrumental in working with Federated Health to launch a pilot platform for participating agency campaigns that streamlines the entire donation processes and results in an enhanced donor experience. These efforts not only benefit OLG’s campaign but have corporate wide campaign impacts. Preparation, efficiency, feedback, ongoing improvements, and key partnerships are the essential components to OLG’s winning formula. They continue to set the mold for other campaigns and are always willing to share their secrets to success.
