Best of the Best...

The word that best describes the 2010 Duquesne Light United Way Campaign? ENERGIZED! Employee Campaign Managers Lisa Minor and Ken Jones were charged with continued campaign growth and they once again met the challenge with energy and enthusiasm.

The campaign got off to a bang with a breakfast kickoff on October 15th at company headquarters. The kickoff was just the first of 16 United Way Campaign meetings held throughout the organization, including a meeting at the Woods Run location featuring Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Charlie Batch.

The campaign team wanted the campaign to be current and also meaningful. A video created in-house introduced staff to four coworkers who were impacted by United Way-funded programs. The message - anyone, at anytime, could find themselves in need of help - hit home with these deeply moving personal accounts.

Hands-on volunteer opportunities have been a campaign tradition since United Way Day of Caring was first organized in 1992. Duquesne Light takes it to a whole new level. Eighty-three current employees and two retirees rolled up their sleeves and got to work at eight non-profit sites throughout the area including the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank.

Posting a strong request for campaign participation via Duquesne Light's intranet was just the start of CEO Richard Riazzi's United Way support. The new company leader also pledged to support the United Way 211 Initiative through a $50,000 grant and also provides expertise on the 211 Board. 211 is a nationwide initiative to consolidate information and referral sources for people in need, much like 911 helps people in an emergency situation.

As always, the members of IBEW Local 29, led by Jeff Davis and Jim Britsch, could be counted on to whole-heartedly support the campaign. Friendly competition for the coveted "T&D Cup" led to increased involvement of union members in the Operations Divisions, and acknowledgment by the United Way for the Preble Avenue Service Center achievement of 100 percent employee participation.

With everyone pulling together, the campaign was bound to be exceptional. Participation rates continue to climb, this year up over 60 percent, resulting in $188,990 in employee and $11,590 in retiree contributions. Add to that the corporate gift of $200,000 and Duquesne Light's campaign comes in at $400,580!

Thanks to everyone at Duquesne Light for your award-winning effort!

Outstanding Campaigns...

Calgon Carbon

Under the direction of Employee Campaign Manager Karin Danella, Calgon Carbon's award-winning campaign experienced an 11 percent increase in employee dollars as a result of a whopping 27 percent increase in participation over 2009!

A strong campaign result follows top management involvement and this effort was no exception. Calgon Carbon's CEO John Stanik not only championed the campaign, but also serves on the United Way Board of Directors and the 2010 United Way of Allegheny County Campaign Cabinet.

Ms. Danella re-introduced special events to the campaign for 2010. Jeans days proved to be popular with staff and added an additional $1,815 to the campaign total.

The generous employees at Calgon Carbon pledged $48,957 to the campaign. Add to that the special event dollars and a corporate gift of $30,364, and this effort results in $81,136 for people in need in our community.

Dollar Bank

Many successful United Way campaigns have three important components: a hardworking ECM and campaign team, support from top executives and a group of caring employees. At Dollar Bank, experienced ECM Shawn Hartle and her team orchestrated a top-notch campaign with the full support of CEO Robert Oeler and Jim Carroll, vice president of Public Affairs and United Way board member.

The 2010 campaign kicked-off with a celebration that included an introduction to the campaign by Mr. Carroll and an appearance by Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Charlie Batch, United Way's 2010 NFL spokesman.

Special events played a big part in the success of this campaign. Auctions, raffles, denim days, a carnival and a Wii tournament helped to raise awareness and to generate additional funds. Increased participation, including five new Leadership level contributors, brought employee giving to $86,024 with another $10,678 in special event dollars. Combined with a $65,000 corporate gift, this campaign totaled $161,702!

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, maintained an impressive participation rate of over 50 percent in 2010. With CEO Tim Nettles' support and encouragement, best practices were implemented into this year's campaign including one-on-one follow up, incentives for pledging and a corporate match.

Long-time Employee Campaign Manager Trisha Lansberry kept staff morale high and worked hard to create a model leadership campaign - with almost all leaders increasing their pledges from the previous year.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car's campaign total came in at $121,330.25 - truly an outstanding campaign performance!

Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young has long supported United Way and the citizens of our community with their outstanding campaign efforts. Their success can be attributed to the strong encouragement of management, the dedication of the campaign team and, of course, the generosity of the employees. It's easy to see why Ernst & Young is not only a 2010 top campaign, but also a Hall of Fame company since 1999!

Support from United Way Board member and Ernst & Young CEO Lynette Horrell strongly influenced the success of the campaign.

Employee Campaign Manager Heather Hudak and her committee followed a number of best practice techniques to boost campaign results. One-to-one follow up with donors and other strategies resulted in an extraordinary 34 percent increase in participation. Connect Day, Ernst & Young's Day of Caring, placed employees at the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank helping others without enough to eat.

With the addition of $4,817 new dollars in 2010, the Ernst & Young campaign totaled $163,336! Congratulations and thank you for your continued support.

First Niagara Financial Group

"Giving is Magic" was the slogan for First Niagara Financial Group's 2010 campaign - and magic it was indeed with a whopping 110 percent increase in employee participation. With First Niagara's generous corporate match, the campaign raised a total of $83,316.70. Not to mention a separate grant to sponsor and support the Be a 6th Grade Mentor program - in which First Niagara employees are involved in the local community as mentors. First Niagara was honored with a 2011 Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award.

Highly supportive President, Western PA Region, Todd Moules - who also serves on the United Way Board and as Chair of the Impact Cabinet, and Employee Campaign Manager Cecelia Marano worked together to implement best practices into the campaign including an all-staff kickoff meeting, branch manager meetings, Leadership recruitment and incentives for employee involvement.

From a United Way Best New Campaign award in 2009, to an Outstanding Campaign Performance award in 2010, First Niagara and staff are off to a fantastic start.

Girl Scouts of Western PA

With an 836 percent increase in this year's total, Girl Scouts of Western PA is surely one of this year's Outstanding Campaign performers. Using model campaign techniques that began with CEO Patricia Burkart's endorsement of the campaign and ended with targeted follow-up by Employee Campaign Manager Sandra Bernardi Hathazy, employee participation increased to 75 percent.

Incentives that included tickets to upcoming events and vacation days helped to encourage increased employee participation. Six new Leadership donors also added significantly to the bottom line. While we know them for their cookies, UWAC also truly appreciates their community spirit and involvement in this year's annual community campaign. Congratulations on a job well done and one "sweet" campaign performance!

Hefren-Tillotson

For the third consecutive year, Hefren-Tillotson turned in a strong Outstanding Campaign Performance thanks to strategic planning and execution by Employee Campaign Manager Michael McGrath and his team. With an impressive 83 percent increase in participation, it is easy to see why this campaign continues to garner top honors.
Special events and campaign incentives are especially popular among employees. A take-off of the TV game show Minute to Win It held at the Hard Rock Cafe pitted contestants from each branch of the firm. Raffle prizes, music and great food rounded out the evening and resulted in an additional $2,824 to the campaign.

Group meetings that featured an agency speaker helped to inform staff of the impact of their contributions.

One-to-one follow-up by the committee proved once again to be a strong component of this effort. And the support and commitment of Kim Fleming, president, is always indispensable to the success of this campaign.

A generous corporate match of $34,117, and a personal match on employee giving by Ms. Fleming, combined with special event dollars and employee contributions, resulted in a campaign total of $221,286 in Allegheny County and $239,936 across the entire firm.

Thank you Hefren-Tillotson, for another remarkable campaign.

LANXESS Corporation

With a 23 percent increase in overall employee participation, LANXESS Corporation is once again recognized as one of this year's "Top 10" outstanding performers. CEO Randy Dearth kicked off this year's campaign with a picnic event that featured Troy Robinson from Holy Family Institute who challenged employees to be 'the man in the mirror' and step up to make a change in our community. A Lunch & Learn session helped to expand employee knowledge of United Way initiatives and its mission to impact our community. Jeans days proved to be a powerful motivator when linked to employee pledge participation.

The return of the Cue Ball Classic golf outing and other special events like the parking space raffle added $5,000 to the bottom line. Thirteen Leadership donors added significantly to the $55,443 employee total. A $68,500 corporate gift helped to round out the $128,943 overall campaign total.

Dedicated Employee Campaign Manager Mike Vancil led his outstanding steering committee to yet another strong showing - this is the third time that LANXESS Corporation has been recognized for its outstanding campaign performances.

Our hats are off to you!!

Penn National Insurance

Penn National Insurance is once again in the limelight, garnering top honors for the second year running.
After last year's award-winning campaign, Employee Campaign Manager Cloressa Gracie was challenged to beat her personal best. She came through with drive, determination and enthusiasm. Her strategy, employing special events to raise dollars and to keep the campaign top of mind, sparked increased participation and contributions. Able assistance from Michele Hyland was also a key factor in the campaign's success.

The kickoff breakfast proved to be an eggcellent campaign opener, followed by a popular Cinco de Mayo Nacho Day, as well as numerous raffles for everything from a company parking spot, to gift baskets, to sports tickets. The most popular prize? A day to forgo normal office attire and wear jeans to work.

A Day of Caring project provided volunteers from Penn National the opportunity to perform a little hands-on philanthropy at the Toys for Tots Marines Stuff a Bus site in Monroeville.

A pizza party donated by Neil French and Marilyn Madine wrapped up the campaign.

Thoughtful planning and energetic effort led to stellar results. 2010 saw a 40 percent increase in dollars raised for a final tally of $10,806. A dollar-for-dollar corporate match and $748 in special event funds brought the campaign total to $22,360! Thanks to Regional VP Richard Maffuccio, and all the staff at Penn National for a super showing.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers had its best campaign ever in 2010. Thanks to Managing Partner Bob McCutcheon's tireless efforts in recruiting Tocqueville and leadership donors and the hard work of Employee Campaign Managers Dione Graswick and Kristina Sarlouis, the campaign raised a total of $112,120.88 - up $41,543.64 from 2009!

Staff received regular communications about campaign activities, which included Friday jeans days where proceeds went to the campaign and an auction with prizes donated by the firm's partners ranging from gift cards, to sports tickets and memorabilia and even a Wii Game System. PwC and the United Way of Allegheny County are also currently planning the launch of a PwC employee volunteer initiative in conjunction with math students in the Pittsburgh area.

The YWCA - Greater Pittsburgh

The YWCA - Greater Pittsburgh proved that when you have a group of caring and enthusiastic individuals, great things can happen. Recruiting internal campaign managers who are committed to the cause helped put a fresh perspective on the non-profit's campaign, which increased by more than $7,500 this year.

By revamping the special events program, YWCA's marketing staff got involved in the effort. Raffles, prizes and other incentives encouraged employee participation in the campaign fun.

To help spread the word (and it worked!) campaign meetings were permitted at four YWCA Greater Pittsburgh locations.

138 donors, 4 committed Employee Campaign Managers, 1 great result. Thank you YWCA Greater Pittsburgh!