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FROM THE JUDGES:

ASIC should be commended for its commitment and may be a strong example for other public sector agencies to follow.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) WPG program – part of ASIC in the Community – offers employees a regular giving program that is easy to participate in and involves a range of ways to contribute including skilled and unskilled volunteering, fundraising events and one-off appeals.

ASIC employees donated a total of $101,659 through workplace giving in the last financial year, which was distributed to 40 different registered charities. ASIC’s annual graduate intake undertakes specific fundraising projects for key charities with great success. So far this year, graduates have raised over $12,500 for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation of Australia.

In 2015, ASIC updated their program by introducing a key partner strategy to focus fundraising and advocacy efforts on education, people at risk and domestic violence. The focus charities selected were The Smith Family, Streetsmart Australia and White Ribbon Australia. At the end of fourth quarter 2016, these key partners had received over $30,000 in donations. It’s worth noting that all donations made through ASIC’s WPG are personal; as a government agency, ASIC is unable to provide matched giving.

ASIC stands out amongst government agencies for its leadership in workplace giving. It has demonstrated strong commitment to WPG, achieving endorsement from the senior executive group and dedicating a full-time role, the ASIC in the Community Manager, to the program. The Community Manager’s work has seen a slow but steady increase in program participation. The current participation rate is 9% of the ASIC workforce of 1,800 staff, up from 8% last year. The program aims to increase participation to 10% by the third quarter of 2016-2017.

Keynote speakers regularly present at staff events to showcase the program and demonstrate its impact. The benefits of the ASIC in the Community program have flowed back through to the organisation as a whole in the form of increased employee engagement and improved connections between colleagues and teams.

Listen here to the Community Manager Justine Butler on the ASIC Podcast, as she discusses ASIC’s workplace giving program.