Businesses
National Tree Day is one of the few simple ways for people to get involved in positive environmental and community based activities. It can be a great team building event for staff and is a genuine community based event with local tree planting sites organised by over 2000 schools, business and approximately 75 different community groups such as Lions and Rotary, local bushcare and environmental groups, councils, tertiary institutions, Scouts and Guides, and religious groups.
Each year we see thousands of committed groups and individuals returning to participate in Tree Day - a testament to the genuine appeal of the day. It acts as an entry point for greater community involvement and environmental awareness.
Seven ways for businesses to get involved
1. Donate goods or services to our National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day sites
Donations of plants, gardening equipment, mulch ... the list goes on. List your offer of assistance or respond to a request from a Tree Day site coordinator. Click here to visit our Offers of Help section.
2. Donate to National Tree Day
Make a donation to Planet Ark's National Tree Day by clicking here. All donations over $500 are recognised on our Business Honour Roll and with a certificate for you to display.
3. Volunteer at a Local Tree Day Site
- You can simply find a site within easy reach of each of your offices by searching for a site via the Find a Site search. Or speak to our Planet Ark staff on 1300 88 5000.
- Staff can then be encouraged to attend that site as volunteers.
- This could be backed up by collecting donations from staff to help cover some of the costs of organising a site.
- Talk to the Site Coordinator about numbers and offer a contribution.
4. Adopt a Local Tree Day Site
- Find a Site and discuss with the Site Coordinator how you can best assist with some or all aspects of preparing, planting and maintaining a Tree Day Site. Our information centre staff may be able to assist matching you up with a site. They can be contacted on 1300 88 5000.
- Designate a person to coordinate staff involvement.
- List of jobs to be done/ resources to find from Site Coordinator.
- Roster staff to site-care on dates throughout the year.
- Set a financial target to meet for site support.
- Media plan - information board on-site, local press coverage etc.
- Photo album of progress over time - maybe on your website or intranet.
5. Run your own Tree Day Site
- This involves finding a Site Coordinator as well as a site. Once you have a Site Coordinator, it's simply a management process for them to ensure that all the different activities and community involvements are happening - there is a full guide available from our Organising a Site page.
- It could be a great training opportunity for staff who are ready to move into more managerial positions with the company and could even include mentoring from more senior staff members. Seconding junior employees into project management positions with a community organisation can be a great educational process and give them a chance to really shine.
- Corporate Training - Running a Tree Day site is a logistical puzzle. Use this as a real problem-solving exercise! Or why not have two teams each running a site and have corporate trainers to analyse performance and judge results?
6. Become a National Tree Day Sponsor
For sponsorship opportunities please contact Planet Ark's National Tree Day Manager on 02 8484 7200 to discuss available options.
7. A Custom Designed Day
Sometimes companies prefer to have a tree planting event just for them. It might be a team building exercise, or perhaps a social occasion. For these situations it is best to speak directly to our information centre as there will be a cost involved. For groups of under 30 people, we recommend you contact our partner organisations directly regarding site availability. These include:
Information you need to know
A word about cost
National Tree Day could not run without the help of volunteers. Each year we see committed Site Coordinators from local schools, landcare and bushcare groups volunteer to run a site. This makes a significant contribution in reducing the costs of the day. All of these groups need ongoing funds and assistance to continue their work. We have identified that for a group of around 20 people attending a tree planting and clearing site (with catering) there would normally be an associated cost of around $150 per person.
We recommend to businesses and corporate groups wanting to be involved in Tree Day that they consider donating to these groups, either as a monetary donation or in-kind.
