Don't miss this chance to gather with fellow corporate funders and discuss shared concerns, challenges, and successes.
Context: Corporations know the importance of treating their people well. When faced with life challenges, employees sometimes need financial support or aid. At this corporate funders gathering, we'll discuss employee assistance initiatives, including employee assistance grants. (Please note: for the purposes of this session, the phrase "employee assistance programs" refers not to employee counseling services, but to initiatives that provide grants or money for employees in need.)
Content: Here in Maine, WEX currently is in the process of setting up an employee assistance fund. Melissa Dudley, the company's corporate philanthropy manager, will kick off this corporate funders gathering by offering a brief overview of what she has learned while researching, designing, and implementing WEX's initiative. She will reveal helpful advice she has received and identify things she might have done differently (if only she had known ...). After her brief presentation, we will move into a large-group conversation that will offer participants opportunities to discuss their organizations' employee-assistance strategies and programs.
The following questions will offer a jumping-off point for the day:
- What legal structures can companies use to set up employee assistance grant programs?
- How do corporations determine how much assistance to make available – both in terms of the total pool of assistance money and in terms of the amount available to each individual?
- How do companies determine who receives assistance?
- What do application processes for employee assistance grants look like? How are they the same as, and different from, processes that nonprofits undertake in applying for corporate grant funding?
As always, the gathering will offer plenty of time for participants to be in casual dialogue, sharing ideas and learning from each other's experiences.
Registration is now open. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us on the morning of October 18.
Our event cancellation and refund policies may be accessed HERE.
Do you need an accomodation in order to fully participate in this program? Please contact Alyssa Lodewick at alyssa@mainephilanthropy.org or 207-228-8289 as soon as possible – and at least two weeks prior to the event – to discuss your specific needs.
Image Credits:
Callout - "Can You Help?" by Paul Townsend, via Flickr. Creative Commons license.
Teaser - "HELP," by Marc Falardeau, via Flickr. Creative Commons license.