AvePoint Philanthropy: Bushfire Fundraising in Australia
Over the course of 2.5 weeks, the AvePoint team raised $17,806 AUD for the Australian Red Cross disaster relief and recovery program to aid the bushfire crisis in Australia. Continue reading to learn how we accomplished this in such a short period of time!
The Challenge
In the southern hemisphere, the Australian summer runs from December to February, with temperatures often exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many parts of the country. The extreme heat accompanied by drought results in bushfires, but the 2019-2020 season has been one of the worst on record.
How AvePoint Helped
As this natural disaster received media coverage and support worldwide, internally we knew we needed to do our part. With offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and remote employees across the continent, this cause was very close to home.
Since the fires were dispersed among many regions in Australia, we decided to create a fundraising page with the Australian Red Cross. We were confident this program would best distribute funds across multiple states to ensure people in need received help, regardless of their location.
Creating a fundraising page is simple but driving donations can be difficult. Fortunately, we utilize social platforms like Yammer at AvePoint that make cross-company communication and collaboration easy.
The Bottom Line
Announcing and sharing the fundraising initiative on Yammer led to several hundred views, likes, shares, and comments—all just internal!
But views alone aren’t enough; the real success occurred when we leveraged our core value of Teamwork. A few of our executive team members shared our fundraising page on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms to generate support, all while making their own personal donations.
This had a positive domino effect with global employees doing the same – resulting in 114 people donating! Additionally, our AvePoint Philanthropy program decided to match all dollars raised by Australia Day, which brought our total from $8,903 to $17,806!
This was an incredible result and collective team effort. I’m continuously impressed by the wonderful people we have working here. A massive thank you to everyone who contributed!
We also recognize that our fundraiser, while an internal success, is not a true solution to the ongoing bushfire problem. We encourage you to continue to stay informed on these natural disasters and make donations to organizations who support relief efforts during times of crisis as needed.
Fredrik is AvePoint's HR Director for Australia and New Zealand.
