Something for the weekend: The day after an organisation-wide party can be notorious for seeing productivity slumps and lacklustre motivation, with employees often struggling to get in the right frame of mind for work following an evening of socialising with their colleagues.
However, US marketing agency Havas Chicago, part of global communications organisation Havas Group, has used this situation to its advantage as a fundraising incentive. If its employees hit a set fundraising target for a local charity, Havas Chicago will give them the day off after the organisation’s 2017 summer party on 27 July.
Havas Chicago's employees will need to raise $3,000 (£2,313) for youth charity SocialWorks, which was co-founded by Chance the Rapper, in order to receive the day off on 28 July, referred to as its summer ditch day.
The organisation first trialled employee fundraising for a day off last year, and after achieving its fundraising goal, it decided to implement the initiative again this year.
A GoFundMe online campaign page was created on 17 July 2017 to support the fundraising effort, with a total of $2,826 (£2,178) raised by 20 July. Employees have been sharing the campaign page on social media, such as Facebook, to encourage family and friends to donate too.
Here at Employee Benefits, we think this is a great motivator to help raise money for good causes. We would certainly chip in if we could grab a day off to enjoy some of the UK’s intermittent summer weather…
