Pride Toolkit - Benevity

Pride Toolkit The top ways for companies to take action and show-up for the LGBTQ+ community this june

Table of Contents About Pride

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Take action this Pride month: How companies can show up this June

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Support an LGBTQ+ charity by volunteering or fundraising

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Invite a speaker or host a virtual lunch & learn

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Encourage employees to learn about LGBTQ+ rights and inclusive language

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Support LGBTQ+ art and culture to build empathy

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Implement or review your Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) policy to support

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the LGBTQ+ community Attend a Pride event

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Support employees to be allies - in June and always!

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How to kick off a Pride campaign this year!

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Define your campaign

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Involve stakeholders & get buy-in

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Prepare and approve internal communications

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Track your impact

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How to get started

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Partner with a CSR platform

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What is Pride?

Pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and all other gender and sexual expressions that don’t fit into the letters (LGBTQ+).

This is an event that started in 1970, when protest marches were organized to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Pride is an opportunity to support the LGBTQ+ community by acknowledging the progress that has been made and committing to take action to build a more inclusive world. Today, the LGBTQ+ community continues to face challenges related to human rights and inequalities.

What happened at Stonewall?

"The Stonewall Riots, also called the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighboring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.”

Source

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A study from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation showed that working in an environment that is not always accepting of LGBTQ+ people leads to:

25%

of LGBTQ+ workers feeling distracted from work

31%

feeling unhappy or depressed at work

Not only that but research has shown that companies that commit to and foster more diverse cultures and leadership are more successful.

Companies can better attract talent, meet their customers’ needs and wants, engage employees, and see improved decision-making.

Finally, supporting human rights also fits in with the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals, specifically SDG 10: Reduced inequalities.

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Take action this Pride month How can companies show up for the LGBTQ+ community this June?

There are different ways your company can take action this month to show up for the LGBTQ+ community. To help you, we’ve prepared a comprehensive campaign toolkit with activity ideas for you to engage your employees and start the conversation around inclusivity.

That being said, there are lots of different combinations and options for you to make a meaningful contribution to the LGBTQ+ conversation. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

Start by listening Some colleagues and managers might not be aware of the issues some employees are experiencing in the workplace in terms of diversity and inclusion. It is important not only to know how your employees see your company in these terms - but also to know how your employees are dealing with it.

You can prepare an anonymous survey to get feedback about how inclusive your company is to better understand your workforce in terms of sexualorientation, gender identity, gender expression, and level of comfort with sharing this information.

It's important to ask how your company, colleagues and managers can help to make the workplace a more inclusive place - and then take action.

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Support an LGBTQ+ charity by volunteering or fundraising The best way to actively show-up for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride is by volunteering or fundraising for a local organization that fights for these important human rights.

Here are a few organizations that you can support with field volunteering or fundraising: Oogachaga PFLAG GenPRIDE (Generations Aging with Pride Rainbow Railroad The Trevor Project GLAAD

Invite a speaker or host a virtual lunch & learn Start the conversation with, well, a conversation. You can invite an external expert (here’s a list to get you started) or one of your leaders (or even colleagues) to share their experience or share information people should know about diversity and inclusion. This is also a great way to encourage productive discussions on how the workplace (and the world) can be a more inclusive place.

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Encourage employees to learn about LGBTQ+ rights and inclusive language The language we use is important. We use expressions that were accepted by society in the past, but some of this outdated and offensive vocabulary is still part of our everyday life. Get informed by learning about the history, rights, and current issues the queer community faces to build empathy at work.

Here are some resources to get started: Human Right’s Campaign Glossary of sexual orientation and gender expression terms.

Corporate Equality Index - a benchmarking tool for companies on LGBTQ+ practices.

Stonewall - toolkits and resources to build inclusive workplaces.

It’s pronounced metrosexual - free online resources for both learning and teaching about gender, sexuality and social justice.

Support LGBTQ+ art and culture to build empathy There are many LGBTQ+ movies and tv shows that teach us the reality of the everyday issues faced. By hosting a movie night, you provide your employees the opportunity to connect with LGBTQ+ characters and engage in thoughtprovoking conversation.

Some good examples are: Disclosure: Trans lives on screen Paris is burning Go Fish Boys Don’t Cry Carol Moonlight

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Implement or review your Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) policy to support LGBTQ+ A supportive policy is an important way to show all your employees that you care and intend to create an environment where they are secure and protected. If you have a policy, consider reviewing it through the lens of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

There are different companies with good DEI policies, such as Lenovo which scored a perfect 100% on the Corporate Index for LGBTQ+ equality. Or Addepar, for example, who created an AddePride affinity group, formed by 25% of their employees, with the objective to create an inclusive environment.

The UN has also developed standards of conduct for business to tackle discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Attend Pride events This year EuroPride will be hosted in Belgrade, but there are a number of events happening in major cities across the world. Not everyone can have the opportunity to be physically present of course, but there are online events too!

Check out this international Pride calendar to see what's happening near you.

But, of course, this isn't the only event - every month of the year you can find events for the LGBTQ+ community! Take a look here.

“If we are to achieve faster global progress towards equality for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and intersex people, businesses will not only have to meet their human rights responsibilities, they must become active agents of change.”

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Source

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Support employees to be allies, in June and always!

An ally is someone who is "actively supportive of LGBTQ people. It encompasses straight and cisgender allies, as well as those within the LGBTQ community who support each other (e.g., a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community)."

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation can help empower your employees to become allies, for example, by forming Employee Resource Groups or through training.

This is a good way to ensure that you're not simply Rainbow Washing during the month of Pride - but actively work year round to support the LGBTQ+ community through your CSR efforts.

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How to kick off a Pride campaign this year

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Define your campaign Pride is celebrated all of June, so why not prepare a calendar of activities that your employees can partake in? That way you can offer different actions that get your employees supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

Below you'll find an example of what this calendar could look like at your company. You can use this one to share with your employees or use it as inspiration to create your own calendar!

The first step is to decide the schedule: do you want to do an intensive week or spread these activities across 2 weeks, 3 weeks, or the whole month? Pick a cadence and start planning!

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Support the community

Expert speaker

Pick one flag from the community and wear it for a week to share your support as an ally/member.

We're welcoming a speaker to join us to talk about the LGBTQ+ community, inclusive language, and the importance of inclusivity.

Bingo night for an LGBTQ+ charity

Follow 5 LGBT+ individuals on Social Media

Fundraise for a queersupportive charity

Watch a Attend an movie around LGTBQ+ event LGBTQ+ (virtually or community in-person)

Quiz night with your peeps!

Collect money having fun with your colleagues the prize can be donated to any nonprofit you like that supports the cause.

There are so many great films that highlight the community and can help increase awareness of the complexities that surround these topics.

Set-up a movie night to watch with your teammates.

Support an LGBTQ+ charity by volunteering to set up Bingo night for their team where proceeds go to their charity.

Follow some influencers that form a part of the queer community on your favorite social media platform to learn about them and the issues they face in their everyday life.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

One way to support the community and learn from it is going to their events, pick one of your choice!

There’s plenty of them here.

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Involve stakeholders & get buy in Start with the ‘Why?’ In order to get buy-in from your team you need to explain the why behind the idea. The first step is to work out what the problem or opportunity is, explain it, suggest your campaign and highlight the broad benefits to the business and employees.

Prepare a proposal You may have some ideas in mind for your campaign. Maybe you want to try and run it manually, or maybe you want to leverage a partner to maximize the impact and participation. Either way, you can offer several options to stakeholders, with specific details about each one and the timeline. It’s also important to emphasize the pros and cons of each to show your research has been done.

Outline the implementation Now that you've shared your campaign idea, it’s time to explain the implementation process: How long will it take? Who needs to be involved?

What are the desired outcomes?

Last step: Pitch it internally Put together your findings in one document. There are several steps to sharing your plan, they might involve: An email to your manager/decision maker with the initial idea A presentation for you to adapt to your internal branding

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Prepare & approve internal communications Let your employees know about your campaign to engage them during the month of Pride, here’s an email template for internal communication:

Subject Line: Supporting Pride at [company name] This [Week/Month], we're celebrating Pride, to support a workplace where everyone feels included and can bring as much of themselves to work as they like.

Did you know? 35% of LGBTQ+ staff have hidden or disguised this part of their identity at work in the last year because they were afraid of discrimination.

We want everyone at [company name] to feel they can be their authentic selves when they stop through our doors (both in person and virtual).

This is why we want to invite you to take part in our Pride initiative, from [X-Y] June, on [introduce if any platform] through [our Pride calendar].

How can you participate?

Take a look at our Pride calendar to find all of the events, fundraisers, and educational session that we'll be offering throughout the week. There are different activities each day - so we encourage you to take part in as many as you like that work for your schedule. As you'll see, all efforts will be going towards charities whose work focuses on supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

We look forward to coming together for this important cause.

Sincerely, [Name]

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You can also spread awareness on this topic by communicating how your company is taking action on external channels. Not only is this an opportunity to highlight your company's values, it also demonstrates how your involvement encourages other people to get involved as well!

Here is a template you can use for your social media: Happy Pride! In honor of the occasion, every day this week we're taking small actions focused around issues that the LGBTQ+ community faces in an effort to support people and nonprofits dedicated to this cause. #PrideMonth #Pride #LGBTQ+ #LoveWins #Equality #CSR #HR #EmployeeEngagement #EmployeePurpose

Here's another template you can use when your employees are already engaged in Pride activities: We’re on day X of our Pride celebration - and so far we have: Completed a challenge [name of challenge] Welcomed an expert speaker to discuss LGBTQ+ rights Fundraised X with our colleagues for X charity Thank you to everyone who has taken part so far; we look forward to what the rest of the week holds in store! #PrideMonth #Pride #LGBTQ+ #LoveWins #Equality #CSR #HR #EmployeeEngagement #EmployeePurpose [Add picture of employees engaging with the initiative]

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Track your impact Once the campaign has finished, it doesn’t end there! It's important to share the results of the campaign with your stakeholders and fellow employees. Not only will you be able to analyze the data to show the hard work you've put into your campaign - but you'll also be able to demonstrate the impact you've had.

And ideally compare the results to past and future campaigns.

Here are some ways you can keep track of your campaign: Track how many people participated in your events.

Measure how much money was raised.

Do a feedback survey right after the campaign and another a couple of weeks later to see if the program resonated with them and if they are still following some of the practices they learned.

Ask a number of employees to explain their story or experience so that you can share this with the team.

Pro tip: When sharing data and impact, tell a story and do your best to make it visual. The more compelling your reporting is, the more they'll want to show up for the cause next year!

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By tracking your impact, you’ll be able to share real, tangible results of your campaign. For example:

64%

of employees participated in the campaign

20%

of employees had this as the first time engaging in a campaign

With this kind of information, you can fully understand if your campaign resonates with your teams and aligns with the values and interests of each employee.

Of course, we're well aware of the challenges that come with tracking these metrics manually. Who needs another spreadsheet full of incoherent data?

Automated reporting can make it easy to track your campaign engagement over time so that you always have the information you need when you need it.

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How to get started There are plenty of opportunities to activate and engage your employees during the month of Pride and it can be a great jumping off point for your organization to start engaging employees in important causes like this on a regular basis. All it takes is some ideas (which you’ve got here!) and a little planning.

Want to make sure you are prepared in advance for international days like Pride? The earlier you start the better to get as much buzz and participation within the company. That's why we put together this calendar with some key international days throughout the year. Choose which ones link to your company’s purpose/interests and plan ahead!

Partner with a CSR platform Finally, having a partner like Alaya by Benevity can help you to manage these campaigns.

A CSR platform like this helps you to: Track how many people participate and contribute to the campaign to build your case for future campaigns and measure your impact.

Give your employees a choice of different nonprofits they could support around the cause on a single platform.

Connect all employees on one user-friendly dashboard which offers habit-forming Challenges and a space to celebrate their colleagues' efforts.

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Have questions?

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Benevity, a certified B Corporation, is a leader in global corporate purpose software, providing the only integrated suite of community investment and employee, customer and nonprofit engagement solutions. A finalist in Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards, Benevity’s cloud solutions power purpose for many iconic brands in ways that better attract, retain and engage today’s diverse workforce, embed social action into their customer experiences and positively impact their communities. With software that is available in 22 languages, Benevity has processed nearly $8 billion in donations and 43 million hours of volunteering time to support 326,000 nonprofits worldwide. The company’s solutions also facilitated 530,000 positive actions and awarded 1.2 million grants worth $12 billion. For more information, visit benevity.com.