King & Wood Mallesons DigDeep® – working to reduce inequality and poverty

FROM THE JUDGES:

An embedded program that comes to life through innovative communications and leadership support.”

KEY RESULTS + FEATURES

  • 48% of staff participate in workplace giving
  • $12,115,000 (including matching) has been raised for community partners since the program began
  • $693,179 donated to our community partners in FY19
  • In addition to regular payroll giving, fundraising events raised over $167,000 for three community partners in FY19
  • 32,450 pro bono legal hours donated, valued at over $14.3 million, 85% of legal staff participated in FY19

 OVERVIEW + HIGHLIGHTS

  • King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is a global top-tier law firm headquartered in Asia. In Australia, there are 1,610 employees across the country
  • The KWM Community Impact program was launched in 2001 and the workplace giving program, now known as DigDeep®, was piloted the same year, making it one of the longest running workplace giving programs in the country
  • Workplace giving is fully integrated into the firm’s social impact ambitions, creating consistency. Community partners are aligned with KWM’s social strategic vision of ‘reducing inequality and poverty, particularly amongst children and young people’
  • It has strong support from the most senior levels of the firm’s leadership team and board
  • KWM adopts a long-term and holistic approach to workplace giving, linking it to other divisions of the program such as pro bono legal services, social mobility and volunteering. It has also introduced an outcomes framework to track, measure and report on progress
  • DigDeep® is broadly supported and strategic communication has contributed to engagement. Communication methods include Thought Leadership events, donor updates, podcasts, fortnightly email newsletters, weekly ‘Short & Sweet’ emails including good news stories and messages from the program’s ambassadors
  • New staff receive a starter kit on DigDeep® and the Chief Executive Partner, who is also the Chair of the program’s Board, thanks participants every year with a personalised letter and thank you gift
  • In 2019, the KWM leadership team endorsed a stretch target of 75% participation by 2020