Raymond James hosts Bingo for Better fundraiser for women's charities

 July 11, 2019

There are many creative ways companies can celebrate International Women's Day.

For Raymond James, an organization passionate about advocating for women's equality and inclusion, it was a bingo fundraiser.

Not only did the fundraiser raise awareness on the day, but it also had a positive impact beyond IWD itself. Money raised supported the Battered Women’s Support Services who provide advocacy and support services to female victims of abuse, while further branches volunteered and donated to their locally chosen charities. 

Employees also wore purple to raise awareness for the campaign.

Amanda Collinge, a Raymond James senior manager who organized the event, felt a bingo fundraiser was the perfect way to raise awareness across the company. 

“I wanted to create an event that was fun, exciting, inclusive, and provided a learning opportunity,” she said.

Encouraging greater awareness about gender equality 

Promoting IWD and the #BalanceforBetter hashtag, Raymond James promoted the bingo fundraiser in various internal newsletters, several in-house banners, and its internal intranet. Employees were openly invited to participate in IWD events and to donate to the selected charities through bingo or other means.

Raymond James' campaign created an activity for its people to actively participate in throughout the workday without leaving their desks and experience a personally vested interest in. 

Bingo was “played” by sending out called numbers via email throughout the day.  Every email was a new number – a new chance to win – but every email displayed a fact about gender inequality and women’s rights they may not have known about.

Every dollar spent in a bingo card was also a dollar for women in need.

Initially the game was only going to take place in a single department, but the demand for bingo cards was so large and grew so quickly that Raymond James ended up selling out and having to reorder several times. 

The rapid growth of the campaign in the office was in no small part due to friendly competition – people were excited every time an email was sent out.

Together, Raymond James raised nearly $7,000 for charities and educated its employees about gender facts and statistics, all while having fun throughout the workday in the name of gender equality.

Regardless of their personal level of interest in gender equality, everyone who participated learned something about it and paid to support it in their community.

A considerable donation drive was hosted

The Ottawa branch hosted a donation drive, collecting household items for Cornerstone Housing for Women, an organization working to put an end to homelessness. The branch felt it was important to recognize women’s achievements as well as their struggles.

Ottawa has very cold winters so they wanted to donate to women who need emergency shelter. Women can require emergency housing for many reasons including domestic abuse, mental illness or affordability.