As leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team building, we know that CSR team building programs benefit everyone involved: the company, their employees, and local community organizations. CSR programs positively impact employee loyalty, enrich corporate culture, and give employees a sense of purpose in their workplace. Combining the meaningful experience of giving back with the pillars of all team building programs – developing workplace relationships, improving collaboration, enhancing problem-solving skills, and fostering better communication – creates a high-impact experience.
CSR Case Study: Merck and Best Corporate Events
Merck, a company dedicated to advancing the prevention and treatment of diseases through research,reached out to us to plan a CSR team building program for their team. They had a more specific impact in mind. Merck strongly wanted to support a wide-reaching charitable organization that benefited children through their event.The ultimate goal was to create an impactful team building event while supporting a charitable cause.
Merck’s Vision for a Custom CSR Event
Merck reached out to us to plan a charitable event for their group of 400 attendees at their upcoming 2.5-day Summit event. The attendees were from a global audience, so Merck wanted to ensure that the recipient would benefit a wide range of communities nationally or globally. They also specifically hoped to benefit a charitable organization working with children.
Our team at Best Corporate Events got in touch with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a good fit for a donation recipient within Merck’s desired parameters. St. Jude provided a specific list of needed items they can accept, which we used to customize the donation care packages to their needs. While we always strive to tailor donation items to the needs of the receiving organization, it is especially crucial in the medical sphere, as there are additional regulations and guidelines for patients’ unique needs and safety that need to be considered when selecting items. Because of the specificity of Merck’s wishes for their CSR event, it was also essential to have a flexible donation package strategy that aligned with their desires and the receiving organization’s needs.
Crafting a Tailored CSR Program
The event customization began with the list provided by St. Jude, but didn’t end there. As we reviewed the items on St. Jude’s donation list, it became clear that the typical format of a charitable care package event – where teams put together packages that are passed out to individuals within the receiving organization – would not be ideal in this case. St. Jude (and other pediatric care facilities like them) focus on care for patients from newborns up to early 20s; the same items would not be suitable for every patient. Instead, we planned for each of the 40 teams of event attendees to assemble a robust donation ‘bin’ full of items appropriate for all age ranges that could then be distributed to patients by St. Jude.
Another deviation from the norm for this program came from a request from our contact at St. Jude, who explained that all donations go through their Memphis location. At a typical charitable event, even when working with a national charitable organization to receive the donation, the donation is directed to the branch local to the event location. This eliminates the need for additional material shipping and enables a representative to attend the event and address the participants about their organization and work, creating a meaningful finale to the experience. Because this was important to St. Jude’s process, the client agreed to ship the donation after the event, and we could still have a local St. Jude representative attend the event for that meaningful finale!
This event inspired us to develop a pediatric illness CSR program in partnership with St. Jude, which will allow us to deliver similar programs for clients interested in benefiting St. Jude and similar pediatric hospitals and organizations.
Execution of the Custom CSR Event
Detailed Planning and Setup for a Successful CSR Event
Merck chose to hold their program in the evening, so our team’s event day began in the morning, with the facilitator and assistant staff arriving for setup. With 400 participants on 40 teams, the resulting donation required a lot of materials that had been shipped to the venue in advance and must be unpacked and arranged in preparation for the program.
Like many of our CSR team building programs, Merck’s program involved engaging group activities that teams completed to earn points and collect items from the ‘store’ to assemble their care packages. Merck also opted to include custom trivia questions in their activities, focusing on diversity and inclusion themes.
Customized Care Packages for St. Jude
A significant difference between our typical care package program and this event was using bins for the donation items. Usually, each participant would fill a drawstring bag with donation items that would go directly to the recipient; this time, each team would fill their bin with donation items suitable for a variety of ages and include the drawstring bags for St. Jude’s use in selecting the most appropriate items from the bin for each individual patent.
With the guidance of St. Jude’s donation wish list, we were able to provide an extremely tailored list of items for the donation bins, including comfort items like knit caps in varying sizes, tooth brushes, and chapstick, as well as helpful items to pass the time for all ages, including everything from baby rattles to dolls, crochet kits, and wireless earbuds.
Team Building with CSR
Through this event, Merck employees not only gave back to St. Jude, but also experienced a robust team building program. All of Best Corporate Events’ charitable team building events are designed to unite teams through group bonding activities, games, and challenges, with a culmination of charitable giveback as the icing on the cake.
In addition to putting together care packages for St. Jude, Merck employees participated in a combination of fun challenges, trivia, and activities delivered on our proprietary iPad applications, featuring text, audio, and video clues. These activities are designed to enhance team spirit and unity, as well as highlight skills, interests, and knowledge among team members outside of their typical day-to-day interactions. The custom diversity and inclusion questions requested by Merck organizers were incorporated into these activities, tailoring the impact of the activities to their organizational goals.
Participant Feedback and Event Success Stories
As with any CSR event, the most significant metric for success was the impact of the donations on the recipients. Through this program, Merck donated enough supplies for 400 care packages to be distributed to pediatric patients at St. Jude Hospitals.
For the participants and our clients, the event execution was also a big success. The Merck organizers were especially pleased with how smoothly the event delivery went, as they had had less than optimal experiences (with other companies) the past two years. The smooth delivery and enthusiastic reception by the participants painted a positive contrast with the challenges of their past events. Participants enjoyed the experience and the opportunity to give back with their colleagues.
Impact and Outcomes of the CSR Events
When team building is combined with charity, it’s genuinely the best of both worlds. For employees who value giving back to the community, any type of CSR activity has a powerful impact on loyalty, engagement, and retention. This event was no exception.
Following the event, our primary St. Jude contact, Kevin O’Brien, was gracious and excited to participate in the experience. “What a great event you put on with Merck! It was so well executed, fun, and impactful for our kids,” he noted. “I hope you can picture the kid who receives the first item from the event and the joy or peace they will derive from it. Then think of that moment being duplicated hundreds of times—that is what you and Merck provided—moments that matter! Let’s stay in touch so we can continue to build moments together.”
Kevin’s colleague at St. Jude, Anita Baker, also reached out following the event, commenting that Merck’s generous donation of “wish list” items through the event was “certain to put smiles on the faces of St. Jude children!” Anita complimented the experience, saying, “What a well-executed, fun, and amazingly generous event you put on last night! I can picture the first kid receiving one of the items from the bins and the joy or peace it will bring in the midst of a challenging day, YOU make that moment happen, and it will be a moment duplicated over and over again – THANK YOU!”
Our clients at Merck were equally thrilled with the outcome of the event. A key Merck decision-maker said, “Thank you for organizing a wonderful event. Everything went great, and the attendees liked it a lot. It was a fun-filled event, and attendees were proud to be part of it & an opportunity to give it back to the society!”
Because of the Pediatric Care Donation program that this event inspired, BEST’s collaborative relationship with St. Jude is ongoing and yields the potential for future similar CSR events for other companies throughout the United States.
Planning Your Own Custom CSR Event
Whatever your organization’s priorities may be, increasing employee loyalty and engagement by enhancing your culture and creating an emotional – as well as practical – impact should be among them. BEST has the expertise to create an impactful experience for your team and the flexibility to tailor a custom CSR event to the needs and goals of your organization.
Best Corporate Events can handle all of the planning and facilitate custom and flexible team building events so that you can stay focused on planning the rest of your meeting or conference. Reach out to BEST today to explore incorporating charitable CSR in your next event!
