A New Way to Do United Way

When it comes to philanthropy, gifts can take many forms.
 
Companies around the country participate in an annual giving campaign for United Way, a nonprofit that collaborates with community partners to address social issues and improve well-being locally. 
 
In addition to the traditional monetary donation, Exact Sciences employees asked for more choices in the 2023 United Way campaign. So the company came up with an idea.
 
“People at Exact Sciences are incredibly generous and have participated in United Way giving for years,” says Stefanie Berg, community partner and employee volunteer manager at Exact Sciences. “This year, we wanted to build on that momentum to make sure that employees were able to give in whatever way is meaningful to them.”
 
Because Exact Sciences’ workforce totals around 6,500 employees, we set a goal for our United Way campaign to generate 6,500 acts of impact — one act for every individual. Options for acts of impact included monetary giving, community volunteering hours, holiday card making, and donating canned food. 
 
During the 17-day campaign, Exact employees exceeded the goal, achieving more than 7,300 acts of impact. They included:
·      2,118 individual monetary gifts totaling more than $1 million for United Way, International Committee of the Red Cross (donations from our international team), and local nonprofits
·      1,059 hours of volunteering in communities around the world
·      2,425 holiday cards created virtually and in person for homebound seniors
·      1,781 food items for local food pantries heading into a busy holiday season
 
Locations buzzed with activity during the giving campaign. A few highlights:
·      Phoenix employees packed 900 cookie bags for the local children’s hospital and made 180 dog toys for residents of the Human Service Campus.
·      Kirkland, Wash., employees hosted a waffle breakfast that raised more than $1,000 for a local nonprofit. 
·      Our San Diego location hosted an on-site holiday card-making event, with its employees producing more than 100 cards.
·      Two hundred-plus employees gathered in Madison, Wis., for a pancake breakfast raising money for United Way. On the menu: hearty oatmeal-blueberry pancakes from Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy’s own recipe.