Sweet support: Lindt & Sprüngli (Canada), Inc., tops Living Planet @ Work’s Spring Things fundraising in 2014
Lindt & Sprüngli was the winner of Living Planet @ Work’s top Spring Things fundraiser award of 2014. Their employees helped to raise more than $26,000 for WWF’s conservation efforts. Learn more about how they did it.
Lindt & Sprüngli (Canada), Inc., President and CEO Rudi Blatter freely admits it was sheer willpower — plus a hefty dose of competitive spirit — that got him up 144 flights of stairs this year in his first Canada Life CN Tower Climb for WWF. But it was the generosity and commitment of his employees that put the premium chocolate company at the top of WWF’s fundraising ranks.
This year, Lindt Canada climbers raised an impressive $26,628 for our conservation work, earning them the 2014 Top Fundraiser Award for our Living Planet @ Work Spring Things Campaign.
Spring Things was Living Planet @ Work’s first-ever workplace fundraising campaign, encouraging employees to support our conservation work through Polar Bear Week events, Earth Hour Week events and the CN Tower Climb.
The company’s Executive Director of Human Resources, Erin Gordon, credits a company town hall meeting in February for firing up passion for the campaign. At that gathering, WWF’s Adrienne Lo spoke about the conservation challenges facing the planet and the power of businesses — and their employees — to create solutions. It struck a chord with the company’s nearly 200 head office staffers.
“People really felt engaged afterwards,” says Erin. “There really was that connection.” Spurred by that presentation, Lindt Canada launched a green team to promote sustainability, while Rudi joined our Spring Things CEO committee .
Along with a donation to our Arctic conservation efforts for Polar Bear Week, the green team recruited 13 participants for our 24th Annual CN Tower Climb. Rudi and Erin were among the first to sign up.
According to Rudi, Lindt Canada believes in giving back to the community, both in terms of dollars and times. And as a big supporter of WWF, Rudi didn’t hesitate to walk the talk — or, to be more accurate, climb the talk all the way up 1,776 steps.
To stoke enthusiasm leading up to the big day, the company held raffles and erected a board where employees could bet on which Lindt climber would reach the top the fastest. Having the CEO involved upped the ante even further. “Employees are inspired when they see and work for an inspired leader,” says Adrienne.
Many things made the climb memorable for the Lindt team, from the rising excitement as hundreds of climbers of all ages and backgrounds got ready to tackle the Tower to the camaraderie of climbing with co-workers. For Erin, there was also the awe in her five-year-old son’s eyes when she told him she had made it all the way to the top. “It was quite a powerful event,” she says.
Lindt Canada may have raised the most money in this year, but Rudi is determined to motivate even more employees to join him in 2015. “Thirteen people is not enough,” he says. “We have to be better communicators and explain why this cause is so important.”
From the top of our hearts, thank you to Lindt & Sprüngli (Canada), Inc.,’s intrepid climbing team and everyone who supported our inaugural Spring Things campaign.
Interested in hosting environmental campaigns and fundraising for conservation programs year-round with your colleagues? Join Living Planet @ Work and get free access to tools and resources to help you.
