A "Real" Good Campaign
Novelis Corporation, a global manufacturer of aluminum rolled products and beverage can recycling
with North America corporate offices in Cleveland, brought the "reality show" theme to their company
campaign for United Way of Greater Cleveland and produced some effective and entertaining ways to
involve their employees, raising some "real" money for a "really" great cause.
At their company's United Way campaign kickoff in September, Kevin Greenawalt, President of Novelis
North America, and Becky Meaker, the company's United Way campaign manager, announced the campaign's
slogan, "The reality is, together we can make a difference." A fun lineup of activities
echoed that theme throughout the week, with contests and prizes to keep employee interest and
involvement high. Employees paid to play, and proceeds went to United Way. Here are activities that
ran through the campaign kickoff week:
- A "Survivors" battle-of-the-sexes trivia game, pitting the guys against the ladies to test their
knowledge of who knows more. The winning prize was a combination flashlight/compass/toolkit for
"surviving" automobile roadside emergencies.
- "Hell's Kitchen" eating and drinking contests, including a soft drink chugging
competition and cheesecake eating contest. The winner walked away with a gift certificate to the
Cheesecake Factory.
- "Last Comic Standing" -- Employees entered their favorite jokes to be judged
by the campaign's events committee. The top jokes selected would be told by the people who submitted
them in a special stand-up comedy contest in the office's cafeteria. Winning prize: a gift certificate
good for admissions to Hilarities comedy club.
- The "American Idol" contest was an opportunity for contestants to try their
knowledge of pop music by naming the tunes played. Winning prize was a Best Buy gift certificate.
Other fun activities included the always-popular "Jeans Friday," where employees donated to United Way
to dress casual on Fridays. The finale of the campaign was a raffle for a flat-screen TV, with tickets
available to those who pledged in the first week of the campaign, those who pledged five percent or
greater than what they did last year, and first-time pledges. In all, Novelis' company campaign included
a corporate gift of $35,000, employee pledges totaling over $44,000 and activities proceeds of $863,
for a grand total of $80,000!
We thank Novelis Corporation for the generosity and initiative of its campaign efforts. Novelis has
helped to make the "reality" for many people helped through United Way a lot brighter!
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