Studies and experience show that individuals are willing to give to the arts. The key question: How do we reach them? Door-to-door solicitations tend to be inefficient, direct mail is costly and telemarketing often offends potential benefactors. With increasing success, United Arts Funds (UAFs), organizations and local arts agencies (LAAs) are turning to workplace giving campaigns to expand individual support for the arts.

Workplace giving increased 48 percent between 1991 and 1996 and is now the fastest growing support sector for UAFs. Nationwide, more than 2,000 places of employment provide workers with the opportunity to contribute to the arts. In 1996, 32 UAFs and LAAs raised a total of $12.9 million from 156,676 individuals who made donations through 229 workplace campaigns ranging in size from $210 to $500,000.

Continued growth in workplace giving has nearly unlimited potential. The United Way has long depended on individual giving through the workplace, with employee gifts accounting for 60 percent to 70 percent of support nationally.

What is workplace giving? Workplace giving campaigns are an efficent and effective means of soliciting funds through donations made by individuals through their place of employment. Whether or not a community already has a united arts campaign, workplace giving can provide a unique opportunity for enhancing arts support. Because it is an established system that most employees understand, workplace giving can work in any community.

Workplace giving campaigns:

• Reach large numbers of people at relatively low cost.
• Offer individuals a choice of giving methods, including one-time check, pledge paid incrementally directly to a specific agency or payroll deduction.
• Provide an additional opportunity to educate about the role of the arts in our communities.

Most campaigns place all funds raised through the workplace in an unrestricted pool to support grant programs. However - following the lead of United Way - some communities are offering donors the option of designating their gift to an arts organization of their choice.

Workplace giving programs differ significantly from traditional appeals in approach. Instead of a $100 donation request, for example, the gift opportunity is presented as a periodic contribution of $2 a week, which translates into a $100 annual gift. Because gifts are made in increments, the total gift is more manageable and affordable. The payroll deduction approach, in particular, makes giving almost imperceptible to the contributor, with a designated amount deducted from the individual's paycheck and forwarded on a monthly or quarterly basis to the sponsoring agency. This may explain why - while management-level workers give generously in these campaigns - gift size in proportion to salary is typically higher among working-class employees. Some of the most successful workplace campaigns are conducted right on the factory floor.
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CONTENTS
Workplace giving: Raising funds for the arts.
What is workplace giving?
What makes a workplace campaign successful?
Workplace giving programs for the arts across the country.
Is workplace giving right for your community?
The first steps: How to start a workplace giving program.
Companies with established workplace giving programs.

Studies and experience show that individuals are willing to give to the arts. The key question: How do we reach them? Door-to-door solicitations tend to be inefficient, direct mail is costly and telemarketing often offends potential benefactors. With increasing success, United Arts Funds (UAFs), organizations and local arts agencies (LAAs) are turning to workplace giving campaigns to expand individual support for the arts.