Support of the United Way is Comerica Bank’s largest annual philanthropic effort. And in Austin, 100% of Comerica employees are philanthropists. In Texas, Comerica raised $666,738 with more than 99% of employees participating. In Austin specifically, the bank’s employees topped that with 100% participation. All 90 Austin employees donated a total of more than $24,000. Plus, they worked together to raise an additional $1,500 through a silent auction. We spoke with Jon Eckert, Comerica Bank’s Senior Vice President and Group Manager of Business Banking in Austin, who again served as lead of this year’s Comerica UWATX campaign. We asked him how he got involved with United Way and to describe the efforts that inspired every Austin employee to participate. How and when did you get involved in serving the United Way in Austin? Soon after I started with Comerica in 2012, Pat Faubion (our Texas Market President at the time) asked me if I would help by leading the Austin effort. Of course, I didn’t hesitate to reply with an enthusiastic “yes!” Several years ago, after visiting some of the United Way agencies that they serve, I saw and heard firsthand how the United Way helps so many people. It was then that I truly became emotionally involved in the cause. That’s why I continue to step up to lead the campaign for Austin every year. Seeing our consistent participation year after year, it’s evident that my Austin colleagues feel the same way. What inspires you to continue to be involved? Like […]
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You likely know by now that many of our donations come from Austin-based businesses running employee giving campaigns by asking their employees to give a bit of each paycheck back to UWATX. But did you know that United Way for Greater Austin runs our own internal employee giving campaign too? That’s right–we don’t just talk the talk of being philanthropists, we pledge to pledge! We held fun activities to inspire our employees to give, including Twin Day (dress up like the person who inspires you to be a philanthropist), Represent Your Favorite Sports Team Day (complete with trivia and prizes) and Campaign Cool Down (in which we got to wear comfy workout clothes to the office and had a group stretch). Our own UWATX employees pledged to donate more than $23,000 out of their paychecks over the past few days back to United Way programs. As this year’s internal campaign kicked off, we asked our team leads what it was like to run a campaign in an organization that already gives so much. Our Resource Development team travels around town every day helping businesses run their employee giving campaigns, but how does this differ when it’s your own coworkers? Check out their answers to get some inspiration and tips when it comes to running your own campaign: When you signed up to be a part of organizing the United Way for Greater Austin campaign, what were your initial thoughts? Jeffrey King: Very excited! This was a learning experience and an […]
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