How City businesses are going digital for City Giving Day

This year, The Lord Mayor’s Appeal’s City Giving Day celebrations will be somewhat different. Many organisations, both new and old, will have to rethink the way they organise events. And we’ve been thrilled that companies have embraced the chance to broaden their horizons and find even more creative ways to support our communities. They are able to engage colleagues and employees who work remotely, through the provision of exciting and innovative events.

Every year The Lord Mayor’s Appeal and its supporters celebrate the value of the City to society and show how businesses can make a difference. It champions activities – whether corporate social responsibility, philanthropy, or volunteering initiatives – that companies undertake as part of their commitment to supporting charity, society, the community and the environment in which they work. And it can all be digital.

Here are a few ways that companies are engaging in City Giving Day – online.

The Banking Standards Board Charity Committee have organised a programme of voluntary fundraising activities in the run up to CGD and on the day itself, all of which can be done very easily from home, or the office. The activities can be completed any time colleagues  can fit them in before 22 September. So there’s home challenges such as cooking, cleaning, or creativity; a 5k relay race to be run, walked or cycled; a photography competition; ask colleagues to donate their money saved by not commuting; BSB City Giving Day virtual Bingo and of course asking colleagues to #GoRed.

Amy Huntley, Head of Digital and Communications says: ‘The BSB is proud to support CGD once again. Even if we can’t celebrate and fundraise together in person this year, it remains a great opportunity to join firms across the City to fundraise and celebrate all the charitable work done by staff throughout the year. We will be getting creative with digital platforms to raise awareness of our charity partners among our staff and stakeholders.’

The team at EY will be extending their activity out from the day, through their ‘Above and Beyond Challenge’. This is a chance for their people across the UK firm to come together and be a force for social good over a six week period. Kicking off Tuesday 15 September, staff will compete to win ‘Giving Points’ for their team, which will be awarded for anything from random acts of kindness, and charitable intentions to corporate sustainability activity, fundraising efforts and community care. Each week they will monitor progress and give a shout out to the most creative and impactful individuals and teams, inspiring one another to go that little bit above and beyond! There will also be an EY Giving Day Radio Show where staff will be encouraged to listen in and donate for a song request, while hearing from speakers on  important initiatives on mental health and D&I.

EY is also organising a number of virtual workshops focused on upskilling girls with essential technology skills and equipping social entrepreneurs with design thinking skills. ‘This year is going to be the most ambitious year yet, as we are looking to engage, inspire and encourage all our people across the UK to participate, whilst delivering it all virtually’ says Pranathi Praveen, the EY Giving Day Lead.

Euroclear have also decided to extend City Giving Day throughout the whole of September, launching ‘Sustainable September’ on 1 September and running it all month. In addition to holding webinars and virtual runs with their charity partners, they will also be hosting Diversity and Inclusion workshops and launching a competition to encourage people to recycle and reuse. ‘This year is of course different given these extraordinary circumstances. The format of the Business Run has been amended, which gives us the opportunity to reach out to all our colleagues around the world, to make it a truly collaborative effort! Thanks to the joint efforts of employees everywhere, we are entering the initiative together as Euroclear, with 16 global teams of colleagues from different locations including Hong Kong, Brussels, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, Stockholm, Helsinki, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, London and Amsterdam, on top of the 16 teams from our Poland branch,’ says Stephane Bernard, Branch Manager, Poland

Hyperion will also be running a Global Group Giving Week with virtual personal training sessions, a pet competition, the kilometre challenge – running, walking, cycling, swimming as a business to log how far they can travel as a group, encouraging colleagues to collect one bag of litter from their local area or donate a bag of old shoes, clothing etc. to charity. They are also encouraging people to volunteer with The Prince’s Trust – CV Workshops, Money Management workshops and Mock interview.

As part of Standard Chartered Bank’s City Giving Day plans, the Lord Mayor will be joining employees, charities, other businesses and young people in a virtual panel session to discuss the challenges facing young people in the wake of Covid-19 and where businesses can give valuable support.  The Bank’s employees have also committed to providing over 50 career insight talks to schools and local charities throughout the day to inspire our next generation to learn, earn and grow.  This is all part of Standard Chartered Bank’s global initiative, Futuremakers, which aims to tackle economic inequality and targets young people from underserved communities.

Tracy Clarke, Regional CEO for Europe and Americas, Standard Chartered Bank, said: “We are proud to take part in City Giving Day 2020 to help showcase the City of London as more than just a global leader in financial services and highlight its positive impact in communities. Our focus this year is to celebrate our employee volunteers who are working hard and supporting their local communities to thrive during and post the coronavirus pandemic, which is all part of the Bank’s Here for good ethos.

In 2019, 424 organisations came together to recognise all this remarkable work. By joining in they inspired up to 5,000 new volunteers to offer their time, raised an estimated £500,000 for good causes and highlighted some of the exceptional charitable activity that takes place throughout the year. 100% of participants said that they would recommend the day to others. So far more than 450 companies have signed up – making it officially the biggest year yet –  and there is always space for more. Register here.