The best way to incentivize employees? According to Sportsman’s Guide, it’s simple: Fun!

Sportsman’s Guide doesn’t utilize traditional workplace giving campaigns—there are no payroll deductions. Instead, the company hosts a week of fun events designed to engage employees and get them excited about giving back to the community. All of the week’s fundraising goes directly to Community Health Charities.  This year’s week of activity included a raffle for parking garage spaces, candy grams, and vacation time donations, a product sample sale, an impact speaker from a charity partner, a silent auction, and the crowd favorite: a carnival.

This was the first year Sportsman’s Guide hosted a carnival for employees. The event was held during lunch breaks and featured all the traditional aspects of a carnival: a variety of games, a prize table, authentic Mexican and Salvadorian cuisine, cotton candy, popcorn, and most importantly—a dunk tank.

The carnival raised funds three ways: the purchase of tickets used for games and food, sales of an employee-created cookbook, and shots at the dunk tank.  Management volunteered to be dunked, resulting in the dunk tank alone raising nearly $700! Participants could either pay $5 for 3 balls or $20 to simply push the button and dunk their supervisors.

Giving back causes a serious impact, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun doing it!