Navigating Corporate Philanthropy
A Nonprofit Playbook
CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY DEFINITION
The act of a corporation or business promoting the welfare of others, generally through charitable donations of funds or time
Navigating Corporate Philanthropy
A Nonprofit Playbook
Navigating Corporate Philanthropy | A Nonprofit Playbook
Positive Work Environment
Bringing employees together to participate in philanthropy encourages a company’s workforce to see themselves as part of a greater community. This togetherness results in a more positive work environment, growing employee engagement, and enhanced productivity, and can ultimately lead to increased retention among staff.
Enhanced Public Image
Supporting various nonprofit causes enables corporations to publicly show how invested they are in their communities’ betterment. They typically communicate these initiatives through press releases, social media, and word of mouth!
Strengthened Consumer Relations
Consumers want to buy from companies that are doing good in the world. Especially those that support causes they care about! When companies give generously through corporate philanthropy programs, they give their customers a reason to grow their brand loyalty.
Takeaway: Employees want to work for companies that support the causes they care about, and consumers want to purchase goods and services from philanthropically engaged companies. Businesses see benefits from being great corporate citizens. Nonprofits receive additional funding and other resources. Everyone wins!
What is corporate philanthropy?
Corporate philanthropy refers to the various ways businesses can give back to their communities. Most often, this involves making financial donations to nonprofits, but it can also include setting up employee volunteer days, creating sponsorship funds, or offering their goods and services at a reduced cost for nonprofits.
How can corporate philanthropy benefit nonprofits?
Corporate philanthropy can play a significant role in a nonprofit’s overall fundraising endeavors, providing organizations with much-needed support to power their mission programming and other essential activities.
Last year, corporations in the United States donated more than $21 billion to nonprofit organizations, including educational institutions, health and human services organizations, and many more. But there are more resources available through these programs that continue to go unclaimed. An estimated $4 to $7 billion in matching gift funds alone are left on the table each year!
While monetary contributions make up a significant portion of corporate philanthropy efforts, other methods of giving include employee volunteerism, in-kind donations, pro bono work, and beyond. The bottom line is this: each type of philanthropy empowers nonprofits to better pursue their missions and visions.
How can corporate philanthropy benefit businesses?
Corporate philanthropy is an essential business function (and a key form of corporate social responsibility) that empowers companies to support the communities they serve. And while altruism can certainly be a motivating factor, it’s not all about giving. In fact, corporations that partake in philanthropy typically receive significant and widespread benefits in return.
In today’s socially responsible corporate landscape, consumers and employees alike are increasingly seeking charitable companies from which to shop and work. By offering generous philanthropy initiatives, companies can foster employee engagement, attract new and competitive job candidates, improve their brand reputation, and generate substantial business value.
How can corporate philanthropy benefit employees?
A company participating in corporate philanthropy can benefit its employees in several ways. These advantages generally encompass personal and professional development, overall well-being, job satisfaction, and more.
Employees often find a sense of fulfillment and purpose when their company is engaged in philanthropic activities. Knowing that their work contributes to positive social impact can boost job satisfaction and strengthen their engagement with their employer.
This is especially true when a company offers workplace giving programs through which its staff are encouraged to actively participate in giving back to the community. Employees who do so may experience increased well-being and a sense of fulfillment outside of their day-to-day work responsibilities as well! In fact, studies show that 71% of employees say it’s very important to work at a philanthropic company, while 96% of employees who partake in corporate volunteerism report a positive company culture.
How does corporate philanthropy compare to corporate social responsibility?
At a first glance, corporate philanthropy and corproate social responsibility may seem pretty similar. However, corporate social responsibility (or CSR) describes the overall attitude of a company toward society at large.
This includes a wide range of factors, such as environmental sustainability, accountability in business dealings, ethical labor practices, and more.
Conversley, corporate philanthropy is a narrower form of social responsibility (which does fall under the CSR umbrella as well) and encompasses the specific acts a company takes to promote social good. Corporate philanthropy is largely facilitated through contributions of a company’s time, funds, or resources to charitable causes.
When a company participates in corporate philanthropy, it also enhances its overall CSR. However, not all CSR initiatives directly benefit nonprofits.
How does corporate philanthropy compare to workplace giving?
Like how corporate philanthropy falls under the broader concept of CSR, workplace giving describes specific types of programs that fall under the corporate philanthropy umbrella.
Corporate philanthropy encompasses any charitable donations to nonprofit causes. This includes direct financial contributions, in-kind gifts, event sponsorships, and, of course, workplace giving programs.
On the other hand, workplace giving is a narrower subset of philanthropy that focuses on actively engaging employees in charitable activities. This often includes donation-matching, payroll deductions, and team volunteer initiatives. In workplace giving, individual team members play an integral role in directing their employers’ philanthropic endeavors.
Establishing workplace giving programs is one of the most effective ways to participate in corporate philanthropy.
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Types of Corporate Philanthropy
Matching Gifts
As the most popular form of corporate philanthropy, companies with matching gift programs donate the same amount of money (or double or triple this amount!) to the nonprofits that their employees do.
To secure such funds, all your nonprofit has to do is encourage match-eligible donors to complete a brief request process for their employer. Once the employing company reviews and approves the request, it pays out the associated match to your cause! This makes it an excellent way for nonprofits to dive into corporate philanthropy.
Common parameters set on such programs are employee eligibility (e.g., full-time, part-time, and/or retired employees), nonprofit eligibility (e.g., educational institutions, health and human services, environmental causes, etc.), match ratio (e.g., 1:1, 2:1…), maximum and minimum donations matched (e.g., gifts of $50-$2,000), and submission deadlines (e.g., requests must be completed within a year of the donation being made).
Organizations looking to maximize this funding source should be taking steps to simplify the experience for their donors. Specifically, automation can aid fundraisers in supplying company-specific program guidelines, eligibility criteria, and links to online forms! The less research the donor has to do themselves, the more likely they will ultimately complete the steps to secure their match.
Volunteer Grants
Volunteer grants (also known as Dollars for Doers programs) are second only to matching gifts in popularity. The programs have similar premises, too. But while matching gift programs supply generous corporate funds in response to employees contributing their own dollars to nonprofit causes, volunteer grants involve matching employees’ donated time with grant funding for the nonprofits with which they volunteer.
Volunteer grant programs can be structured in a few ways. Some companies organize their initiatives based on a predetermined hour-to-donation rate. For example, an employee at Company A might qualify to request a grant worth $25 for every hour they spend volunteering with your organization. If they volunteer for 100 hours, that’s a $2,500 check for your cause!
Meanwhile, other employers use broader thresholds, rather than an exact time to dollar ratio. That is, once employees have volunteered for a minimum predetermined amount of time (e.g., 20 hours), their employer will donate a set grant to that nonprofit (e.g., $500).
Regardless, effective volunteer time-tracking practices are essential if your team is seeking to make the most of these Dollars for Doers programs. Otherwise, you won’t have the information supporters need to complete their employers’ volunteer grant request processes!
Corporate Grants
Corporations provide grants to nonprofits for specific programs and projects. Usually, these grants award restricted funds, which must be spent on a set project. To apply for a grant, nonprofits submit a grant proposal that explains their case for support and qualifications. Then, the corporation awards funds to a selected nonprofit or disperses funds across multiple organizations.
However, some corporations offer grant opportunities that have an unlimited number of recipients. For example, the Google Ad Grant and Microsoft Ads for Social Impact programs will award funds to every organization that meets the criteria and successfully completes the application process.
Employee Grant Stipends
Some corporations will award grants to their employees, who can then donate the provided funds to the nonprofit of their choice. Stipends are given on top of a regular employee’s hourly wage or salary and are typically contributed on a regular basis (e.g., one grant stipend per employee per quarter).
These funds offer a great way for a company to craft an attractive benefits package, and employees love having the opportunity to give charitably without spending their own hard-earned dollars. Plus, the nonprofits that receive such grants can begin building donor relationships from there!
Volunteer Support Initiatives
Corporate philanthropy isn’t always about donating money. With volunteer support initiatives, companies partner with nonprofits to organize times when their employees volunteer. This can be especially useful when a company’s employees can offer a specialized skill set—such as pro bono accounting, legal, or marketing services!
Corporate Sponsorships
Another way that companies give financial support to nonprofits is through corporate sponsorships. Though the purpose can vary, a sponsorship is generally offered as a way to support large-scale events or other projects. The nonprofit will then recognize this support by acknowledging the business, thus providing the company with increased publicity and a sense of goodwill.
Scholarships
Scholarships from private organizations (including businesses and corporate foundations) have more than doubled over the past 20 years. Today, organizations such as the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation offer generous scholarships of up to $20,000. Corporations can invest in the next generation by offering financial support directly to students in need or by helping to fund other organizations’ scholarship programs.
In-Kind Donations
While corporate gifts are usually monetary in nature, businesses can also donate goods and services to help support nonprofits in more tangible ways. For example, a technology company might donate computers and monitors to a local school, or a marketing firm may encourage members of its team to work for the nonprofit at no cost.
Takeaway: There are corporate giving programs that encourage employee giving and help companies achieve their business goals. Explore the pros and cons of all the different forms of corporate philanthropy.
Corporate Giving & Philanthropy Statistics
Corporate Philanthropy Best Practices for Nonprofits
There are multiple ways nonprofits can raise more by taking advantage of corporate philanthropy. From building awareness to actively searching your donor database for supporters with corporate connections, try out these tips to raise more money for your organization:
1. Use a corporate philanthropy database.
Encourage your donors to search their eligibility for matching gifts using a corporate giving database. Once donors have completed their gift, they can search for their employer using a search tool embedded into your nonprofit’s website. If they’re eligible for a match, they’ll be connected with their company’s matching gift guidelines and the steps they need to follow to submit a match request.
2. Automate your match eligibility process.
Invest in a matching gift automation platform that collects employment information when donors give and automatically screens the data to determine each individual’s match eligibility. If their company offers a matching gift program, the platform will initiate outreach (complete with their employer’s submission forms and program guidelines), encouraging them to submit a match request.
Raise more for your cause through matching gifts and other corporate philanthropy initiatives, and save your team a ton of time and effort in doing so!
3. Streamline match requests with auto-submission.
Once donors determine their eligibility for corporate matching gift programs, they’ll typically need to follow an online request process for their employers. Your organization should take steps to streamline this experience for supporters as well! And one of the best ways to do so involves utilizing Double the Donation’s groundbreaking auto-submission functionality.
Whereas previously, donors were required to log into a separate portal and manually provide donation details, now qualifying individuals can submit their matches automatically right from your online giving page. This reduces critical roadblocks in donor participation and ultimately drives more matches to completion.
4. Encourage volunteers to match their hours.
Many volunteers at nonprofits don’t know that their companies offer volunteer grant programs. If you have a group of volunteers who regularly donate their time to your organization, encourage them to search their company name in your corporate philanthropy database! This way, they can determine whether their employer offers such a program and follow the provided guidelines and instructions to submit a grant application on your team’s behalf.
5. Arrange corporate volunteer days.
Work with corporations in your community to organize opportunities for groups of employees to volunteer. Not only will your nonprofit get assistance for ongoing projects, but the participating corporations can use volunteering as a team-building opportunity, potentially leading to repeat volunteer days.
6. Acquire event sponsorships.
If your nonprofit has connections to local businesses (or even large-scale corporations across the globe, thanks to digital engagement capabilities), consider petitioning them for an event sponsorship. Corporate sponsorships provide nonprofits with vital funds for large-scale fundraising and awareness events, and businesses can use them as opportunities to publicize their connection to a good cause like yours.
And your matching gifts platform can help identify your greatest potential partners and guide your strategy as you aim to build mutually beneficial sponsorship agreements!
Corporate Philanthropy Best Practices for Businesses
On the company side of corporate philanthropy, there are plenty of strategies businesses can implement to ensure their programs effectively engage employees and support their communities. Check out these corporate philanthropy best practices for businesses:
1. Create a comprehensive program.
When you’re developing your corporate philanthropy program, make sure it includes a variety of strategies and initiatives. For instance, you might include matching gifts, volunteer grants, and direct sponsorships for nonprofits. This way, you can provide employees with a number of different ways to get involved and ultimately maximize their engagement. Additionally, nonprofits will appreciate having multiple opportunities to gain your support.
2. Develop a clear program policy.
After you’ve determined which types of corporate philanthropy your program will include, create a program policy. This policy should include an overview of your program, eligibility criteria, a grant request procedure, and a program point of contact. It should be clear how both employees and nonprofits can get involved.
Implementing a thorough corporate philanthropy policy can preemptively answer questions and address concerns about your program. And it ensures that everyone can easily find the information they need!
3. Get your team on board.
Corporate philanthropy is a team effort. Make sure all team members know how important it is not only for your community but also for the business itself. Demonstrate how philanthropic initiatives benefit all stakeholders, including employees, customers, investors, and more.
Explain the connection between your business objectives and the benefits of proposed corporate philanthropy initiatives to your team, and you’ll make a compelling case for adopting a giving program.
4. Make participation exciting for employees.
The success of your corporate philanthropy program often relies on your employees. Merely informing your staff of the opportunity isn’t always enough to inspire action. Instead, make employees excited to participate by leaning into the social aspect of corporate philanthropy.
Volunteer opportunities in particular can bring together employees from different areas of the company and help them work on their team-building skills. In fact, 70% of employees think corporate volunteerism is a better morale booster than more traditional company-sponsored activities like happy hours.
Additionally, encourage participation by setting corporate giving goals and celebrating when your team reaches them. For example, you may aim to raise $10,000 in employee donations over the course of a month or log 1,000 volunteer hours per quarter. Once you reach your goal, host a team lunch or after-work celebration to commend your employees for a job well done.
5. Form meaningful nonprofit partnerships.
Corporate philanthropy benefits both parties involved. While nonprofits gain financial support, company sponsors get positive public recognition and other widespread benefits.
Partner with nonprofit organizations whose values align with your own to get the most out of your relationship. For example, a clothing company may work with a homeless shelter to ensure residents have warm clothing for the winter. You can also survey employees to find out which nonprofits they’re passionate about and forge partnerships with those organizations.
6. Promote your program.
Once you’ve developed your program, set up a meeting with your team. Review the program policy, the benefits, and how employees can get involved. Naturally, questions may arise, and it’s much easier to answer them during a dedicated meeting than relying on email. After notifying your employees, spread the word about your program to the greater community. Use a variety of methods, such as social media, your website, and email newsletter.
7. Evaluate and improve your program with data.
To evaluate your philanthropic activities’ success, you’ll need to track important metrics throughout the course of the program. Collect relevant data, such as how much money you’ve raised, how many volunteer hours your employees have tracked, and how many nonprofits you’ve assisted. For qualitative data, send surveys to your employees and nonprofit partners to solicit their feedback on your program. Then, take their suggestions into account to improve your philanthropic efforts.
Once you’ve collected this data, you can also feature it in your annual report to showcase the social good your company has done.
8. Use CSR software.
With so many moving parts in your corporate philanthropy program, organization is key. Investing in CSR software allows you to create a dedicated space for all philanthropy-related activities and communications. That way, it’s easier for employees to get involved, boosting employee engagement. Take a look at all of the program components CSR software can help you keep track of:
- Employee donations
- Automatic payroll deductions
- Matching gift requests
- Matching gift auto-submission*
- Volunteer hour logs
- Volunteer grant requests
- Volunteer opportunities
- Corporate philanthropy metrics
Once you’ve chosen the right CSR platform for your business, train your team on how to use it. You can also send a survey to employees to get their feedback on the software and adjust your corporate philanthropy approach as necessary.
*Matching gift auto-submission is available only through select CSR platforms that integrate with Double the Donation.
7 Companies Doing Philanthropy Right
In recent years, Google set a 5-year goal to give $1 billion in grants and offer 1 million employee volunteer hours. Plus, it matches up to $10,000 in employee donations per person per year!
To take their philanthropy further, the Google team also supplies nonprofits with free access to their paid advertising platform. Through the Google Ad Grant program, eligible organizations can receive $10,000 in free ad credits each month to promote their web content.
Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is big on philanthropy. A few of its largest charitable efforts involve the economic and entrepreneurial empowerment of women, youth education in local communities, and access to clean drinking water across the globe.
Additionally, the company offers a generous matching gift program as a way to involve its employees in its corporate philanthropy efforts. Within the program, Coca-Cola will match up to $20,000 per employee at a 2:1 ratio!
Boeing
Boeing gives more than $60 million in charitable grants to nonprofits across the globe each year. These are facilitated through the Employees Community Fund (or ECF), one of the largest employee-managed grantmaking committees in the world.
The company also matches its employees’ charitable donations. With a maximum of $10,000 and a match ratio of 1:1, Boeing encourages its workforce to give back generously. It also offers volunteer grants, contributing $100 for every 10 hours volunteered.
General Electric
General Electric (also known as GE) has established a robust corporate philanthropy program that reflects its commitment to driving positive change. The company plays a pivotal role in supporting communities around the world, including through its groundbreaking employee matching gift program.
The company’s commitment extends beyond financial contributions, too, as it actively encourages employee involvement in volunteerism and community service.
Danaher Corporation
Danaher Corporation is committed to making a positive impact through its corporate philanthropy initiatives. This includes matching gifts its full-time and part-time staff make to a range of organizations. But Danaher also organizes more targeted philanthropy efforts (such as a one-off matching gift program) in partnership with health and research organizations that reflect its own core mission.
All in all, employee involvement is a critical component of Danaher’s philanthropy, encouraging a consistent and ongoing culture of giving among its workforce.
Deloitte
Deloitte, the world’s largest accounting and professional services firm, is a leading participant in innovative corporate philanthropy. In fact, it was one of the first companies to adopt groundbreaking auto-submission functionality, thus ensuring its employees are able to give and get their gifts matched with ease.
Within the company’s matching gift program, full-time employees are eligible to request donation matches to their favorite causes up to $7,500 per year. And they can complete the submission request process directly from an organization’s giving page with auto-submission!
Soros Fund Management
Soros Fund Management is often recognized for its impactful philanthropy programs—including one of the world’s leading matching gift programs. With an extremely generous maximum threshold of $100,000 per employee per year, its staff are encouraged to give charitably in order to unlock a match.
Overall, the company supports a wide range of causes, including human rights, social justice, education, and more. Soros Fund Management also offers a standout volunteer grant program that incentivizes employee volunteerism!
| COMPANY | CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY INFO | LEARN MORE |
| $12,000 maximum donation match per employee | Google’s philanthropy program | |
| Coca-Cola Company | $20,000 maximum donation match per employee | Coca-Cola’s philanthropy program |
| Boeing | $10,000 maximum donation match per employee | Boeing’s philanthropy program |
| Walmart | $250 grant per 25 volunteer hours | Walmart’s philanthropy program |
| Apple | $25 grant per volunteer hour | Apple’s philanthropy program |
| Wells Fargo | $2,000 maximum donation match per employee | Wells Fargo’s philanthropy program |
| ExxonMobil | $500 grant per 20 volunteer hours | ExxonMobil’s philanthropy program |
| Chevron | $10,000 maximum donation match per employee | Chevron’s philanthropy program |
| Microsoft | $15,000 maximum donation match per employee | Microsoft’s philanthropy program |
| Bank of America | $5,000 maximum donation match per employee | Bank of America’s philanthropy program |
Corporate Philanthropy Database:
Learn More About Double the Donation
What Is Double the Donation?
Nonprofits can increase their revenue by promoting matching gifts and volunteer grant programs to their supporters. Through these programs, donors double their gifts, and volunteers make an even greater impact with their time. But in order to do so, constituents must be equipped with information regarding their employers’ programs!
Luckily, Double the Donation can help both nonprofits and their contributors take advantage of corporate philanthropy opportunities by providing easy access to program details.
In fact, our matching gift solution offers the #1 corporate philanthropy program database, with more than 24,000 company listings and over 8,500 organizations and their donors using the tool. When an organization subscribes to Double the Donation, its supporters can quickly determine whether they qualify for matching gifts, volunteer grants, and more.
Not to mention, our platform can actually move donors through the matching gift request submission process, from identifying match-eligible donors through email domain screening to sending automated reminder emails. Your staff saves time, and your donors get the guidance necessary to ensure they submit their matching gift requests promptly.
How the Database Works:
STEP 1:
Access the corporate giving database.
STEP 2:
Search for your employer.
STEP 3:
View the results.
Plus, Groundbreaking Auto-Submission Functionality: Now Out of Beta!
Taking our best-in-class corporate philanthropy database to the next level, Double the Donation now offers breakthrough auto-submission functionality as well. When qualifying donors give on their favorite organizations’ donation forms (powered by Double the Donation’s matching gift tool), they can bypass the traditional request process that typically follows—instead, completing a streamlined submission directly from their gift confirmation screen!
This allows users to submit their matches more easily than ever before, driving more supporters to take quick steps to double their impact. With no website redirects or portal logins required, it eradicates many longstanding roadblocks that often hinder donors from completing the process.
All it takes is a corporate email address (or another piece of identifying information) for an individual to click “submit” on their match. Double the Donation handles the rest, in partnership with companies’ CSR management platforms!
How Auto-Submission Works:
STEP 1:
A gift is made, and an employer is selected from an online donation form.
STEP 2:
The match request is submitted from the confirmation screen.
Final Thoughts & Additional Corporate Philanthropy Resources
Corporate philanthropy is an essential component of a sustainable and optimized fundraising strategy. By forging meaningful relationships with businesses in your community and beyond, your organization can unlock access to vital resources, expand its reach to encompass new audiences, and ultimately, make a greater difference for your mission.
Now’s the time to actively seek out opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration. Whether it’s through employee matching gift programs, event sponsorships, cause marketing campaigns, or volunteer engagement initiatives, there are countless ways to harness the power of corporate philanthropy for good.
And it’s the perfect opportunity to get started!
Looking for more corporate philanthropy resources to guide your strategy? Check out these recommended guides:
Corporate Matching Gift Programs
Employee matching gifts are one of the most popular forms of corporate philanthropy. Learn the basics and advanced strategies for making the most of the opportunity with our complete walkthrough here.
Corporate Volunteer Grant Programs
Many companies offer excellent volunteer grant programs that support the organizations with which their employees volunteer. Find out how you can make the most of these “Dollars for Doers” in this guide!
Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits
The Google Grant program empowers nonprofits to tap into corporate philanthropy and increase their digital presence. And it allows organizations to access thousands of dollars worth of advertising space for FREE!
