United Way

Case study

TransAlta employees embrace United Way

Organizing a United Way campaign takes time, dedication and energy of many employees working together toward one goal — to raise donations for a worthy cause. Coordinating successful campaigns year after year across TransAlta’s global environment demands strong leadership from our employee volunteers.

Our 2004 campaign was no different.

Last year, we officially launched our 2004 campaign with the theme “Open Your Eyes, Open Your Heart.” Linda Chambers, executive vice-president, Technology, and Tom Rainwater, executive vice-president, Corporate Development and Marketing, co-chaired the company-wide campaign. Supporting them were two employee co-chairs — Pam Cook, coordinator, Community Investment, and Edith Shaw, executive assistant, Operations, who headed up a team of 15 area campaign coordinators representing the different plants and operating regions.

To map out the campaign strategy, Cook and Shaw met with the executive co-chairs and set aggressive goals for the campaign. This year’s target was to be a “million dollar plus” contributor to our communities. The campaign’s success was measured by actual employee donations rather than participation.

Next, the two employee co-chairs organized a one-day training session in Calgary for area campaign coordinators, where they shared their vision for the campaign.

“Our focus was for employees to have fun and at the same time open their eyes and hearts to the different charitable causes in our communities,” says Shaw. “Each area campaign was separate yet connected to the overall campaign. To bring a common focus to this campaign, the executive co-chairs participated in as many area kick-off events as possible. We also raised employee awareness about the different United Way events through the TransAlta intranet website.”

What followed were various events over the fall, with each TransAlta location celebrating United Way in its own unique way.

In Mexico, local employee volunteers handed out pins with the United Way slogan in Spanish and hosted “doughnut days” to explain the United Way (Fondo Unido) to plant staff. Employees at our Australia plants created United Way T-shirts to raise awareness, while our Western Canada plant employees sold cookbooks specially created for the campaign. At Centralia, Washington and Sarnia, Ontario, volunteers organized barbecues, with representatives from non-profit agencies on hand to talk with employees. One of the many highlights at the Calgary head office included a three-day street hockey tournament, dubbed the UWHL (United Way Hockey League), where eight teams of executives and employees battled for hockey supremacy.

Thanks to these and other events, TransAlta reached its campaign goal of “one million plus.” Employee donations at Calgary head office rose to 80 per cent from 76 per cent the previous year, while company-wide donations increased to 54 percent from 52 per cent. Once again, donations from employees at the Ottawa cogeneration plant reached 100 per cent.

Cook says the success of the 2004 campaign exceeded even her expectations. “The 2004 campaign was such a positive experience for our employees. They really enjoyed themselves and, at the same time, became more aware of charitable causes close to home.”

Adds Shaw: “With most regions exceeding their goals, it is clear they see the value of supporting the United Way and there is a direct link between their efforts and the benefit to their community.”