By Amy Strecker, on June 18, 2010

One of the projects I’ve been working on this summer is Progress Energy’s* annual employee giving campaign (eGiving) as part of their ongoing Give Where You Live philanthropic efforts.  The campaign runs for seven weeks (June 14 – July 30) and the company hopes to raise $2 million through employee contributions.  The Progress Energy Foundation matches employee contributions to partner charities at 50%. (This makes each donation go much further!)

The last weeks were a whirlwind preparing for last Monday’s kick-off.  My major task was to overhaul the SharePoint website where employees make donations and find all the eGiving information.  In addition to my website work, I helped edit and draft messages from our organizational leaders.

During the campaign, not only do employees pledge payroll contributions, but we also participate in department fundraisers and service projects.  For example, departments hold bake sales, silent auctions and plate dinners, or they might sell the right to wear jeans on Friday or use a special parking spot.

My team will be leading sessions at Communities in Schools summer camps for our service project.  Yesterday I was tapping my teaching and camp counseling experiences as we planned engaging activities for our campers.  We’ve planned a trial run of our activities for our staff meeting next week.

As the campaign continues, I’ll help facilitate weekly communications about our corporate goal progress and continue maintaining the website.  The eGiving campaign has been a great opportunity for me to see the entire process behind a project, and I look forward to seeing it through to completion in July.

*The views expressed on this blog posting are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.