A giving drive challenge rallies your team around a good cause, like collecting food, coats, or toys for people in your community. Employees drop off a donation, share a photo, and earn points they can spend on rewards or donate to a charity. You choose the cause, how often people can earn, and how you’ll celebrate the impact.
This guide walks you through a winter food drive from start to finish. Once you’ve run one, you can reuse the same setup for coat drives, toy drives, blood drives, and any cause your team cares about.
At a glance
Goal | Give back to your community and bring your team together around a shared cause |
Who can join | Every employee, or a group such as one office, department, or team |
What you’ll set up | A way for employees to earn points for each donation, a call to action with a one-click way to join, an option to turn points into donations, and a celebration of the total impact |
Who runs it | An HR or People admin, or your community or ESG committee lead |
How often | Seasonal, like a month-long winter drive. Within the drive, let people earn weekly so they keep coming back. |
How to measure | Number of donations, number of people taking part, and points donated to charity |
Example: Run a winter food drive
In this example, employees earn points each week they drop off food at a collection bin. Once it’s live, donations and points run on their own.
Step 1: Reward employees for every donation they drop off
A small thank-you turns a one-time donation into a weekly habit. Bonusly makes it easy to reward employees each time they donate. They snap a photo of their drop-off, submit it, and points land in their account. In Bonusly, this is called an Incentives.
Here’s how to set it up:
Go to Admin > Recognition > Incentives and click Create new.
Describe the drive: name it Winter Food Drive, add an image, and explain what to bring and where, like “Drop off canned goods or pantry staples at the lobby bin by December 15.” In the proof field, ask for a photo of the donation at the bin.
Choose who can join: leave it open to everyone, or click Filter audience to run it for one office first.
Set the points and how often people can earn: enter the points per claim, then choose Limit claims per employee, set it to 1, and choose per week.
Decide who sees it: write the message that posts when someone donates, like “Just fed a neighbor this winter! 🥫” Choose Public, and turn on showing proof in the feed so donation photos inspire others.
Choose who checks proof: keep automatic approval for a light-touch drive, or choose Specific people must provide approvals if your drive lead should check photos first. Approvers don’t need to be admins.
Click Create.
Step 2: Rally everyone to give
Drives succeed when people know the cause, the dates, and exactly what to bring. Bonusly lets you post a message at the top of everyone’s homepage with a Claim button, so joining takes one click. You can also send it by email or to Slack. In Bonusly, this is called an announcement.
Here’s how to set it up:
From the givebox on your homepage, click Announce.
Share the cause, what to bring, where the bins are, the last day, and a team goal, like “Let’s fill 20 boxes for the Riverside Food Bank by December 15! 🥫”
Attach Winter Food Drive from the incentive drop-down. A Claim Incentive button will appear on the announcement.
To reach a specific office, add a team handle in Who should see the announcement post. To reach people by email too, check Email from Bonusly, or choose to send it to Slack.
Click Post.
Learn more: Announcements. If employees ask how to submit, point them to Claiming Incentives.
Step 3 (optional): Let employees turn their points into donations
Some employees will want their points to go even further for the cause. Bonusly makes it easy for employees to redeem points as a donation to a charity, and you can add your drive’s own charity, like your local food bank, as a reward option. In Bonusly, this is called a custom reward.
Here’s how to set it up:
Add your charity as a custom reward, like “Donate to Riverside Food Bank”
Mention the donation option in your announcement, like “Want to give even more? Donate your points to Riverside Food Bank from the Rewards page.”
When employees redeem, make the donation on their behalf. You decide how often to approve requests and send donations.
Employees can also donate through charities already in the catalog; see Redeeming rewards facilitated through Charity on Top.
Step 4: Celebrate the impact
People love seeing what they accomplished together. Sharing the total, like boxes filled or meals donated, makes the next drive even bigger.
Here’s how:
When the drive ends, go to Admin > Recognition > Incentives and click Export to CSV to download the Incentives Summary Report.
Add up the donations and points donated to the charity.
Post an announcement with the total, a photo of the full bins, and a thank-you, like “Together, we donated 640 meals to Riverside Food Bank! 🎉”
More ways to run it
The same setup works for other causes. Change the name, what people bring, and how often they can earn.
Idea | What changes from the example | Learn how |
Coat drive | Collect coats and blankets in the fall, with a photo at the bin as proof | |
Toy drive | Collect new, unwrapped toys in December, and tie it to your holiday announcement | |
Blood drive | Ask for a donation confirmation as proof, and let people earn once per quarter | |
School supply drive | Collect backpacks and supplies before back-to-school season | |
Animal shelter drive | Collect pet food, toys, and blankets for a local shelter | |
Points for a cause | Skip the drop-off and encourage everyone to donate points to one charity during a giving week | |
Drive champion | Thank the volunteer who organized the drive with an award |
Measure it
A healthy giving drive gets more donations and more first-time givers every season.
What to check | Where to find it | When |
How many donations came in and from how many people | Admin > Recognition > Incentives > Export to CSV (Incentives Summary Report) | End of each drive |
How many points employees donated | Your custom reward redemptions; see Fulfilling Custom Rewards | End of each drive |
Whether every team is taking part | Quarterly |
If donations slow down, share a midway progress update, add a fun team goal, or extend the drive by a week.
Note: You’ll need to be a global admin or have awards admin permissions, and giving drive challenges can be run on the Organization plan.
FAQ
Can employees donate more than once?
Yes, employees can donate more than once. Choose Limit claims per employee and set how many times each person can earn per week, month, or quarter.
Can donation photos show up in the feed?
Yes, donation photos can show up in the feed. Turn on showing proof in the feed when you set up the drive, and every photo appears in the recognition post.
Can I run the drive for just one office?
Yes, you can run the drive for just one office. Use Filter audience to limit it to that location, then target your announcement with the same team handle.