From Onboarding to Impact: Capturing New Team Members’ Support
Graphcom Helps the Wellstar Foundation Increase Team Member Giving
The Wellstar Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Wellstar Health System, Georgia’s largest nonprofit healthcare system, serving more than 1.4 million Georgians annually at over 400 locations. The Wellstar Foundation supports Wellstar Health System’s mission to enhance the health and well-being of every person they serve by expanding access to care beyond Wellstar’s facilities and into Georgia communities. The Foundation’s impact and actions are accelerated through the compassion and donations of supporters, creating a healthier future for all Georgians.
The Challenge
During the onboarding process for new Wellstar employees, Wellstar hosts a Team Member & Caregiver Orientation. The Foundation is granted roughly 10 minutes to speak about its purpose, impact, and initiatives. The goal is to encourage new team members to sign up for the Team Member Giving Program, the Wellstar Foundation’s employee giving program. This program is crucial for the Foundation, generating over $1 million in contributions from team members annually. Employees can make a one-time donation or sign up for automatic payroll deductions to support their new workplace and further amplify their impact.
However, in the whirlwind of their first few days of orientation, new employees often find themselves inundated with tons of new information. The Foundation’s presentation and the Team Member Giving Program were often overshadowed and overlooked. The Foundation needed a way to cut through the noise and capture the attention of these prospective donors who have the potential to be their greatest advocates. After all, 85% of employees with access to workplace giving programs contribute.
The Solution
The Wellstar Foundation team worked with Graphcom to craft an employee giving campaign that bridges the gap between new team members and existing Team Member Giving outreach efforts already occurring throughout the year.
This campaign consisted of one direct mail appeal letter and two emails: an initial and a follow-up. These pieces would capture the attention of new team members two weeks after the presentation and ask again for their support.
Our writers developed messaging about how employee contributions support educational scholarships, Wellstar’s employee assistance fund, hospital and program advancements, and more. To amplify the program’s impact, we utilized data from the previous year to demonstrate the influence Team Member Givers had on specific programs and initiatives.
We also showcased testimonials from current Team Member Givers to personalize the program. Additionally, we reiterated the Foundation’s mission in connection to the Health System to demonstrate the program’s impact not only within Wellstar but across all of Georgia.
The design of these letters incorporates our creation of a pattern to promote Wellstar’s five pillars, emphasizing their core values and patient-first philosophy. We included QR codes and visual callouts to further encourage readers to learn more about Team Member Giving and its impact on the community.
We used variable language in both the emails and direct mail letter to speak directly to Wellstar’s three core employee audiences—team members, clinicians, and leaders— and adjusted the ask strings based on that audience’s income level.
The Results
We recently launched these powerful communications with impactful visuals and compelling content as a recurring monthly campaign sent to all new Wellstar team members. Implementing these added touchpoints now allows the Foundation to steward employees to be partners in philanthropy at Wellstar and stay top-of-mind for team members post-orientation.
“Graphcom has been an incredible partner in growing our direct response strategies and audience outreach. We truly needed a partner who could strategically and creatively help us think through our goals, inform us on industry benchmarks, test and assess our efforts, and essentially elevate all of our content and communications approaches. We’re very satisfied!”
Ready to inspire employees to be your partners in philanthropy?
