Event Stretching Out to the Community

From the judges: “Great to see the campaign targeting 50% participation.”

The ‘EVENT STRETCH’ program was established in 2004, with its goal being to create a sense of pride in employees working for Event Hospitality and Entertainment, and allow them to see tangible value in how they support charity partners. The entertainment, hospitality and leisure company currently has 20 charity partners, including a corporate partner comprising of nine children’s hospitals around Australia. While EVENT encourages support of the nominated charities, businesses have the autonomy to provide in-kind donations in their local communities where feasible.

Results from the last employee survey were very positive. Of note was staff support for the number of charities on the program – they felt it gave a good balance between offering choice, with the satisfaction of watching donations accumulate within a limited number of beneficiaries. This was particularly true of younger employees who noted that while they were not in a position to donate large amounts, they liked to see how the money added up. Many young staff also said that they loved being involved in location fundraising and volunteering.

STRETCH is facilitated via the national payroll team with payments made directly to charities. EVENT’s corporate charity support extends beyond payroll donations to include a wide range of activities with total pro-bono work worth $750,203. Additionally, over $508,000 was raised last year for their corporate charity via annual national charity screening, trivia and location fundraising.

Employees can further support charities through an annual trivia night as well as participation in several major charity fundraising campaigns such as RSPCA Cupcake Day and NBCF Pink Ribbon drive.

STRETCH is proud to be ranked in top ten performing programs by The Australian Charities Fund, and to be in the top ten Workplace Giving partners for the majority of its charity partners. It has a participation rate of 41%, with an average annual staff donation of $123, matched with a $75 amount by the company. For the coming year, EVENT has set the target of achieving 50% participation from its workforce of nearly 7,000 staff and has increased company donation matching to support this push.