Engaging with donor employees

Have you ever participated in a Let’s Talk Science event, like the Let’s Talk Science Challenge, or attended a Symposium series, like Let’s Talk Cancer? Chances are that you have interacted with one or more of our many donor volunteers.

Employee Engagement and Community Philanthropy has become a core value for many corporations. Not only do they provide donations to ensure we can continue to provide programming at no cost to educators and youth, but they also provide employee time, skills and passion for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to enhance our offerings.

In 2019-20, over 200 employees from 32 donor corporations gave over 300 hours to support in-person and virtual events engaging youth, educators and Let’s Talk Science volunteers across Canada. Participation ranged from judging contests, to speaking engagements, completing career profiles, joining Let’s Talk Science sites for community events, and kit building to provide additional Outreach Activity materials.

In March of 2020, school, work and Let’s Talk Science activities changed. Virtual connections quickly became the chosen form of interaction and, while everyone adjusted to this new situation, our donors continued to support us through employee engagement. Not only were they suddenly working from home, many were also eager to continue virtually volunteering to connect with program participants.

For example, during the Online Let’s Talk Science Challenge (held over eight weeks), donor employees recorded videos asking questions, giving answers or offering fun facts for Grade 6-8 students taking part online. Every week, featured a different donor employee who spoke about their role and how STEM relates to their work.