Teachers and staff set a fantastic example for students at Wodonga Tafe in regional Victoria last year when they participated in Tour de Office 2016.

As well as riding, Tafe staff were busy raising over $5,500 for Headspace, a national youth mental health foundation dedicated to improving the wellbeing of young Australians. Staff really embraced the opportunity to show support and understanding for young people on campus and in the greater community.

Their efforts did not go unnoticed by local media, and generated plenty of positive publicity. WIN news were a major publicity source and ran two news stories – one at the official launch and then again upon presentation of funds raised to charity Headspace.  Interviews were also held with HIT104.9 as well as ABC Goulburn Ovens, Border Mail and News Weekly. 

Typical of a lot of large educational campuses, departments are spread out and interaction opportunities between staff can be limited. “Our staff loved participating in Tour de Office!  The event really helped to break down departmental barriers as it brought staff together from right across the Institute and created a positive buzz around the place.  I recommend Tour de Office to TAFEs, universities and other organisations with large departments as great way to engage staff in a fun and rewarding activity.”– Merial Trounce, Human Resources, Wodonga TAFE.  

Competition for spots in the relay was fierce! In fact a majority of staff have voted to host a second bike in Tour de Office 2017 to allow more people to participate this year. We loved their enthusiasm in 2016, the daily costumes and challenges they came up with, the great photos that captured all the action, and above all, the wonderful example they set for students. Good on you Wodonga Tafe, we look forward to seeing you back on the bike in August!

If you are an educational institution or similar organisation and would like to know how you can make Tour de Office work for you, get in touch today.

Some would say modern donors are becoming fickle, increasingly needing justification for their support or spreading their giving amongst a variety of causes they feel passionate about rather than choosing loyalty to one charity. The question on their lips is –  “how can we use our resources to help others the most?”.

In most areas of life, we base our decisions on evidence and reason rather than emotion or instinct. When we invest money or make purchases, we gather as much information as we can about our options to find out what will give us the greatest return. Yet when it comes to doing good, traditionally we have often set aside these standards and donated to charities on impulse without researching where our money goes.

As a result, good intentions may be squandered because people use their time and money in ways that do comparatively little good. Most of us don’t realise just how wealthy we are in relative global terms. To put it into perspective – those amongst us earning an average income in Australia are likely to be in the top 5% of earners globally. This relative wealth presents an enormous opportunity to do good, and comes with a responsibility to use our money wisely in areas of greatest impact.

Consider Oprah Winfrey’s South African girl’s school she financed for $40 million in 2007. This undoubtedly presented amazing benefits for the 150 young female students. In isolation $40 million seems like a very generous contribution to a worthy cause. But if you consider those same funds could have been used to build multiple schools and support many impoverished communities, it seems like a missed opportunity.

So which causes should we support if we really want to make a difference? What career choices will help us make a significant contribution? Which charities will use our donations effectively? These are the questions asked more frequently by the modern philanthropist.

For 2017 and beyond, does the responsibility lie with the charity or with the giver to ensure money is well spent?

If you’ve ever hosted, organised, sponsored, volunteered or participated at a major sporting event you will appreciate how much they depend on everything to go right for success. It is a highly detailed, resource-intensive, checklist oriented project that consumes anyone involved.

Then there are the compliance requirements – for example road closures, permits, equipment hire and insurances. We’ve already made our case right there and we didn’t even have to talk portaloos.

A third party event can take many forms but the most joyous aspect of it is that it is pre-organised, allowing you to introduce it to your supporter base and get on with promoting it as a new fundraising opportunity. Without the months of pre-planning, you can dedicate time, resources and effort to a better outcome through coaching and stewardship.

There are certainly costs associated with a number of these types of events, especially if you choose tiered or featured status through an event registration system. When weighing up these fees, it is usually apparent that they still present good value when compared with running an event yourself. Additionally, as the event marketing and promotion budget is bigger than most charities can afford, being a part of these third party events creates exposure to a new audience and potential donor base.

Some of these events have even become icons within a landscape or route. However, whilst they can attract huge numbers of runners, cyclists, etc, they may also present a different challenge in promoting your brand to a saturated audience.

But there are smaller events that can still have impact and participant demographics may be more targeted or relevant to your organisation’s message. Tour de Office is one such event that works specifically within corporates promoting health and wellness. It means people wanting to get involved do not have to be able to clock a marathon in under 4 hours or cycle every weekend, they are just able to have a go and feel good about their effort. This broader appeal event could present an introduction to the everyday person who may turn out to be your biggest supporter, and without needing to complete some athletic feat to prove it.