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Happy fall everyone,

As we are getting into fall that also means our campaign season is about to get into full swing. This year at Festival we decided to take a different approach to the campaign season so we could really focus on maximum exposure to our associates. In years past, we would have United Way campaigns running throughout the company at all times of the year throughout our 32 stores across the state. For the 2019 campaign season, we made the decision as a company to launch our campaigns at the same time. This year we took a laser-focused approach to ensure consistency and increase awareness. With this news that we would be launching our campaign three months earlier than the rest of the group here at UWJNWC, I wanted to make sure we started the season off in the right direction and challenged the team here at Festival to really focus on this campaign. With this challenge, I wanted to make myself available to all associates if they had any questions about United Way. If and when they did, I was then able to speak with them directly to ensure they knew how the money is spent and what process we go through as a board to ensure all funding goes to organizations that align with our values. To kick-off the campaign, the management group decided a great way to raise some funds for the United Way outside of the store was to run the concession stand at the Fort Atkinson Generals game. The day of the game, in which we were running the stand, was one of the hottest days of summer and it quickly turned stormy which cut the game short.  We still made the best of it and had a blast doing it. Once we officially wrapped up the 2019 campaign we ended up with some fantastic results to be proud of! Here is the breakdown of our results:

  • $1500 increase in total giving over last year
  • 22 new donors (out of 150 associates)
  • 73% of our associates donating up 17% from prior year

The key to a successful campaign is really quite simple.  There needs to be ample communication while running a campaign.  This can be done by making it a point to talk to your associates about the event every single day. This ensures they know what is going on, what we are doing to help support the United Way and why the United Way is so important to us and the community. As board members, it is our job to ensure our associates know the process behind allocating the funds raised every year and really drive home how that money stays in our local community.

At the end of the day, there is nothing more rewarding than being part of a successful board and I am happy to say United Way has one of those boards.  That is all thanks to our amazing group of board members and our fantastic director.

Cory Krisher
Store Director, Festival Foods