Amid the COVID-19 crisis and everyone being impacted, many businesses across the globe have taken a closer look at their corporate philanthropy efforts.

In a majority of cases, these companies have expanded their programs, especially their policies surrounding matching gifts.

Through these philanthropic programs, corporations agree to financially match the donations their employees make to eligible nonprofit organizations. Because of this, philanthropic corporations are able to give back to their communities, specifically to the charitable organizations their employees care about.

While it’s true that some companies are pausing or narrowing their program benefits, many more companies have instituted new programs or broadened their existing programs in response to the pandemic. These changes include:

• COVID-19-specific matches
• Higher maximum match limits
• Higher match ratios (e.g., 2:1 versus 1:1)

One of the most prominent reasons for these expansions is so companies can better support the outpouring of giving from donors during these challenging times.

To give you a better idea of these positive changes, we’ve compiled a few of the companies that have expanded their matching gift programs over the past year in response to the global pandemic.

We’re in the middle of updating our matching gift database for these companies, but if you have additional information on these programs or any other company changing their matching gift program in response to COVID-19, feel free to let us know by emailing us at data@doublethedonation.com.

As we walk through each one’s philanthropic efforts, we can explore the various ways in which individuals, charitable organizations, and corporations work toward a greater social good.

AbbVie

AbbVie, a company dedicated to pharmaceutical research and development, has announced a significant increase in their charitable giving programs. The AbbVie Foundation is currently working to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 crisis as best as possible. To help, they have doubled their match agreement with eligible employees— now offering to match donations at a 2:1 ratio.

Apple

The widely-known technology company Apple has increased their matching gift donations to a 2:1 ratio, and committed donations have already surpassed $15 million. These funds are going to support COVID-19 response efforts on a local, national, and global scale.

AutoDesk

AutoDesk, an engineering software company based out of California, has increased the match ratio from 1:1 to 2:1— while also raising the maximum match offered per employee. The AutoDesk company is encouraging willing and able employees to help out in any way they can, while doing their part as well.

Blackbaud

Blackbaud, a cloud computing software provider, has increased its matching gift limit by up to 30%, which is the second time they’ve upped the maximum since January. Additionally, Blackbaud employees are known for consistently high levels of participation in their matching gift programs— more than twice the national average.

Caterpillar

Caterpillar construction machinery partakes in corporate philanthropy through the Caterpillar Foundation— a group dedicated to improving lives around the world with basic infrastructure services. Caterpillar employees and retirees are currently eligible for increased gift matches from a 1:1 to 2:1 match ratio to make an even bigger impact.

Facebook

Facebook is currently offering a unique take on a matching gift program. Not only are employees and retirees eligible for a donation match, but the general public can take advantage as well. They’ve committed to matching $20 million in charitable gifts to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and the CDC Foundation.

General Mills

General Mills’ food company is encouraging employees to participate in their matching gift program by increasing both the match ratio and the match limit. With a match ratio of 2:1 and a maximum of $1,500 rather than $1,000, General Mills’ employee donations can make over 4 times a larger impact.

Google

Google is upping its matching gift program as well. Google has introduced a significantly higher cap where the company will match up to $20,000 per employee for an even greater impact.

 

Honda

Honda Motor Company is increasing its individual gift limit to $1,000 in order to better support relief aid and local food programs. This matching gift revenue is in addition to Honda’s $1,000,000 pledge to address food insecurity across the globe.

KLA

KLA Foundation, a semiconductor manufacturing company, has shown one of the largest increases in corporate matching gifts— from $500 to $10,000 per employee. The KLA team is looking to amplify employee giving efforts and make the biggest difference they can.

Micron

Micron Technology is working to provide relief to those affected by the COVID-19 crisis by increasing their matches to a 2:1 ratio for all related donations by company employees. These generous donations are run through Micron Gives, their charitable giving program that has also pledged over $35 million for coronavirus aid.

Microsoft

Microsoft is offering an initial $1 million donation to a coronavirus relief fund, with additional funding offered through employee matching gift programs. They are encouraging Microsoft employees to give any way they can by contributing to organizations providing food and medical supplies to those in need.

Moody’s

Moody’s is looking to provide relief both in monetary grants through matching gifts as well as a growing virtual employee volunteer program through pro-bono service projects. Moody’s is also offering additional grants for small businesses and educational institutes that have been impacted by the pandemic.

NetApp

NetApp has recently implemented an employee matching gift program, offering dollar-for-dollar matches on gifts up to $500 to COVID-19 response organizations on a global scale. The NetApp team is working to sponsor worldwide solutions including vaccine research, tests, and treatment.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc. has recently upped its matching gifts program from a dollar-per-dollar approach to a 2:1 match ratio for double the impact. The PepsiCo company is encouraging employees to do what they can to promote COVID-19 relief and response efforts, while they do their own part as well.

Tapestry

Tapestry, Inc. is currently offering a 2:1 match on donations up to $10,000 made to eligible, COVID-19 related missions. Tapestry employees and employers alike are working to fight coronavirus and its social and financial impacts to make a larger impact than one could individually.

Twilio

Twilio has increased its matching gift ratio to 2:1 in order to promote charitable giving by employees. The company is giving to nonprofit organizations focused on COVID-19 relief, including the CDC Foundation, Global Relief International, Give2Asia, and International Medical Corps. In addition, Twilio has boosted volunteer efforts through virtual mentorships and other online programs.

UnitedHealth

UnitedHealth Group is matching employee donations dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 to support the coronavirus response efforts of community and global partners. Dedicated and generous employees are looking to support those in need during these trying times, and UnitedHealth is boosting those efforts.

VMware

VMware has currently doubled its matching gift limit for the year, bringing the maximum contributions matched over $6,000 per employee. This way, each VMware employee is able to make a larger impact on their community and help others that have been significantly affected.

 

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Thousands of businesses already have established corporate giving programs, while others are rolling out new policies every day. Whether they choose to make an impact by expanding an existing matching gifts program, or by introducing a new program altogether, these boosted levels of corporate social responsibility are sure to provide some sort of relief in these trying times.

 

In the 1800s, corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the United States started with giving. In the 1950s, the term “corporate social responsibility” was coined and stuck. In the ’90s, CSR started to become an expected function of large corporations. Giving was the inception of modern CSR and has been a constant companion throughout the history of corporate responsibility. As CSR has evolved, as society has changed and societal expectations have shifted, so too has the role of giving at corporations.

At Realized Worth, our priority is the employee citizenship experience, and giving is certainly a key part of that experience. But we find that engaging employees in giving is often approached only by looking at the mechanisms for engagement, and not necessarily the “why” behind those mechanisms. Without understanding the global social implications that affect giving programs, companies can’t fully understand which levers to pull to effectively engage employees in giving – or whether those levers are really working.

Let’s look first at some of the mechanisms being used to engage employees, followed by a deep dive into what drives employee behavior around these mechanisms.

Mechanisms to Engage Employees in Giving

In the past five to seven years, we’ve seen a huge shift in how companies support and encourage employee giving. Historically, giving programs tended to take the form of the annual (and still widely available) payroll deduction campaigns. Some companies still offer this as the primary way for employees to give to their communities and the causes they care about.

In terms of CSR programming, companies who are at a lower level of program maturity tend to have less diverse program offerings for employee giving. Companies with a higher level of maturity in CSR programming offer payroll giving alongside a range of options for employees, including offerings like:

• Matching gifts
• Dollars for Doers
• International giving
• Disaster relief campaigns

While payroll deduction programs are a great place to start, offering employees a variety of options to give and flexibility as to how they give to their communities is more likely to increase engagement in social responsibility. America’s Charities found that employees are five times more likely to participate in workplace giving when they have the opportunity to choose not only which charity they donate to, but also in what capacity.

Offerings like matching gifts, opportunities to give internationally, to volunteer and receive funds for donation, and the opportunity to support during intense times of need due to disaster are all useful incentives.

You can find some examples of unique employee giving programs here.

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Along with diverse and unique employee giving program offerings, companies can galvanize employee focus and action by accurately defining and communicating priority focus areas and strategic programs. Priority focus areas define causes or issues companies prioritize for investment, whereas strategic programs are the “how” of that investment.

In its 2019 Giving in Numbers report, CECP defines a strategic program as “the signature program area for which companies measure outcomes and/or impacts of their grants and that takes up the most time, money and management resources.” (p. 14). The report also looks at whether companies are being consistent when it comes to investing in causes they report as part of their focus areas.

This is important data, as it comes back to credibility, trust, brand strength, and transparency. In short, it analyzes whether companies are putting money where they say they are. And this matters enormously to employees in terms of engaging with social investment programming.

“In 2018, 42% of companies reported that the program area with the highest allocation of total giving also corresponded to the program area associated with their strategic program and also matched to the program area associated with their top-priority focus area.” (CECP Giving in Numbers: 2019 Edition, p. 14).

If your company is looking to more deeply engage employees in giving, take a hard look at the following:

• Does your company have priority focus areas?
• Does your company have strategic programs to support these focus areas?
• What do you hope to achieve with your strategic programs?
  • Broader participation? Participation of specific groups of employees?
  • Center it around an important date or holiday (e.g. MLK Day).
  • Recognition: How do we recognize employees who contribute?
• If your company has both priority focus areas and strategic programs to support it, are you investing a higher proportion of your giving dollars into strategic programs that support your focus areas?
• Are you communicating clearly and regularly to employees what your focus areas and strategic programs are? What are you doing to make giving easy for employees?
• Are you measuring the outcomes and/or impacts of your strategic programs effectively, and telling that story internally and externally?

Defining Your Approach to Corporate Giving

This brings us to the underlying questions that should be fueling your company’s approach to employee giving. If you have a priority focus area or a signature cause, if you have strategic programs to engage employees in giving – there are some additional questions you need to be asking:

• Are you looking at what’s happening in society both globally and in the places where your employees live and work?
• What are the gaps – what is the most overwhelming need or needs? Which of these needs align best with your business?
• What are the risks of tackling this identified gap through your company’s cause focuses and strategic programs? Will your approach create controversy? Do you welcome controversy? Why do you welcome controversy? How will you deal with it?
• What are the opportunities of addressing this identified gap? What do you hope to achieve? How will this support business objectives such as employee engagement and happiness, talent attraction and retention, business development, brand awareness and loyalty, sustainability?
• What do your employees care about most? Are you asking them what they see as the most pressing social needs your business should be investing in? Do they feel like you truly care? How do you know? While you should not necessarily choose focus areas based on employee desires, you should be able to demonstrate that you’ve listened and that you care. We’ve seen some employee activism play out in 2019 that acts as a lesson learned when it comes to listening to your employees and their values – such as Wayfair and Amazon.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

These questions and this approach to designing high-impact employee giving programs that engage employees are some key starting points. We live in a globalized world where information is currency, where transparency and truth are constantly being questioned, and where corporations – and their employees – are being held accountable by a global audience.

This year, CECP looked at something they’ve identified as “Total Social Investment” or TSI, which represents the “S” in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) (CECP Giving in Numbers: 2019 Edition, p.10). They found that companies where Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Human Rights were managed within the same department that manages overall contributions had higher median total giving than at companies where this was not the case.

The point here is perspective: CECP has started looking at TSI to determine what “good beyond giving” looks like for large companies. Giving will likely always be part of a company’s corporate social responsibility approach, but it can’t exist in a vacuum. The future of CSR is about integration – a holistic approach. And not just within the company, but without. This means paying attention to the most pressing societal needs and being bold enough to claim ethical responsibility for making the world a better place as much as one company can.

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This guest post was contributed by Realized Worth.

Author: Kelly Lynch

Kelly is a Lead Content Strategist and Subject Matter Expert at Realized Worth. She oversees Realized Worth’s internal and external brand and content delivery. Her background is in corporate communications, community relations and volunteer management and she specializes in employee citizenship program strategy and management.