Case Study / Workplace: Employee Compassion

Orinda Country Club establishes itself as a leader in employee compassion with the Hacienda Relief Fund, powered by Philantech®

Leveraging Givinga’s philanthropic expertise and Philantech® platform, Orinda Country Club launched an Employee Relief Fund to address financial hardships that arose among their valued employee base due to COVID-19. After the successful launch of their COVID Relief Fund, they expanded into a permanent employee compassion and corporate philanthropy program, committing to a greater positive impact on their entire community.

So far, Orinda Country Club has fulfilled over 80 individual grants supporting about 1/3 of their employee base.

The Orinda Country Club has long valued community, always adapting to meet the evolving needs and expectations of both their members and their employees.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, OCC had to temporarily close their doors. They knew right away that this would put much of their staff under financial strain, as reduced working hours and furloughs would be inevitable with the pandemic restrictions. This combined with potential medical emergencies related to COVID meant that many employees would have difficulty keeping up with day-to-day living expenses.

As an organization that prides themselves on their support for employees, they approached Givinga to put those values into action and develop a program that would offer stability to those facing financial strain.

In partnership with Givinga, OCC established a COVID-19 Employee Relief Fund for employees to submit requests for financial assistance. Givinga engaged its nonprofit partner to create the Fund as a charitable entity, allowing for tax-free support for employees and tax-deductible donations for donors. Their philanthropic experts helped guide OCC through the creation of the program and request review/approval process with Givinga handling all IRS reporting and compliance.

Givinga’s technology, Philantech®, consolidated everything into one easy-to-use platform, allowing OCC to;

Quickly provide support to those in need with a streamlined way to review relief requests and distribute weekly payments to approved recipients
Raise money for the Fund with fundraising features like campaign pages and member engagement tools
Accept and process many types of donations including stock donations and the opportunity for club members to contribute a portion of their membership dues to the Fund

Orinda Country Club quickly saw the impact of the Relief Fund and the immediate benefits of supporting their employees and their families. As a result, they decided to launch the OCC Hacienda Employee Fund, a perpetual fund to continue to support their staff and show appreciation for all their hard work. With Givinga’s all-in-one platform and program support from creation to execution, they were able to expand their fundraising strategy to accept voluntary contributions from the community as well as club members, raising more funds across more channels to help staff through difficult times.

So far, Orinda Country Club has fulfilled over 80 individual grants supporting about ⅓ of their employee base. In addition to establishing a permanent fund and expanding their fundraising strategy, they’re also working with Givinga to expand their philanthropic programs and support charitable entities in their community. What began as a Relief Fund has had a major and measurable impact on the lives of their employees, and will continue to impact many more across their community including the charities within it.

“The OCC employee fund has been a vital lifeline for our staff who are experiencing acute hardship. It has had a positive impact on OCC’s culture and demonstrates members’ care and concern for their wellbeing.”

Mike Evans,
Hacienda Fund Committee