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This article will review CSR statistics to help you supercharge your CSR approach.

16 CSR Statistics Nonprofits & Companies Should Know

October 23, 2024/in Learning Center, Corporate Consulting /by Adam Weinger

The top companies know that sales alone are no longer everything. Instead, employees, consumers, and investors want to know that businesses are committed to making the world a better place in their everyday operations. And that’s where these CSR statistics come in.

CSR (or corporate social responsibility) encompasses a company’s efforts to contribute to society, from corporate philanthropy to environmental advocacy and beyond. Since CSR refers to various programs and initiatives, however, it can be difficult to conceptualize its impact and how organizations should approach it.

Thus, to illustrate the multifaceted nature of corporate social responsibility, we’ve compiled a list of 16 helpful CSR statistics here. This data will show the necessity of adopting CSR and which methods nonprofits should use to maximize it.

Let’s dive in!

1. 93% of employees think companies should lead with purpose.

When employees come to work each day, they want to feel like they’re making a difference. Even if their jobs don’t directly affect those in need, employees take comfort in knowing that the companies they work for use their revenue and team time for good.

As a result, companies should make sure employees are up to date with any relevant CSR initiatives. Employers might consider sending monthly or quarterly updates about steps the business is taking to make the world a better place, with teams taking pride in knowing their employers are committed to improving the local community.

For nonprofits, this ultimately means more employees working for philanthropic-focused businesses⁠—and more opportunities for corporate giving!

2. 71% of employees think it’s important to work at a company that gives back through philanthropy and volunteering.

Employees want to get involved in their companies’ CSR efforts. Fortunately, the two easiest ways for them to do so are corporate giving and volunteering.

When a company starts a corporate giving program, it shows employees that the business cares about their interests⁠—and wants to work together to give back to the causes they’re passionate about.

There are a variety of elements these corporate giving programs may include, such as:

Matching gifts. Companies match employee donations to their nonprofit of choice, typically at a 1:1 ratio.
Volunteer grants. Companies contribute to nonprofits based on the number of hours their employees volunteer.
Fundraising matches. Companies apply funds to match revenue individual employees raise for walkathons, runs, or other events.
Community grants. Nonprofits apply for grants offered by companies in areas such as disaster relief.
Annual giving campaigns. Companies run specific fundraising campaigns during the end of the year or dedicated giving days.
Automatic payroll deductions. Employees easily donate to their favorite causes on a regular basis, straight from their paychecks.
Annual grant stipends. Companies distribute a predetermined amount of money to employees each year for them to donate to their nonprofits of choice.
Internal employee fundraising. Nonprofits and companies rely on their team members to raise money for worthy causes.
Scholarships. Businesses may help students pay for tuition, living expenses, food, and other associated costs.
Sponsorships. For nonprofits hosting events, corporate sponsorships can be very helpful in securing necessary funding. Additionally, nonprofits promote and thank their corporate sponsors, allowing businesses to gain positive publicity.

In terms of volunteering, employers should encourage employees to participate by developing a formal corporate volunteer program. This can involve reaching out to nonprofits to line up volunteer opportunities or surveying employees to find out which organizations they already volunteer with.

3. The top 10 corporations alone donate $2 billion annually to nonprofits.

The next of our CSR statistics quantifies the substantial impact social responsibility has on charitable organizations. Ultimately, your company’s CSR initiatives can provide much-needed revenue to nonprofits, which can use those funds to better assist their beneficiaries.

Companies interested in giving back are encouraged to locate nonprofit partners that align with the company’s core values and mission. For example, companies that sell food products may partner with an organization that fights hunger. That way, the business’s CSR efforts will be more meaningful and authentic to its core values.

4. 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs while 40% offer volunteer grant programs.

The two most popular forms of corporate giving are matching gifts and volunteer grants. Matching gifts occur when an employee contributes to a nonprofit, and their employer matches that donation. While most companies match employee donations at a 1:1 ratio, others match at a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio⁠.

As a result, matching gifts have the potential to double—or even triple—a nonprofit’s donation revenue. With this type of corporate giving, you incentivize supporters to give back to their favorite causes and help worthy nonprofits like yours earn more along the way.

Volunteer grants, meanwhile, are like matching gifts with a twist. Instead of matching donations, companies contribute to nonprofits based on the number of hours their employees volunteer. Companies can have a massive positive impact on their nonprofit partners by offering them additional funds and corporate volunteers.

It’s important to note that the companies with the most successful matching gift and volunteer grant programs (including many of the Fortune 500) use corporate giving software. This type of platform allows businesses to manage components of their corporate giving programs, including:

Employee donations
Automatic payroll deductions
Matching gift requests
Volunteer hour logs
Volunteer grant requests
Team volunteer opportunities
Company corporate giving metrics

With all of their corporate giving information in one central location, companies can more easily communicate with their employees about their philanthropy programs and ensure donation request forms are completed in a timely manner.

5. 65% of companies provide paid volunteer time off for employees.

This statistic highlights the growing popularity of Volunteer Time Off (or VTO) programs in the corporate world. All in all, VTO allows employees to take paid time off during working hours to volunteer for causes they care about, combining the professional and philanthropic spheres. The fact that nearly two-thirds of companies offer this benefit shows the increasing importance businesses place on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee engagement.

For nonprofits, this is an opportunity to partner with companies and tap into a ready and enthusiastic volunteer base. It also signals a shift in corporate culture, where giving back to the community is seen as an essential business practice rather than a secondary initiative.

6. VTO companies offer their employees an average of 20 hours per year.

On average, companies with VTO programs allocate between 8 and 40 hours annually for each employee to engage in volunteer activities⁠—with the mean number landing at 20 hours each year. This represents a meaningful commitment, providing employees with sufficient time to make a significant impact without compromising their professional responsibilities.

For employees, these 20 hours can foster personal fulfillment and skill development. For companies, this level of support enhances employee satisfaction and retention, as individuals feel their workplace values their personal interests and community contributions. Meanwhile, nonprofits benefit by engaging highly motivated volunteers during this time, helping them achieve their missions more effectively.

7. 78% of donors are unaware if their company offers a matching gift program.

It’s difficult to make a large impact with a matching gift program if a company’s employees don’t know about it. That’s why it’s so important for businesses to include matching gift guidelines in their corporate giving policy and promote matching gift opportunities to their teams.

On the other hand, even knowing that a company’s matching gift policy exists doesn’t guarantee that supporters will participate. In fact, 16% of donors know their company offers matching gifts, but they’re not sure if they’re eligible or how to submit a request.

As a result, many nonprofits embed corporate giving database tools within their donation pages that allow donors to search for their employer, determine their eligibility, and submit a matching gift or volunteer grant request.

Typical nonprofit corporate giving software enables donors to fill out their information and send matching gift and volunteer grant requests to their employers. With auto-submission through 360MatchPro, the process is even easier. All employees have to do is input their corporate email address, and the platform will send their employer the appropriate request on their behalf.

This approach ensures that more donors send matching gift and volunteer grant requests, increasing corporate giving participation and employee engagement.

8. 96% of companies find that employees who volunteer are more engaged than their coworkers who don’t.

Corporate volunteer programs give employees a hands-on opportunity to get involved in CSR. Thus, in addition to benefiting those in need, volunteering can also improve employee engagement for companies.

When a business organizes volunteer shifts for its employees, you give them the opportunity to build valuable teamwork skills. Additionally, employees who work for companies that provide volunteer grants and other volunteer programs feel more empowered by their employer to make a difference.

After all, employees feel increasingly invested in companies when they can directly contribute to their social good efforts, leading to higher engagement in the workplace.

9. 88% of Millennials find their jobs more fulfilling when their employers provide CSR opportunities.

With Millennials making up 39.4% of the workforce, it’s important to tailor your company culture to this large segment of working professionals. And an overwhelming majority of Millennials believe CSR opportunities enhance their roles.

For many corporate employees, their job descriptions don’t necessarily include helping communities in a direct way, but most people feel best about themselves when they’re making a positive impact on others. CSR opportunities help close this gap.

Employees who give to their favorite causes or volunteer with nonprofits through their companies’ corporate giving programs feel a greater connection to the business. In other words, CSR makes jobs more than just jobs. These types of initiatives empower people to work with their employers for the betterment of society.

10. 55% of employees would take a lower salary to work for a socially responsible company.

Many individuals feel so passionate about CSR that they would rather work for a socially responsible business with a lower salary than make a larger salary at a company that doesn’t prioritize CSR. And this data shows that companies in the midst of recruiting and hiring can entice applicants with their CSR initiatives.

While employees certainly want to (and should) be paid in accordance with their skills and experience, there’s a growing sentiment that job fulfillment is sometimes more important than salary. As evidenced by the two previous CSR statistics, CSR programs enhance the employee experience and make people feel connected to their workplace. It’s a win-win!

Therefore, companies that want to attract purpose-driven applicants should take the time to develop comprehensive CSR programs. That way, they can demonstrate their commitment to social good and encourage prospective employees to join in.

11. 89% of corporate executives think employees are more satisfied when their company has a strong sense of purpose.

Not only do employees report that they prefer companies with a social conscience, but corporate executives also notice a difference in employee attitudes when companies are driven by CSR. Leadership teams recognize that corporate social responsibility gives employees something to work toward in addition to their career goals and aspirations.

When employees feel satisfied in their roles, they’re more likely to put their best foot forward in the workplace. As a result, employees will be more productive and invested in their work, resulting in better outcomes for business objectives.

12. 58% of companies say workplace giving programs are important in retaining employees.

One of the biggest challenges of running a business is retaining employees. Over the long run, it’s much more cost-effective to retain employees than hire new ones. Not to mention, keeping the same employees around allows you to leverage their expertise and knowledge of the company to drive your goals forward.

Since workplace giving programs make employees feel more fulfilled and engaged at work, they also help ensure employees stay with their current employers. As a result, employees who participate in corporate giving have 75% longer tenures in the workplace.

13. 77% of consumers want to purchase from companies with CSR initiatives.

Employees aren’t the only ones invested in companies’ CSR programs, either. Social responsibility is becoming increasingly important to consumers, too⁠—so much so that it’s influencing their purchasing decisions.

This statistic indicates the positive financial impact of adopting CSR practices on a company’s bottom line. To ensure customers know about the work a business does to better society, the company will want to advertise its CSR programs well.

Here are some examples of how they can do so:

Posting pictures of corporate volunteers on social media
Spotlighting how much a company donates to different causes each year on product packaging
Updating customers on current CSR projects through newsletters or other communications

While CSR may (or may not) directly influence sales, it can reveal a company’s core values to consumers who feel inclined to support charitable businesses. And it unlocks opportunities for corporate partnerships, too!

14. 73% of investors look to invest in companies that improve the environment and society as a whole.

Investors have the potential to skyrocket a company to success. These days, investors are not only looking for companies with high profitability but also those that are making a positive impact on the world around them.

Implementing and reporting on CSR efforts can increase the likelihood that purpose-driven investors support a business. For companies looking for investors, try researching potential investors ahead of time⁠—and include information about your CSR programs in your pitches. This is especially true for investors who have previously demonstrated interest in CSR!

15. 96% of G250 companies report on their sustainability efforts.

In its Survey of Sustainability Reporting, KPMG explains that the G250 list comprises the world’s 250 largest companies by revenue. Considering that nearly all of them report on their sustainability efforts, it’s suggested that other businesses do the same.

Reporting on a company’s CSR efforts, such as sustainability or philanthropy, increases transparency with stakeholders, including employees, consumers, and investors. And nonprofits can help by providing their corporate partners with detailed impact reporting data, too!

When a company compiles its annual report, it may notice gaps in its CSR strategy that can be addressed with the team. That way, the business can ensure its strategy is comprehensive and represents the company’s commitment to its values and CSR interests.

16. 94% of major US corporations plan to increase or maintain their corporate giving over the next few years.

CSR is not slowing down anytime soon. In fact, the majority of companies are growing their corporate giving programs to support even more causes and communities in the near future.

This data point indicates that CSR is not just a trend. It’s now a given for companies that want to stay relevant and positively perceived in the eyes of all stakeholders, and businesses should be following suit with their investments and resources.

Wrapping Up & Additional Resources

Whether you’re a nonprofit seeking corporate sponsorship or a company looking to amplify your social responsibility efforts, these CSR statistics should serve as a powerful reminder that impactful giving starts with intentional strategy.

After all, understanding and leveraging CSR statistics is vital for both nonprofits and companies aiming to make a meaningful impact. For nonprofits, these data points highlight the importance of aligning with corporate partners that value social responsibility. Meanwhile, for companies, they underscore the benefits of integrating CSR initiatives into their business strategies.

From boosting employee engagement to strengthening brand loyalty and increasing social impact, CSR is a win-win for all.

We hope these CSR statistics helped you better understand the trends and impact of social responsibility in nonprofit fundraising. For more information, check out the resources below:

Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics [Updated 2024]. Want to learn more about the ins and outs of corporate giving and matching gifts, two important components of CSR? Check out our list of relevant facts and figures here.
Become an Expert: Access The Ultimate Guide to Matching Gifts. Get our complete guide to corporate matching gift programs! Learn the ins and outs of the matching gift experience, best practices for raising more, and tools to streamline the process.
The Ultimate Fundraising Guide to Corporate Giving Programs. Corporate giving programs make up a significant portion of companies’ overall CSR. Explore all things corporate giving with this comprehensive resource.

7 Strategies for Marketing Payroll Giving to Your Supporters

September 19, 2024/in Donor communications, Learning Center, Fundraising Ideas, Marketing Strategies, Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

According to recent payroll giving statistics, 59% of survey respondents have no familiarity with payroll giving initiatives. Fortunately, however, marketing payroll giving opportunities to your nonprofit supporters can significantly boost participation in the programs⁠—and enhance your overall fundraising efforts.

After all, payroll giving programs allow donors to contribute a portion of their salary to your organization automatically, providing a steady stream of income with minimal effort. However, many potential donors remain unaware of this giving method or how easy it is to participate.

In this post, we’ll explore seven practical strategies to help you market payroll giving and make it a core component of your fundraising plan.

Create a Payroll Giving page on your nonprofit website.
Incorporate payroll giving in your email marketing.
Promote payroll giving initiatives on social media.
Collect and leverage employment information in your outreach.
Consider donors already eligible for other workplace giving programs.
Collaborate with corporate partners to highlight the opportunity.
Offer exclusive incentives for payroll giving donors.

By implementing the right marketing strategies, you can educate your supporters, promote the convenience of payroll giving, and inspire long-term donor engagement.

Let’s begin!

1. Create a Payroll Giving page on your nonprofit website.

Starting off, you’re going to want to market payroll giving programs prominently throughout your nonprofit or school’s website. A dedicated payroll giving page on your nonprofit’s website is a powerful tool for educating potential donors about this giving option, serving as a centralized hub where supporters can easily learn about the benefits, process, and impact of payroll giving.

Start by explaining what payroll giving is, highlighting how it allows employees to contribute to your cause directly from their paycheck on a recurring basis. Ensure the page features clear instructions on how to enroll in payroll giving, too, such as through their employer’s CSR platform or by contacting their HR department.

You’ll also want to emphasize the convenience of payroll giving. Once donors sign up, they don’t have to worry about making regular donations manually. It’s a simple, consistent, and tax-efficient way to support the cause they care about.

2. Incorporate payroll giving in your email marketing.

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your nonprofit’s supporters, and incorporating payroll giving into your email campaigns can significantly boost participation.

Start by crafting a compelling email that educates your audience on the advantages of payroll giving, emphasizing its ease, convenience, and long-term impact. Highlight the benefit of steady, recurring donations for your organization, personalizing the message to show supporters how their payroll donations can drive meaningful change in the community or cause they care about.

Include clear calls-to-action in the email, encouraging recipients to enroll in payroll giving through their employer. You can link directly to your nonprofit’s payroll giving webpage or provide detailed steps for contacting their HR department to inquire about the program. It’s also helpful to include examples of companies that offer payroll giving or suggestions for how donors can advocate for the program if their employer doesn’t currently provide it.

For the best results, we recommend regularly mentioning payroll giving in different types of email communications⁠—such as newsletters, thank-you emails, or special campaign updates. This keeps the option top of mind for donors while reinforcing the importance of their continued support.

3. Promote payroll giving initiatives on social media.

Social media is a powerful channel for engaging with your nonprofit’s audience, and it can be a highly effective tool for promoting payroll giving programs, too.

Use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to share posts that explain what payroll giving is and how supporters can participate. Share success stories, testimonials, or case studies from current payroll donors to demonstrate the program’s real-world impact. Not to mention, visual content like infographics or short videos can be particularly effective in grabbing attention and communicating key messages.

Regularly include payroll giving in your content rotation, using relevant hashtags to increase visibility when appropriate. Remember: the goal is to ensure supporters are consistently reminded about this giving option and can easily find the information they need to get started.

4. Collect and leverage employment information in your outreach.

The more you know about your donors, the better you can engage them in workplace giving programs like payroll deductions and more. Specifically, having access to accurate and up-to-date employment data can go a long way.

But how can you collect this information? Start by incorporating questions about employment during the registration or donation process. Ask supporters to share the name of their employer, as well as whether they are aware of any workplace giving programs like payroll giving, matching gifts, or volunteer grants.

Once you’ve collected employment data, segment your donor list by company and customize your communications based on the giving opportunities available at those businesses. For example, if you know that a particular company offers payroll giving, you can send targeted emails to employees at that company, providing detailed instructions on how they can enroll in the program. If their company doesn’t currently offer payroll giving, encourage those donors to advocate for it within their workplace.

Top tip: If you lack quality employment information about your donors, consider utilizing a data enhancement service. This will allow you to fill in some gaps and provide the information you need to identify the best workplace giving programs in your network!

5. Consider donors already eligible for other workplace giving programs.

When it comes to workplace giving, most participating companies offer more than one way for employees to get involved. For example, statistics indicate that nearly two-thirds of companies report matching employee payroll contributions, and many of the top matching gift companies offer volunteer grants, too.

But what does that mean for your team?

Supporters who already participate in other workplace giving programs, such as matching gifts or volunteer grants, may be ideal candidates for payroll giving initiatives. To target this segment, begin by identifying donors who have previously submitted matching gift requests or applied for volunteer grants. These individuals already have a relationship with their company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, which makes them a strong target audience for payroll giving.

In your outreach, emphasize the complementary nature of payroll giving to other workplace programs. You’ll want to acknowledge their previous participation in workplace giving programs and thank them for their ongoing support. Then, introduce payroll giving as a way to streamline their contributions and make an even greater difference. You can even highlight how their regular contributions through payroll giving can be further amplified through matching gift programs, doubling, or even tripling their impact.

6. Collaborate with corporate partners to highlight the opportunity.

Nowadays, more and more organizations are beginning to take an increasingly proactive approach to marketing payroll giving programs to their supporters. Still, many companies choose to promote the opportunity to their employees, too. And for that reason, collaborating with the businesses offering the programs can go a long way in heightening visibility and participation.

Start by reaching out to companies that already support your nonprofit through donations, sponsorships, or volunteer programs. Ask if they have a payroll giving program in place and discuss ways to promote the initiative to their employees. This could even involve co-branded marketing materials, such as email templates, flyers, or social media posts that both the company and your nonprofit can share with their audiences.

7. Offer exclusive incentives for payroll giving donors.

To encourage supporters to participate in payroll giving, consider offering exclusive incentives that reward their commitment to ongoing contributions. This can make the process more appealing and demonstrate your nonprofit’s appreciation for their support.

While it will likely vary based on the wants and needs of your particular audience, potential incentives may include…

Public recognition, such as listing names on a dedicated “payroll giving wall” on your website or donor newsletters. (Top tip: Public recognition can foster a sense of pride and community among payroll donors, motivating others to join, too!)
Access to exclusive events, such as virtual meet-and-greets with your organization’s leadership or tours of your facilities.
Branded merchandise, like T-shirts, tote bags, or water bottles, as a thank-you for committing to payroll giving.

Consider tying incentives to donation milestones, such as offering a special gift to donors who have contributed for a certain number of months or reached a specific donation amount. This not only encourages initial sign-ups but also helps retain donors over the long term.

Wrapping Up & Additional Resources

Effectively marketing payroll giving can transform the opportunity into a powerful, recurring revenue stream for your organization. By leveraging digital and other marketing tactics to educate supporters and partner with companies in your network, you can unlock the full potential of workplace giving and build stronger, more consistent donor relationships.

As you implement the seven strategies above, you’ll not only raise awareness of payroll giving but also encourage long-term contributions that help sustain your nonprofit’s mission. Don’t let the opportunity go to waste!

For more information about effectively marketing payroll and other employee giving opportunities, check out the following resources:

The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Matching Gifts. Discover the most effective strategies for promoting corporate matching gift programs to your nonprofit’s supporters. This comprehensive guide walks you through the key tactics to increase donor engagement, raise awareness of matching opportunities, and maximize the impact of employer-matched donations.
Marketing Corporate Volunteerism | A How-To Resource For Orgs. Corporate volunteerism is a powerful resource for nonprofits, but how do you encourage businesses and their employees to get involved with your organization? This guide provides actionable steps for creating compelling volunteer opportunities that align with employee interests and CSR goals.
Tracking Payroll Giving: A Nonprofit’s Step-by-Step Guide. Payroll giving can be a valuable and consistent source of funding, but tracking those donations is essential for success. This guide outlines the process nonprofits should follow to track payroll giving contributions efficiently, from registering with payroll platforms to monitoring and reporting on giving patterns.

This ultimate guide walks through everything you need to know about nonprofit advertising.

Nonprofit Advertising: The Best Advice & Persuasive Examples

June 14, 2024/in Learning Center, Marketing Strategies /by Adam Weinger

The online space grows more competitive each day. Nonprofits are up against big-name companies, vying for consumers’ attention. If you’re grasping at straws and still aren’t capturing prospects’ attention, it might be time to try nonprofit advertising.

Advertising is often perceived as a misuse of donations, but it’s surprisingly effective. There’s a reason companies invest in paid advertising – it works! Where traditional marketing approaches fall short, paid advertising can elevate your cause and extend your reach to new audiences.

Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your existing efforts, this guide will provide everything you need to create a high-ROI nonprofit advertising strategy, including everything from common types of ads to real-world examples you can emulate. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Understanding Nonprofit Advertising
7 Types of Nonprofit Ads
Steps to Creating Your Nonprofit Advertising Strategy
3 Nonprofit Advertising Examples

Whether you’re investing in digital nonprofit advertising or creating newspaper ads, get ready to brainstorm how ads can support your cause and get your services in front of new audiences.

Understanding Nonprofit Advertising

The world of nonprofit advertising is expansive, so let’s start with the fundamentals, kicking off with a basic definition.

What Are Nonprofit Ads?

Also referred to as charity advertising, nonprofit ads are paid ads that nonprofits use to promote their services and fundraisers. Advertising includes digital platforms such as paid search ads and social media ads, as well as traditional advertising methods such as community radio and print ads.

While paid ads can make a notable difference in your outreach, know they’re just one part of your marketing strategy. “Nonprofit marketing” refers to all the activities your nonprofit leverages to promote its brand and mission, while advertising is a specific subset of nonprofit marketing that refers strictly to paid channels.

In the for-profit world, companies create billboards, promotional materials for TV, and digital ads to promote goods and services. Advertising looks a little different for nonprofits, though. Instead of promoting a tangible product, nonprofit advertising is used to “sell” a cause. When done effectively, charity ads educate target audiences about the mission, goals, and services of the organization, as well as solicit donations or other forms of support.

What’s The Difference Between Inbound and Outbound Marketing?

Inbound and outbound marketing are two distinct marketing approaches, each with unique strategies and benefits. For a balanced marketing plan, use both paid and free channels to reach your audience without blowing your budget out of the water. Let’s compare these two strategies:

Inbound marketing, often referred to as “pull marketing,” is designed to attract prospects by pulling them in with content related to their interests. Common inbound channels include search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, videos, podcasts, and organic social media content. Inbound marketing requires time to develop and share quality content. SEO, in particular, is a crucial form of inbound marketing. By targeting relevant keywords, creating valuable content, and improving the overall user experience of your site, you can attract more organic traffic. While it takes time to see results from SEO, the long-term benefits include a steady stream of engaged visitors and reduced reliance on paid advertising.
Outbound marketing is commonly called “push marketing” since it involves pushing messages out to a wide audience, regardless of whether the audience has expressed interest in your mission. Typically associated with paid strategies, commonly used outbound channels include TV commercials, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, direct mail campaigns, newspaper ads, and social media ads. Outbound marketing can deliver quick results and is especially useful for time-sensitive campaigns and events.

Both inbound and outbound marketing have their place in a comprehensive marketing strategy. To strike a balance, we suggest using inbound tactics like optimizing your nonprofit’s website for search engines. This strategy helps build a strong online presence and attract supporters organically. Once you create valuable content, amplify its reach using paid ads.

This approach allows you to leverage the strengths of both strategies: the long-term sustainability of inbound marketing and the immediate impact of outbound marketing.

Why Should Nonprofits Use Advertising?

Nonprofit advertising is undoubtedly worth the investment. From securing new donors to connecting with beneficiaries, you can achieve a lot with persuasive ads.

If you’re not convinced you should spend your hard-earned donations on promoting your work, here are a few common reasons why you should:

Drive high-quality conversions. Getting Attention’s nonprofit advertising guide explains that with powerful ads, “you can convert an ordinary viewer into a valuable supporter. You might shoot for conversions like donations, volunteer sign-ups, contact form completions, event registrations, or shares to social media sites.” Plus, many platforms have audience targeting capabilities, allowing you to narrow your audience and deliver valuable content to likely supporters.
Build a stronger, more recognizable brand. Nonprofit advertising puts your digital content in front of more prospects than word-of-mouth alone. Existing supporters will also be met with your charitable ads, keeping your cause front of mind even when they haven’t interacted with you for a while.
See major returns on low-cost efforts. In some cases, you only pay when a user clicks your ad. Many platforms, like Google Ads, offer discounts and free platform use to verified nonprofits. Even when you pay out of pocket for ads, you don’t have to pay to generate revenue from nonprofit ads. This Google Ad Grant Impact Report explains that view-through revenue—revenue from donors who saw but didn’t click on an ad—accounts for 35% of all giving sourced from digital ads.

For positive results, put in time and effort into creating authentic ads. Otherwise, you’ll waste your budget that could be better used supporting other areas of your mission.

Choosing Between Inbound vs. Outbound Strategies

When choosing between inbound and outbound strategies, nonprofits should consider their goals. Whether the aim is immediate visibility, sustainable growth, or building credibility, both outbound advertising and inbound SEO offer unique advantages.

Let’s take a look at the specific benefits of advertising vs. SEO.

Why Use Advertising:

Immediate Visibility: Advertising provides quick exposure and immediate results, ideal for time-sensitive campaigns or events.
Targeted Reach: Paid ads can be highly targeted, ensuring your message reaches the right audience.
High-Quality Conversions: With compelling ads, you can drive valuable actions like donations, volunteer sign-ups, and event registrations.

Why Use SEO:

Sustainable Growth: SEO helps organizations build a long-term online presence, attracting organic traffic consistently.
Cost-Effective: Once established, SEO can provide ongoing benefits without additional costs.
Credibility and Trust: Content that ranks well on Google also tends to be original, valuable, and reliable. Therefore, high-quality, optimized content enhances your nonprofit’s credibility, fostering long-term supporter relationships.

SEO is ideal for promoting your nonprofit’s services, products, and annual events that attract wide audiences. Meanwhile, you might reserve ads for direct fundraising campaigns, other ways to give, localized offerings, and one-time events.

By understanding the strengths of both approaches, your nonprofit can strategically decide whether to prioritize immediate impact with advertising, sustainable growth with SEO, or ideally both for your marketing plan.

What Are the Challenges of Charity Advertising?

When used efficiently, nonprofit ads can help you make incredible strides for your mission. However, you’ll need to overcome some hurdles.

Here are some challenges you’ll want to get in front of when planning your promotional strategies:

Donors want their funds to go directly toward your mission. They might resist the idea of their contributions being spent on paid ads. That’s why some nonprofits are hesitant to pay for advertising — they’re worried about what existing prospective donors will think of them.
You’ll need to dedicate time to managing your ads. Some organizations don’t have the staff or time to create their ads. That goes for monitoring your campaigns and making adjustments to maximize results, too. You shouldn’t use a set-it-and-forget-it approach. Not to mention, some advertising platforms have a considerable learning curve. We recommend working with a nonprofit advertising expert to mitigate these challenges.
Conveying your message can be challenging. Ads are notorious for seeming inauthentic. When possible, use storytelling components like original images to make your ads appear genuine.

To preemptively overcome these challenges, choose affordable advertising channels and be authentic in your promotion. We also recommend working with a nonprofit advertising agency. These professionals devote their time to managing campaigns backed by their technical expertise, so you can focus on other activities.

How Can I Work Nonprofit Ads Into My Budget?

Considering that nonprofit advertising is a paid form of marketing, you’ll need to allocate sufficient funds toward it.

A common misconception is that paid advertising is unattainable for nonprofits with limited budgets. In reality, many paid advertising platforms offer free or discounted access to verified organizations. Here are some ways your nonprofit can tap into advertising for free, minimizing the negative reactions donors might have:

Through the Google Ad Grants program, you can receive $10,000 in free ad credits every month. You’ll spend your credits on promoting your website’s most important content, like your donation form or volunteer registration page.
A rule by the Federal Communications Commission can help you leverage free radio ads if you format them as public service announcements.
Through business sponsorships, companies may promote your nonprofit to customers free of charge as part of their corporate philanthropy practices.

Beyond these free opportunities, let’s look at how organizations break down their nonprofit advertising budgets across different platforms. According to M+R Benchmarks’ annual study, organizations allocate their advertising budgets in the following percentages:

22% on display ads
35% on search ads
36% on social media
8% on video ads and other forms of advertising

Use these percentages to guide you when allocating money toward advertising in your annual budget. Considering that search ads yield the highest return on ad spend, we recommend investing most of your budget in that area. According to that same M+R Benchmarks Study, it generates an incredible $2.75 return for every dollar spent, while display ads generate $0.33.

7 Types of Nonprofit Ads

Considering that paid advertising incurs costs, be strategic about which platforms you use. Decide which ones will align with your goals and will help you reach your target audience. To help you grasp your options, let’s walk through seven of the most common nonprofit advertising platforms, starting with our favorite.

Type 1: Google Search Ads and SEO

Paid search ads are online advertisements that promote an organization’s web content. These ads are displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs) and are triggered by keywords related to the advertiser’s organization. Advertisers pay each time someone clicks their ad, so they’re not overpaying for advertising space. This makes it cost-effective for reaching and driving qualified leads.

Meanwhile, you can also use SEO to take up even more real estate on SERPs. By optimizing your website’s content for relevant keywords, you can improve your organic search rankings, making it easier for potential supporters to find your organization and purchase your products. SEO involves tactics like keyword research, on-page optimization, content creation, and link building. While it requires an investment of time and effort, the long-term benefits of SEO can turn organic search into a reliable lead source channel for your nonprofit’s purchasable products, services, and programs.

Google Ad Grants

When eligible for Google Ad Grants, nonprofits can tap into this nonprofit advertising channel for free. So long as they comply with the program’s rules, they’ll receive $10,000 each month to spend on amplifying their web content on Google Search. If you’re a visual learner, watch this video from the Google Ad experts at Getting Attention:

If this sounds like an irresistible offer, here’s how to get started with this nonprofit advertising platform:

Check your nonprofit’s eligibility. Google limits participation to those with valid charity status. Governmental, healthcare, and educational organizations are ineligible. You’ll also need a website that meets the program’s requirements. Explore our Google Grants eligibility guide to determine your eligibility status.
Create a Google for Nonprofits account. Through Google for Nonprofits, you can access the Google Ad Grant application and a range of helpful tools like Google WorkSpace and the YouTube Nonprofit Program. You’ll provide information like your tax identification number and contact information.
Wait for Verification. Percent works with Google to verify organizations’ legitimacy and help maintain the integrity of Google’s program. They may reach out for additional documentation, so keep an eye on your email.
Apply for the Google Grant. Once approved, you’ll gain access to the Google Ad Grant application. Fill out the eligibility form and wait for approval. In no time, you’ll receive $10,000 to spend on Google Ads every month.

We recommend working with a Google Grants agency like Getting Attention to maximize this charity advertising opportunity. They’ll work to understand your mission, choose the right keywords, and craft compelling nonprofit ads that drive results.

How to Integrate Your Google Ads and SEO Strategies

Integrating Google Ads with your SEO strategy can enhance your nonprofit’s visibility within search results, drive traffic to your website, and maximize your impact.

Following SEO best practices means creating a website that ranks organically to reach a broad audience and can be promoted with Google Ads to connect with localized, targeted audiences.

Here’s how you can combine these two approaches:

Use Google Ads to supplement SEO. SEO is a long-term strategy that takes several months to yield results. During this period, Google Ads can provide immediate visibility. By bidding on the keywords your SEO efforts target, you can ensure that your nonprofit appears at the top of search results pages even before your organic rankings improve.
Pay attention to keyword performance. Google Ads provides detailed reports on which keywords drive the most traffic and conversions. Use these insights from your paid campaigns to refine your organic SEO keyword strategy.
Improve your landing pages. High-quality landing pages not only improve your ad performance but also boost organic search rankings. Ensure your landing pages are optimized for SEO by including relevant keywords, providing valuable content, and enhancing the user experience.
Analyze your Google Ad performance to understand what content resonates with supporters. Use this information to optimize your website content, blog posts, and other SEO materials. For example, if a certain style of ad copy has a high click-through rate, consider incorporating similar language and themes into your website content.

When it comes to search engine advertising strategy, we recommend working with an SEO agency, especially if you’re new to SEO.

An SEO agency brings expert knowledge, tools, and a holistic approach to maximize the effectiveness of both efforts. We recommend Nexus Marketing as the best choice for nonprofits that sell products and services. With its team’s deep understanding of the nonprofit sector, proven track record in driving results, and extensive network within the mission-driven space, Nexus Marketing will deliver customized, results-driven strategies that align with your organization’s unique mission and goals.

Type 2: Social Media Ads

Did you know that 59% of Gen Zers are inspired to donate by a message they saw on social media? You’re missing out if you’re not promoting your cause through this channel!

Most nonprofits recognize this digital marketing channel is effective for leveraging social proof to build trust. Unless you have a large following consistently sharing your content, it can be challenging to gain traction, though. That’s why we recommend allocating money toward social media ads.

Social Media Advertising Platforms

To avoid stretching your nonprofit advertising budget too thin, consider the platforms from which you’ll purchase ad space. As you get started, keep these charity advertising platforms in mind:

Instagram ads appear throughout the app in users’ feeds, between Stories, and on their explore pages. While designed similarly to normal posts, each ad contains a “sponsored label.” Use this method to tap into additional features unavailable for traditional posts. Include links, CTA buttons, and product catalogs. Then, track ad performance with the insights Instagram provides.
Facebook ads allow you to tap into the world’s most popular social network. With the ability to target people based on their interests, demographics, and location, nonprofits can create highly targeted campaigns that will likely reach their desired audience. Use Facebook ads to boost engagement, build brand awareness, and even solicit donations with integrated fundraising features.
X (formerly Twitter) ads allow you to connect with younger audiences. Nonprofits can create targeted campaigns based on user interests and location. Use these to tailor messaging to different audiences, drive website traffic, increase brand visibility, and engage with followers.
TikTok ads, available through TikTok for Good, offer a dynamic way to reach a younger, highly engaged audience through video ads. Your nonprofit can tell its story, raise awareness, and drive action in a creative, visually engaging format.

These nonprofit advertising channels allow you to leverage user-friendly features and reach supporters where they already are: scrolling through social media. Plus, social media has an incredible reach. Sources estimate there will be 5.8 billion social media users worldwide by 2027.

When creating messages, remember social media tends to be trend-based, so monitor what’s trending to create timely ads for your cause.

Type 3: Sponsored Retargeting

Sponsored retargeting is a collaborative advertising approach where a business or organization sponsors your nonprofit by purchasing ads from you. These ads typically feature co-branded elements. The reasons a company might engage in sponsored retargeting include:

Improved Reputation: Companies can bolster their reputation by aligning their image with your nonprofit, positioning them as a socially responsible company.
Audience Overlap: The overlap in audience demographics between the company and your nonprofit makes this an attractive opportunity to promote the company’s services to relevant individuals.

Both your nonprofit and the sponsor can share these advertisements on your respective platforms, increasing visibility and audience engagement for both parties. Overall, this mutually beneficial arrangement not only serves immediate advertising goals but also strengthens the long-term relationship between your nonprofit and its corporate sponsors.

Type 4: Community Radio

Community radio can be ideal for advertising your mission to a local audience. Radio ads can be tailored to specific demographics and areas. Plus, you can physically speak to your audience, showing passion for your cause.

Some nonprofits qualify for free public service announcements on community radio stations. Thanks to the Federal Communications Commission, radio stations must allot some radio time to charitable organizations.

If you’re filling free nonprofit advertising space, there’s one caveat: you’ll need to format your messages as announcements rather than ads.

In other words, you can’t explicitly request donations. However, you can use radio ads to drive website traffic and generate buzz. Then, if your social media posts or website are optimized, visitors may wind up clicking the ‘Donate’ or ‘Volunteer’ button.

Type 5: Print Advertising for Nonprofits

If you want to go a more traditional route with your nonprofit ads, try print advertising. Print ads, such as newspaper and magazine placements, target specific geographic areas, allowing nonprofits to reach their desired audience effectively.

Relatively inexpensive and adaptable, print ads can be placed in various publications, from local newspapers to national magazines. You can even create banners and flyers to promote your cause at local events.

This method works for a few reasons. For instance, print ads tend to be:

Memorable. You can provide readers with a tangible message to reference later, making it easy to save and circle back.
Tailored to the cause. Print ads can be designed to match a specific aesthetic. By incorporating your organization’s branding, these types of nonprofit ads can convey your message in a visually appealing, unique way.
Great for establishing credibility. Print ads can be placed in specific publications or at events your target audience will likely attend. By appearing in a respected publication or at a reputable event, your nonprofit can establish its legitimacy.

In your nonprofit advertising strategy, consider the role of print ads for reaching specific audiences. For example, nature organizations might use publications like National Geographic to connect their cause with respected, influential scientific content.

Type 6: Influencer Advertising

Influencers have an established web presence, usually due to social media or a blog. They’ve created a trustworthy brand and amassed a highly engaged audience.

Companies work with social media influencers to promote their products every day. Have you thought about how working with an influencer can amplify your nonprofit’s brand?

Influencers have a large, engaged audience that trusts their opinion and is likelier to engage with their content. Like you do when choosing corporate partners, choose someone who aligns with your brand.

For example, let’s say you work for a food security organization. You might partner with a food blogger or an influencer who publishes recipes. This will help:

Convert and activate new supporters. By asking their followers to donate, follow, or show support in some other way, influencers can drive like-minded people to support your cause.
Draw attention to your work. Influencers can promote engaging content that can spark conversations and encourage people to look into your work.

When leveraging these ads, develop materials for influencers to work with. Then, they can make it their own to give it a more authentic feel that aligns with their brand.

Type 7: Retargeted Advertising

We’ve all experienced this at some point. While online shopping, we add something to our cart like a comfy new shirt. We get distracted and leave the site, only to be met with ads on other websites for that same exact shirt. This is what we refer to as a “retargeted ad.”

While primarily used to promote products, retargeted ads allow nonprofits to engage people who have already shown interest in the mission.

Retargeted advertising places a cookie on a user’s device and then displays relevant ads based on their prior online activity. These ads can effectively reach people who have already visited your nonprofit’s website or interacted with you on social media. They’re tailored to the individual user, making them an effective way to drive conversions.

How to Use Retargeted Ads

If you’re unsure how retargeting ads fit into your nonprofit advertising strategy, let’s review a few examples.

Retargeted ads can remind people of a nonprofit’s mission, encourage donations, and promote events or services. Here are a few use cases for this strategy:

Abandoned donations: Retarget someone who left your donation page before submitting their donation. They were already considering donating, and it’s up to you to determine why they didn’t follow through. Think through common reasons why someone might abandon a gift. For example, maybe they wanted to research your services more before submitting a donation. If that seems like a viable reason someone would’ve walked away, create retargeted ads that explain your work.
Event reminders: Create a retargeting ad campaign to re-engage anyone who didn’t complete their event registration. Let’s say someone left to check their calendar but then forgot to return and finish registering. This type of ad can be a great reminder to revisit your event registration page!

This type of nonprofit ad is a fantastic way to engage users, even if they’ve never actually donated or taken any other action. At some point, users who receive these ads showed interest in your cause online, and a little reminder might be just what they need.

Steps to Creating Your Nonprofit Advertising Strategy

Steps to Creating Your Nonprofit Advertising Strategy
So you’ve decided nonprofit advertising is a smart move. Great! Now, let’s walk through easy steps to create an effective nonprofit advertising plan:

1. Define your campaign objectives.

What are you hoping to achieve by purchasing ad space? Do you want to boost volunteer numbers, secure more volunteer grants, sell your product offerings, increase digital donations, or educate the public about your cause? Having a goal will help you pick which content to promote.

For example, if your nonprofit offers paid training programs, you might launch an SEO strategy focused on increasing enrollment and generating revenue for these services. Adding an SEO component to your advertising strategy can help you identify the most relevant keywords and topics to focus on in your ad campaigns.

2. Set a budget.

If you’re not careful, nonprofit advertising costs can quickly add up. When dividing your budget across different advertising platforms, think back to the industry-standard distributions we discussed earlier.

Suppose your nonprofit sells branded merchandise; allocating part of your budget to promote these revenue-generating activities can help sustain your organization’s financial health. Additionally, consider investing in SEO to complement your advertising efforts and add a cost-effective marketing channel to your strategy.

3. Identify your target audience.

Who are you trying to reach with your charity’s ads? Are you attempting to re-engage lapsed donors, connect with first-time volunteers, or find customers for your services? Get specific here, and consider the demographics of who you’re attempting to reach.

For instance, if your nonprofit provides educational workshops to small businesses, targeting entrepreneurs and small business owners in your area would be key. Use SEO data to gain insights into your audience’s online behavior and preferences, helping you refine your ad placements.

4. Choose platforms for ad distribution.

What platforms will put your nonprofit’s ads in front of the appropriate audiences? For example, maybe you’ll use social media ads to connect with Millennial or Gen Z donors across the country while using radio and print ads to reach a local audience.

For instance, if your nonprofit offers consulting services to other organizations, LinkedIn ads could be an effective way to reach professionals and decision-makers.

5. Create ad content.

Now comes the fun part! Create ads that persuade people to take action. For example, if your nonprofit sells online courses, your ads should highlight the unique value and benefits of the courses to attract new learners.

When possible, add compelling images and videos to spark an emotional response. Advertising platforms often limit the length of ads, so make the most of the characters you’re allotted and point to your content that’s optimized for search engines. We’ll explore nonprofit advertising examples in the next section to spark inspiration.

Following these steps will help generate influential ads for your cause. The work’s not over yet, though!

6. Assess your nonprofit advertising strategy.

For effective nonprofit advertising, actively monitor your campaigns using tracking systems, rather than just setting them and forgetting them.

To gauge ad performance, focus on metrics like clicks and reach. Most advertising platforms, including Google Ads, have built-in tools for tracking these key performance indicators (KPIs):

Impressions refer to how many times your ad was shown to users. It can help you gauge how large your reach is.
Click-through-rate (CTR) measures how many clicks your charity’s ad received divided by how many impressions it received. This metric indicates how relevant your ad is to users. For reference, if your Google Ad had 5 clicks and 100 impressions, your CTR would be 5%.
Conversion rate refers to the number of visitors who complete a desired goal, like registering for an event or donating. The higher your conversion rate, the better. Just ensure the action is meaningful to your work.
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who click through to your site and leave before viewing any other pages. This can indicate page quality. A low bounce rate is always best!

Using these KPIs, you can proactively gauge your nonprofit ad performance at any point. Throughout your campaign, make adjustments based on results.

3 Nonprofit Advertising Examples

You can research charity ad ideas all you want, but nothing measures up to seeing examples from real organizations. Let’s walk through some nonprofit ad examples to see paid marketing in action.

American Heart Association

Type of Nonprofit Ad: Google Ad

Google Ad Grants have the power to transform any nonprofit’s marketing. Available to verified 501(c)(3) organizations, it can help amplify the most important pages on your website on Google Search.

For this nonprofit advertising example, the American Heart Association targeted terms like “donate to fight heart disease.” Their ad works for a few reasons:

Users searching donation-related terms are likely to convert.
The pages the American Heart Association featured correlate with this search intent.

Notice how they offered a few ways for users to engage. Since they’re clearly prospective donors at this stage, users can visit different giving-focused pages, such as the organization’s “ways to give” page, a page showcasing donations in action, or pages about monthly giving. If you’re feeling creative, take a similar approach and promote matching gifts by featuring your ‘ways to give’ page or including matching gifts on your donation form.

To take this ad one step further, the American Heart Association could use extensions to append their phone number, giving users another way to engage. This strategy is more technical, and working with a Google Grants agency can help you take full advantage of this nonprofit advertising opportunity.

Doctors Without Borders

Type of Nonprofit Ad: Facebook Ad

Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization delivering emergency aid and healthcare to in-need populations. Seeking the most effective way to amplify their Giving Tuesday efforts, they turned to Facebook Ads and created a Facebook Fundraiser. The combination yielded twice as much revenue as its Giving Tuesday campaign the previous year.

The organization ran its ads for less than 2 weeks and generated impressive metrics:

Ad spend for Giving Tuesday ads: $26,000
Donation value from ads: $72,000
Return on ad spend: 2.8x
Donors: 60% new, 40% recurring

This campaign exemplifies the power of social sharing and timely nonprofit ads. It also boosted our all-time favorite fundraising strategy: matching gifts.

While this is a great example of nonprofit advertising for a large organization, smaller nonprofits can also tap into this strategy at lower rates. Even when spending a lot less, you can achieve impressive results. You just have to leverage targeting features and create persuasive messages.

Girls Inc.

Type of Nonprofit Ad: Influencer Ad

For this nonprofit advertising example, Girls Inc. partnered with popular lifestyle blogger Vanessa Scott and Saks OFF 5th to create and market an exclusive t-shirt.

Capitalizing on National Women’s Day, the charity created a shirt with its brand colors. Reading “Every Day is Women’s Day,” the shirt’s core message aligns with its mission to empower girls to overcome environmental challenges.

To support the campaign, Vanessa shared an Instagram post sporting the t-shirt. She explained what the awareness day meant to her, why Girls Inc. is important, and how 100% of the shirt’s proceeds would support the cause.

Not only does this example show the power of influencer ads, but it also demonstrates how nonprofits can partner with socially responsible corporations to amplify their causes.

Wrapping Up

When you create genuine ads, you can inspire more people than ever to support your cause.

There are a lot of nonprofit advertising platforms out there, though. Carefully think through which platforms will connect you with the right audiences before purchasing ad space. Whether you leverage Google Ads or partner with influencers, you’ll surely gain traction for your cause.

As you get started, stay updated with marketing trends and best practices to craft the best ads possible. Here are some helpful resources to get started:

40+ Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits to Spread Your Mission. Need inspiration for your nonprofit marketing strategy? Go beyond charity advertising by exploring more ideas in this guide.
Digital Marketing for Nonprofits Made Easy: A Helpful Guide. From paid advertising to organic posts, there’s a lot you can do to market your mission online. Learn more with this guide.
Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits: A Marketer’s Complete Guide. Curious about our favorite charity advertising method? Check out this ultimate guide to Google Ad Grants for nonprofits.

Best Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software: How to Pick Yours

June 10, 2024/in Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

Last year, America’s 20 largest peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns raised $1.1 billion! The nonprofits and schools that engage in peer-to-peer fundraising owe part of their success to the cutting-edge technology powering their campaigns.

In this guide, we’ll explore the process of locating the perfect peer-to-peer fundraising software, so your organization can grow its network, develop deeper donor relationships, and increase fundraising revenue. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Key Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software Features
Popular Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software Platforms
Examples of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software In Action
Smart Tips for Choosing Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software

Now, let’s explore how to choose the best peer-to-peer fundraising platform for your nonprofit.

Key Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software Features

When it comes to buying software, it’s essential to enter the process with a solid understanding of your organization’s needs and priorities. Keep these top considerations in mind as you explore various providers and locate the right peer-to-peer fundraising platform for your team.

Integrations

By choosing a peer-to-peer solution that integrates with the rest of your fundraising software, you can keep donor data moving smoothly between your various tools. While you can always hire developers to create middle-ware solutions or manually move data yourself, built-in integrations get your new technology up and running fast.

For example, your organization likely has a donor management or CRM system to track supporter information and engagement history. Opting for peer-to-peer fundraising software that integrates with your donor database can streamline data collection, reduce errors, and simplify your team’s efforts.

Accessibility & Ease of Use

Peer-to-peer fundraising increases your organization’s reach and allows you to connect with new donors. To make the most of this opportunity, your nonprofit needs accessible fundraising tools that all supporters can use.

Not only do accessible platforms increase funding for nonprofits, but they also ensure positive experiences for all donors and supporters.

Here are a few areas to consider in your search:

Web accessibility standards. Ensure everyone who lands on your giving pages can use them, including those with disabilities. Seek out peer-to-peer fundraising software that meets accessibility standards, such as sufficient color contrasts and custom image alt text.
Mobile optimization. You want the giving process to be quick and easy, regardless of whether donors complete the transaction using a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. Be sure to communicate this need to your peer-to-peer fundraising software provider, especially since a quarter of donors give from mobile devices.

Matching Gift Functionality

Multiply peer-to-peer donations with corporate matching gifts. Many peer-to-peer fundraising platforms have built-in solutions to simplify the process and amplify individual and corporate giving. With the right matching gift tools working smoothly alongside your peer-to-peer fundraising software, your organization can tap into the power of corporate gift matching.

For example, 360MatchPro is Double the Donation’s leading donation-matching platform. Nonprofits and higher education institutions can tap into our database of over 24,000 matching gift companies to raise more money, engage donors, and locate valuable matching opportunities.

Our platform also seamlessly integrates with many of the industry’s top peer-to-peer fundraising tools like Classy and Funraise. That way, you can simplify corporate gift matching with no coding required!

When buying peer-to-peer fundraising software, keep matching gift functionality in mind! After all, 84% of donors are more likely to donate if a match is offered.

Payment Processing Capabilities

Optimizing the peer-to-peer giving experience involves diversifying accepted payment types. This ensures donors have multiple options for giving and increases the likelihood that they’ll complete the transaction.

Make sure your peer-to-peer software can process the following types of payments:

Traditional forms of payment like debit cards, credit cards, and ACH bank transfers
Innovative payment methods, like digital wallets (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay), financial services like Venmo and PayPal, and even cryptocurrency⁠

Your peer-to-peer fundraising software should offer plenty of payment options, so keep an eye out for these capabilities!

Support Availability

Technology support consists of two categories: initial onboarding and ongoing support. Each can play a significant role in your organization’s success with a platform. After all, there’s no point in purchasing software for your nonprofit if you don’t have the resources to set it up and keep it running.

Each company has its own tech support offerings, so locate a provider with the right assistance levels for your team. For example, if your nonprofit has its own built-out tech department that can set up and maintain software usage on its own, you might choose a provider that offers minimal external support at a lower cost. On the other hand, an organization without dedicated technology experts may opt for additional assistance at a higher price point to ensure they have the necessary support.

And don’t forget to consider the ROI of your support offerings either! Selecting a provider with high levels of support can help your organization maintain high fundraising success. In this case, opting for hands-on tech support can ultimately result in elevated revenue, making the cost well worth the investment.

Popular Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software Platforms

With plenty of great peer-to-peer solutions on the market, we’ll briefly cover a few of our favorites. Each of these solutions integrates with our industry-leading matching gift software, so you can drive higher donations with matching gifts. You can explore our full partner directory to find the solution that’s right for you!

Blackbaud

Blackbaud provides cloud software, services, expertise, and data intelligence that empowers nonprofits to drive impact for social good. Among Blackbaud’s offerings include peer-to-peer solutions for individual fundraisers and enterprise-size organizations alike.

Tap into features such as:

Peer-to-peer event management for non-registration fee-based events, community projects, and virtual and hybrid events
Gamification tools such as virtual fitness tracking and leaderboards
Individual fundraising pages enhanced with personal goal-setting, in-memory capabilities, and birthday fundraising functionalities

Explore our integration with Blackbaud

Classy

Classy offers world-class online fundraising software to create a positive social impact. Peer-to-peer functionality is just one part of this provider’s suite of tools. With Classy, your donor acquisition can soar, as four out of every five peer-to-peer donors who give through Classy are new supporters.

Here’s a rundown of their peer-to-peer fundraising software features:

Multiple accepted payment types, including credit cards, digital wallets, Venmo, PayPal, ACH bank transfer, and cryptocurrency
Branded fundraising pages and receipts so you can strengthen brand awareness and increase donor trust
An enjoyable fundraising experience that enables fundraisers to post photos, videos, and blog-style updates as well as leverage built-in social and text sharing

Explore our integration with Classy

CrowdChange

Designed for charities, campuses, and Greek life, CrowdChange is a web-based, mobile-friendly fundraising software solution. Their award-winning technology makes it easy to set up events and empower supporters to fundraise on behalf of your organization.

They offer users features like:

Peer-to-peer event setup and management, including QR code ticketing
A branded mobile app to manage your fundraisers, empower team captains, and enable peer-to-peer health challenges for events like 5Ks via integrations with Apple Health, Fitbit, and more
Unlimited technical support at no charge to keep everything running smoothly

Explore our integration with CrowdChange

DonorDrive

For 25+ years, DonorDrive has helped organizations like Children’s Miracle Network and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention raise more than $2 billion. Their innovative peer-to-peer fundraising software enables nonprofits to hand the megaphone over to their biggest advocates and amplify their personal stories. Here are some of this peer-to-peer fundraising software’s features:

Team fundraising to enable supporters to team up and raise money for your cause
Activity tracking via Strava, Apple Health, Fitbit, and Google Fit to enable health-related peer-to-peer fundraising challenges
Easy sharing via pre-written emails, contact management, and social sharing

Explore our integration with DonorDrive

Engaging Networks

Trusted by The Humane Society, The Nature Conservancy, and other big-name organizations, Engaging Networks serves more than 400 nonprofits in more than 50 countries. They offer powerful peer-to-peer capabilities alongside marketing, membership management, and eCommerce tools. Elevate your impact with peer-to-peer fundraising features like:

Personal and team fundraising pages hosted on a branded campaign website
Goal setting and progress thermometers for both campaign and individual pages
The ability to collect donations in any currency

Explore our integration with Engaging Networks

Funraise

Funraise strives to make fundraising a piece of cake. Thanks to its comprehensive features, nonprofits using Funraise, on average, grow online giving by 73% annually! Tap into the incredible social power of your most dedicated supporters with these peer-to-peer fundraising software features:

Customizable automated emails for hitting campaign milestones
A fundraising website with custom colors, images, and content for telling your nonprofit’s story
Fundraising commitments that enable you to set non-negotiable fundraising goals for peer-to-peer fundraisers

Explore our integration with Funraise

Givebutter

Established in 2016, Givebutter is a fundraising technology company that powers online donations, campaigns, and ticketed events for more than 15,000 charities around the world. Tap into your supporters’ networks by adding peer-to-peer fundraising to any Givebutter fundraising page or event. Doing so will enable these features:

Gamification tools like a goal bar, countdown, leaderboards, and interactive supporter feed to drive urgency
Personalized pages where fundraisers can tell their story, upload images, and use Canva graphics to make it their own
Marketing tools like built-in social media sharing tools, automated email and text reminders, and trackable links

Explore our integration with Givebutter

GiveCampus

Designed for educational institutions, GiveCampus is a popular digital fundraising and volunteer management solution. With the platform, Rhode Island College exceeded its donor goal by 55% and its dollar goal by more than double during its annual giving day. Know that 360MatchPro is the only corporate matching gifts tool that integrates with the platform!

Reach, engage, and mobilize your community with these social fundraising features:

Pre-filled giving forms that reflect donor interests, giving history, and preferred payment methods
Real-time progress reports to inform supporters of campaign totals
World-class support with an average response time of 11 minutes or less

Explore our integration with GiveCampus

GivenGain

Founded in 2001, GivenGain puts fundraising in your supporters’ hands. As a nonprofit itself, GivenGain is driven by purpose rather than profit. Through this peer-to-peer fundraising platform, your passionate fundraisers can champion your cause and drive action.

Use GivenGain’s tools to access:

Event-based fundraising so supporters can collect donations linked to their participation in marathons, bike races, and more
Recurring gifts to inspire ongoing support
Multi-currency support to ensure organizations can receive funds from a global donor base

Explore our integration with GivenGain

GiveSignUp

GiveSignUp is free peer-to-peer fundraising software that provides tools for event planning, fundraising, and managing volunteers. The platform only charges processing fees and is well-suited for organizations that host races, walks, and other event-based fundraising activities. Some of GiveSignUp’s primary features include:

Team and donor recruitment tools like auto-join fundraising team URLs, social sharing, and a fundraiser email hub
An event day app with options to check in by fundraising team and show fundraising totals
Free marketing tools like a custom website builder and automated referral rewards to encourage sharing

Explore our integration with GiveSignUp

GiveWP

If your nonprofit uses WordPress, this may be the peer-to-peer fundraising software for you! GiveWP is an open-source WordPress plugin that simplifies fundraising. Trusted by 100,000+ fundraisers worldwide, GiveWP can transform your supporters into enthusiastic advocates. Leverage the peer-to-peer fundraising add-on for GiveWP to involve your community in peer-to-peer and team fundraising. Then, use features such as:

A custom donor experience with fund designation options, tribute capabilities, and a marketing newsletter opt-in option on peer-to-peer donation forms
Donation forms that can be hosted directly on your own website, no coding knowledge needed
The ability to showcase sponsors on your main campaign page or peer-to-peer pages

Explore our integration with GiveWP

haku

Create powerful peer-to-peer fundraising events with haku, an all-in-one partnership and technology ecosystem. haku is a comprehensive event management platform that nonprofits can use to organize participatory fundraising events like races and bike rides. In fact, they even helped the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society raise $1 million in just one month with a virtual fitness challenge.

The platform offers a suite of peer-to-peer fundraising tools, such as:

One-step registration and fundraising account creation, enabling your supporters to start fundraising immediately
Mobile-optimized public fundraising pages that can be personalized with images, videos, and custom messages and then easily shared
Integrations with popular platforms like Salesforce and Double the Donation, making it easy to gather and share data in real-time

Explore our integration with haku

Neon Fundraise

Neon provides purpose-driven technology to further your mission. As part of Neon’s technology ecosystem, Neon Fundraise is a modern social fundraising platform that is fresh, powerful, and easy to use. Take your fundraising to new heights and drive registrations for your peer-to-peer events with features like:

Individual and multiple event registration and management tools, including ticket sales, registration forms, and participant tracking
Endurance challenges with activity tracking (like miles run or walked) via manual input or fitness app integration
One-click donations to create a frictionless experience for returning donors

Explore our integration with Neon Fundraise

OneCause

OneCause delivers nonprofits comprehensive fundraising solutions for auctions, text-to-give, events, and online fundraising. Among its many helpful tools, you can find peer-to-peer fundraising software. Whether you want to host a run/walk/ride event, host a giving day, or enable tribute fundraisers, OneCause has you covered.

Activate supporters with powerful social fundraising features, such as:

Motivation and rewards such as leaderboards, milestone badges, and head-to-head competitions
Social media integration to help supporters recruit and fundraise via social channels
Configurable event registration that enables different registration types, custom discount codes, and custom form questions

Explore our integration with OneCause

Qgiv

Qgiv offers nonprofits a variety of tools to power everything from peer-to-peer fundraising and text fundraising to auctions. Its comprehensive platform enables nonprofits to give donors a modern and personalized giving experience while keeping costs low. Enable your peer-to-peer fundraisers (or P2Peeps, as Qgiv calls them) to participate in 5Ks, bowl-a-thons, cycling events, or any other peer-to-peer fundraiser with these features:

Easy event and fundraising page setup with drag-and-drop tools to get supporters fundraising faster
Team fundraising where captains can recruit members and people can cheer each other on
Gamification like custom fundraising badges, leaderboards, an activity tracker, and a thermometer to create friendly competition

Explore our integration with Qgiv

raisin

Make meaningful connections and grow your network with raisin. This peer-to-peer fundraising software is perfect for individual, team, and corporate fundraisers. Whether you’re launching a national walk or DIY fundraising campaign, inspire supporters to join your nonprofit, fundraise, and build awareness for your cause.

Use raisin’s peer-to-peer module to leverage these features:

Multi-location events so your campaign can unite multiple events for greater fundraising power
Mobile-first fundraising so supporters can fundraise across any device
Email, social, and follow-up tools to engage their networks and drive donations

Explore our integration with raisin

Examples of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software In Action

Each peer-to-peer fundraising platform has a unique donation flow that impacts how donors and fundraisers interact with your organization’s efforts. To make the most of your upcoming initiatives with optimal technology, consider these three sample social fundraising pages.

As we walk through each example, be sure to note what the organization does well and which pieces you can emulate!

The George Washington University

*Uses GiveCampus and Double the Donation

The George Washington University is a private research university located in Washington, D.C. This institution participates in a range of fundraising initiatives to support scholarship opportunities, student life, athletics, and more.

To power its peer-to-peer giving experience, the university uses innovative social fundraising technology from GiveCampus:

1. An individual navigates to a peer-to-peer campaign landing page.

The George Washington University hosts a wide range of peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities, and each one is provided with a campaign landing page from which to give, track progress toward objectives and deadlines, share the fundraising site, and more. Also, it features a brief video outlining the campaign efforts and goals.

2. The individual selects a donation amount on the giving form.

Once the donor navigates to the donation form from the campaign landing page, they are encouraged to choose their donation amount, determine recurring gift status, select a designation, and even add an additional gift.

3. The individual provides employment information and submits their gift.

On this final page of the GWU peer-to-peer giving process, donors are encouraged to enter their employer name to determine their matching gift eligibility using Double the Donation’s embedded search tool. From there, they are prompted to review their gift selection and finalize their contribution using their preferred payment method.

4. The individual is thanked and provided with matching gift information on the confirmation page.

Once a donor has submitted their donation via the peer-to-peer giving form, they are automatically redirected to visit a dedicated confirmation page. On this page, GWU thanks its donors for supporting the campaign and provides detailed matching gift information.

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

*Uses Classy ⁠and Double the Donation

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is one of the largest nonprofit organizations dedicated to breast cancer research. It has discovered some of the most innovative advancements toward the prevention and curing of breast cancer.

Since its inception in 1993, BCRF has raised over $500 million for breast cancer research, funding nearly 300 researchers across 15 different countries⁠, much of it through social fundraising efforts.

Here’s a brief overview of this organization’s peer-to-peer giving process using dedicated peer-to-peer fundraising software:

1. An individual chooses their donation amount on the P2P giving form.

Once an individual lands on a BCRF peer-to-peer donation form, they are met with a brief description of the organization, its mission⁠, and how individual donors can help. From there, they are encouraged to select their gift amount from a number of suggested donation sizes (or enter a custom amount in the fill-in-the-blank box) and determine whether their contribution will be a one-time or recurring gift.

2. The individual assigns their gift to a particular fundraiser or team.

Next, the individual can credit their donation to a specific person or team participating in the campaign by typing a name in the auto-complete search box. Once they’ve selected a fundraiser, that individual or group’s progress is displayed using a real-time goal thermometer.

3. The individual provides current employment information.

At this stage in the giving process, the donor is prompted to “see if [their] employer will match [their] donation.” BCRF has embedded a matching gift search tool within their peer-to-peer giving form, which instructs individuals to enter their employing company in the search box below. The individual is also informed that they may receive follow-up emails from Double the Donation with detailed instructions regarding how to submit their match request.

4. The individual reviews and submits their donation.

From there, each donor is encouraged to review their donation information and select a payment method to complete their gift. BCRF currently accepts donations through PayPal, Venmo, credit card, and bank transfers!

5. The individual receives an email follow-up prompting them to submit their matching gift.

Mere minutes after clicking submit on their peer-to-peer donation, Breast Cancer Research Foundation donors receive a customized email follow-up providing matching gift information and communicating gratitude to strengthen that donor relationship. Since the donor previously provided employment data within the giving form, the email content is company-specific, providing targeted details on matching gift eligibility and actionable next steps for submission.

Soles4Souls

*Uses Fundraise Up and Double the Donation

Soles4Souls is a Tennessee-based nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting and redistributing shoes, clothing, and other apparel. By partnering with individual supporters, retailers, and community organizations, Soles4Souls gathers new and gently used shoes and provides them to people who need them worldwide.

While Soles4Souls greatly benefits from in-kind product donations, they also participate in additional fundraising activities such as peer-to-peer giving campaigns. Let’s take a look at the basic process using this organization’s peer-to-peer fundraising software:

1. An individual selects a donation amount on the P2P giving form.

Soles4Souls’ peer-to-peer giving process begins with selecting a donation amount. The individual donor is prompted to select a recommended gift amount or enter their preferred number. Then they’ll either opt to give once or make it a monthly donation. Donors can also dedicate their donation or provide an additional comment alongside their gift.

Meanwhile, in the left panel, the donor is met with compelling imagery and a brief overview of the organization’s mission.

2. The individual provides current employment information.

In the next step of this multi-page peer-to-peer giving experience, Soles4Souls’ donors are encouraged to double their donation’s impact with a matching gift. To drive this process forward, the individual is asked to provide the name of their current employer. From there, the peer-to-peer fundraising software searches Double the Donation’s extensive database of corporate matching gift information to provide eligibility details.

3. The individual reviews and submits their donation.

Finally, donors reach the payment screen, where they can choose from multiple payment options, including credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Venmo, and bank transfer. Individuals are also given the option to cover their transaction costs, ensuring 100% of the contribution goes to Soles4Souls.

4. The individual receives an email follow-up prompting them to submit their matching gift.

Once an individual finalizes their Soles4Souls donation using the organization’s peer-to-peer fundraising software, a personalized email is automatically sent to their inbox. These follow-up messages contain additional matching gift resources, including direct links to donors’ matching gift submission portals, as well as an easy way to communicate status updates with Soles4Souls’ team.

Smart Tips for Choosing Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software

Here are some final tips to evaluate your top peer-to-peer fundraising software picks and purchase the best technology for your cause:

Consider scalability.

Look to the future in terms of whether the software can grow alongside your organization. If your team is currently on the smaller side, it might be tempting to opt for a free or low-cost solution with limited functionality. However, you don’t want to be back at square one in the buying process a few years from now if the platform stops meeting your needs.

Consider integrations in your overall tech stack.

Before making any software buying decisions, consider your overall technology ecosystem. Ask questions like:

Does the peer-to-peer platform offer a built-in payment processor, or does it integrate with one that you’re open to using?
Does your fundraising platform have a native integration with your existing CRM, enabling peer-to-peer giving data to flow seamlessly into your donor database?
Does the system integrate with your matching gift fundraising tools to identify and follow up with potential matches?

Consider these questions before making your investment. Otherwise, you may end up with limited functionality and have a difficult time expanding your tech system without easy, ready-built integration options.

Rate your highest and lowest priorities.

Unfortunately, you might not find a peer-to-peer fundraising tool that meets all of your organization’s desired criteria. Perhaps you’ll be drawn to Feature A from Provider B, though Provider C offers innovative Feature D⁠. Meanwhile, Provider E has a significantly reduced price point.

Simplify your choice by determining your organization’s highest and lowest priorities. For example, you might prioritize things this way: functionality → accessibility → integrations → cost⁠. Meanwhile, another organization might prioritize it this way: cost → accessibility → functionality → integrations.

Get personalized demos to see the tools in action.

Take the software for a test drive with a demo. A software demo allows your team to see the fundraising tools in action and ask questions before making a buying decision. We recommend narrowing your choices to two or three solutions and getting personalized demos of each one.

Keep your fundraisers and end donors in mind.

In a typical fundraiser, your giving platform tends to be used by your team and donors contributing through the platform. Peer-to-peer technology, however, must account for your organization’s internal team, the end donors contributing, and the new “middle-man” in the situation⁠: your volunteer fundraisers.

As you go through the buying process, keep each of these players in mind. Consider the experience from each possible perspective by asking questions like:

Is it easy to set up a fundraising page and share it with family and friends?
Can you easily update the online hub with personal stories, images, and progress toward goals?
How simple is it to make a donation to a specific campaign page?

Considering these questions beforehand can equip your team to make the best peer-to-peer fundraising software decisions, spot potential roadblocks, and troubleshoot concerns.

Resources to Kickstart Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Platform Search

Double the Donation works closely with over 100 of the sector’s top fundraising technology providers. When looking for a best-in-class peer-to-peer fundraising software platform, we recommend getting started with our integration partners.

Navigate to our integrations page to explore the solutions we work with, filter by industry and functionality, and determine whether one is right for your needs.

Want to learn more about nonprofit fundraising technology and how you can provide your team with the right tools? Check out these additional Double the Donation resources:

The Comprehensive Guide to Fundraising Technology. Check out our free eBook to explore a wider range of fundraising tech solutions, what to look for in a provider, and how to make your buying decisions!
How to Thank Donors: 22 Sincere Ideas To Win Donors’ Hearts. Inspire your peer-to-peer donors and volunteer fundraisers to stick around. Reach out with one of these heartfelt thank-you ideas.
Database of Matching Gift and Volunteer Grant Companies. Elevate your organization’s peer-to-peer fundraising initiatives with our comprehensive workplace giving database and ensure your donors have access to the program information they need.

Corporate and Foundation Relations: A Guide for Universities

June 4, 2024/in Learning Center, Fundraising Ideas /by Adam Weinger

From scholarships to research grants, universities need funding. Much university funding comes from individual donors, but corporations and foundations also play a key role in supporting higher education institutions.

Juggling relationships and grant proposals with multiple corporations and foundations for various university needs can quickly get complicated though. Not to mention, sourcing those funding opportunities can easily be a full-time job for multiple people!

This is where Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) offices come in. In this guide, we’ll break down what CFR is, why universities need CFR offices, and how to set their CFR office up for success.

What are corporate and foundation relations?

Many corporations and foundations offer grants that are applicable to universities. As such, universities seek out and maintain relationships with these organizations to secure funding opportunities, such as:

Research grants. Ongoing research projects can take months or even years to produce results. To keep your students and faculty’s work going strong, they may need research grants. While individual researchers may need to apply for these grants themselves, their university can put them in touch with or at least point them toward grant opportunities they are likely to win.

Work placements. Post-graduation plans are probably top of mind for many of your students, and universities with positive relationships with businesses can help their students get their foot in the door with their corporate partners. Along with work placements, this might take the form of yearly internships, spots at job fairs, and Q&A sessions with students.

Partnerships. Ongoing partnerships with corporations and foundations can provide funding for your university’s major projects or long-term operations. For example, a business might agree to fund the construction and upkeep of a new football stadium and request typical sponsorship perks, such as having its logo featured on signs around the stadium, in return.

While some of these funding opportunities are awarded on a merit basis—whether on the part of an individual student, the university, or a specific department—having a positive relationship with the grantmaking organization will almost always improve the odds of receiving support.

What do Corporate and Foundation Relations Offices do?

CFR offices help keep their universities funded by finding corporations and foundations and building relationships with them. By doing so, they help students and their university as a whole by:

Networking. When students need grant funding, only some will know where to look for these opportunities, let alone how to cultivate a relationship with the grantmakers. CFR offices work hard to establish networks of corporate and foundation partners they can then put students and faculty in contact with.
Negotiating opportunities. Negotiating grants and financial partnerships requires special skills, and CFR offices act as the intermediary between their universities, businesses, and foundations. Along with helping students and faculty find worthwhile funding opportunities, CFR offices also talk with businesses about what their university can offer them, whether it’s talented new employees or the positive reputation boost of supporting a higher education institution.
Securing funding. Only some foundations have work opportunities for students. Instead, they typically provide valuable grants. CFR offices help manage these grants and work with individual foundations to identify specific areas at the university or create new initiatives the grantmaking organization would want to fund.

Students and faculty can focus on research, career development, and university life while CFR offices put in the work to keep these activities funded. Corporate and foundation relationship networks don’t crop up overnight, and CFR offices keep these lines of communication open to benefit their universities and partners alike.

What tools and resources do Corporate and Foundation Relations Offices need?

With a complex web of connections to track, CFR offices employ various resources and specialized software solutions to stay organized, identify opportunities, and keep lines of communication open. Here are a few top tools and resources your university’s CFR office needs.

1. Cooperation with Other University Offices

CFR offices don’t act alone. To minimize confusion and create a cohesive experience for external partners and internal university members, CFR offices work with your university’s fundraising team, campus administrators, and faculty.

For example, a foundation may be interested in providing grant funding for research related to climate change. The CFR office would then need to reach out to various academic departments at your university to find programs and specific researchers whose work aligns with the foundation’s interests.

Or, the university’s fundraising team may secure a sponsorship with a business and then turn over communication to the CFR team that can facilitate funding for specific projects.

To encourage cooperation among university offices, ensure the heads of your university’s various offices understand what corporate and foundation relationships are and what your CFR office does. Additionally, improve your CFR office’s website to make it clear what the office’s purpose is, what opportunities they have available, and how various interested parties can get in touch with them. Here’s an example of Cornell University’s foundation partnerships page that checks all of these boxes:

2. A Reliable Network of Connections

CFR offices are valuable due to their extensive networks of corporate and foundation connections. These networks are built on mutually beneficial arrangements and trust agreements that can take years to cultivate. As such, your CFR office’s personnel are one of your university’s most important resources.

Some team members may bring in networks and relationships they’ve developed themselves, whereas others new to CFR work may still have extensive knowledge of grantmaking and corporate philanthropy.

Support your CFR office by finding new ways for them to connect and build stronger relationships with prospects. This might involve hosting events, having flexibility in what types of projects you’ll support, and investing in necessary prospect research tools.

3. Corporate and Foundation Research Tools

Many prospective corporate and foundation partners can be sourced through your CFR office’s network. However, to assess these prospects and discover new prospects, CFR offices can benefit from corporate and foundation research tools.

Specifically, two research tools you should consider investing in for your CFR office include:

Grant research tools. Many foundations do very little, if any, promotion for their grant opportunities. To find and create relationships with these organizations, CFR offices can leverage a grant research database. Look for databases that specialize in research grants for academics.
Corporate giving database. Some companies publicize their philanthropic activities, but tracking down the minute details can be a challenge. With corporate giving databases, CFR offices can discover companies’ giving histories to identify if they give to higher education institutions like your university.

Additionally, consider how other fundraising tools can help facilitate relationships with corporations and foundations. For example, your CFR office may help negotiate a matching gift challenge with a business wherein the business agrees to match all donations made within a certain period of time. To track this fundraiser and promote corporate matching gifts to your school’s donors even after the challenge, you may consider matching gift software.

More Resources for Universities

Corporations and foundations have the power to open doors for your university’s community. To connect with these partners, your CFR office needs support to pursue long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with funders. And your university can provide that help with the right tools, resources, and knowledge.

To expand your knowledge of the university fundraising space even further, explore these resources:

Get on the Path to Earning Grants: 10 Grant Research Tools. Grants are a core part of relationships with corporations and foundations. Discover grant opportunities and start connecting with funders.
Alumni Fundraising: A Complete Guide to Winning More Support. Alumni fundraising is essential for all higher education institutions. Learn how to connect with your students post-graduation in this complete guide.
10+ Higher Education Fundraising Conferences to Attend. The world of higher education fundraising is constantly advancing, and conferences are your go-to place for staying up to date with the latest trends. Explore these conferences and how they can help improve your fundraising expertise.

Tracking Volunteer Time Off: A How-To Guide [& Template]

May 23, 2024/in Learning Center, About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

In today’s competitive landscape, nonprofits are constantly looking for new ways to attract and retain dedicated volunteers. Fortunately, one way to incentivize and enhance engagement in volunteer activities involves rallying volunteers to participate in their employers’ Volunteer Time Off programs. In order to do so effectively, your organization will first need to establish a system for tracking volunteer time off.

That’s where this guide comes in!

VTO offers volunteers flexibility from professional commitments by freeing up their time to support their favorite causes. By leveraging these programs in your engagement efforts, your organization can create a supportive environment that values and encourages volunteers’ time.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What is Volunteer Time Off Tracking?
Benefits of Tracking Volunteer Time Off For Nonprofits
Volunteer Time Off Metrics Your Nonprofit Should Track
Types of Tools For Tracking Volunteer Time Off
Bonus! Free Template For Tracking Volunteer Time Off

Read on to gain the tools and knowledge needed to seamlessly track VTO for your organization and its supporters. Discover practical tips designed to streamline the experience, ensuring your dedicated volunteers feel valued and empowered to continue their support.

What is Volunteer Time Off Tracking?

Businesses with generous employee volunteer incentives, such as paid VTO hours, often require an established process for staff to request and track their volunteer time off. While it can vary from one company to the next, the process of tracking volunteer time generally involves two key components:

A request for time off, completed and submitted by the employee to the company before the volunteer event
A detailed hour-tracking log, completed and submitted by the employee (and sometimes verified by the organization) to the company after the volunteer event

Depending on the company a volunteer works for, the specific steps they’ll take⁠ and the tools they’ll use to track their time can differ. This may range from a Google Form or paper sign-in sheet to a complete Human Resources Information System (HRIS) or corporate Volunteer Management Software (VMS).

Here’s what a few employers’ policies say about tracking volunteer time off:

“Employees must receive prior approval from their supervisor before using paid time off for external volunteer activities. Requests for external volunteer paid time off should be made in writing and with reasonable advance notice.”
— ASU Enterprise Technology

“VTO must be requested 30 days in advance and approved by the immediate supervisor. The supervisor will review the request and confirm or deny approval. The department may require acceptable proof that VTO time taken is within the purpose of this policy.”
— Baylor College of Medicine

“VTO leave is to be used exclusively for volunteer activities, and employees will be required to submit written confirmation from the non-profit organization of their volunteer time to their supervisor within one business day to be paid. The Workday system will be updated to allow management to properly classify this time as VTO.”
⁠— City of Akron

“Upon completion of volunteering, the employee must complete the online Volunteer Time Off Tracking Form within three business days of the time off (hourly employees will also use VOL when tracking their hours in Kronos).”
— Dartmouth

Benefits of Tracking Volunteer Time Off For Nonprofits

Tracking volunteer hours for corporate Volunteer Time Off programs offers numerous advantages for organizations. This is especially true as they aim to ramp up the impact of their volunteer programs by effectively utilizing VTO.

Here are some key benefits:

Streamlining the VTO Request Process ⁠— When volunteer hours are tracked effectively and efficiently, it simplifies the process for volunteers to receive their paid-out time. The more positive their workplace giving experience is, the more inclined they’ll be to participate in other giving programs down the line!

Verifying Volunteers’ VTO Requests ⁠— Some companies will want your organization to confirm the accuracy of their employees’ volunteer hour requests. Effective time-tracking practices make it easy for your team to do so with verifiable documentation, thereby establishing a sense of transparency while reducing the administrative lift required.

Ensuring Accurate Reimbursement — Proper hour-tracking ensures that volunteers are reimbursed accurately for their time. When financial roadblocks are removed, your volunteers will be more likely to support your efforts again and again.

Identifying Volunteer Grant Opportunities ⁠— There’s often an overlap between companies offering VTO and companies offering volunteer grants (or Dollars for Doers). That means some of your volunteers’ companies might even be willing to contribute grant funding to your organization, depending on the number of hours their employees spend with your cause. With effective time-tracking practices in place for your volunteer base, you can uncover opportunities to further engage your supporters and receive additional revenue through the programs.

Volunteer Time Off Metrics Your Nonprofit Should Track

As you begin implementing your plan for tracking volunteer time off, it’s important to understand which metrics your organization should be focusing on. We recommend selecting a few KPIs (or key performance indicators) that can help your team narrow its efforts and measure its successes.

These could include…

Total number of volunteers receiving VTO. The total count of volunteers who have been granted and utilized VTO by their employers within a specific period.
- Example: 15 Cat Rescue Club volunteers participated in their employers’ VTO programs in a single year.
VTO eligibility rate. The portion of volunteers who qualify for Volunteer Time Off programs through their employers. To calculate the percentage, simply divide the total number of volunteers by the number of VTO-eligible volunteers; then, multiply by 100.
- Example: Out of 50 regular volunteers, 20 individuals were identified as working for companies with VTO programs. That puts the eligibility rate at 40%!
VTO hours by program or activity. The total number of Volunteer Time Off hours logged by volunteers for specific projects, activities, or initiatives.
- Example: Of the 15 volunteers receiving paid time to volunteer through their employers, 10 individuals contributed 100 hours to pet care, while 5 contributed 30 hours to fundraising or marketing-related programming.
Average number of VTO hours per volunteer. The average number of VTO hours taken by each volunteer within a specific timeframe. To calculate this figure, divide the total number of VTO hours by the number of volunteers utilizing VTO.
- Example: If 15 volunteers spent a total of 130 hours supporting your cause through their VTO programs, the average number of VTO hours spent per person comes to 8.6 hours.
The estimated value of VTO support. The total monetary value of volunteer hours contributed through VTO programs. To estimate the monetary value, multiply the total number of VTO hours by the standard hourly rate for volunteer time (~$33.49).
- Example: At the standard hourly rate, 130 hours donated through VTO programs produces a value of approximately $500 for your organization.
VTO volunteer retention rate. The percentage of VTO-participating volunteers who continue to donate their time over multiple periods through a VTO program.
- Example: If 5 of the 15 VTO-participating volunteers donate their time again the following year, the retention rate would be 33.3%.

Types of Tools For Tracking Volunteer Time Off

Nonprofits have a few different options for tracking Volunteer Time Off, each with its own unique set of pros and cons. While the best kind of tool for your organization will depend on your team’s wants and needs, here’s a breakdown of the most common types:

Manual tracking systems, such as Google Forms, spreadsheets, or written logs. These tools are generally free to use, making them accessible for nonprofits with limited budgets. However, functionality is fairly limited, and organizations are required to devote more time to overhead as a result.

Volunteer management software, including solutions for automated tracking, reporting, and communication. Plus, it enhances the volunteer experience, making it easier than ever to sign up for shifts and track their time. You can even look for a VMS with corporate partnership functionality, too!

Human Resources Information Systems, or HRIS, which often facilitate philanthropy through a company’s payroll or HR portals. This is generally where individuals would request other forms of paid time off, too, making it a conveniently located opportunity.

Corporate giving database tools, like Double the Donation! While not actively a volunteer management system, 360MatchPro Volunteer Hub makes it easy for organizations and their volunteers to access program guidelines and company-specific instructions for tracking time.

Overall, choosing the right platform for tracking Volunteer Time Off depends on your nonprofit’s size, budget, and specific needs. Assess your organization’s resources and requirements to select the most suitable and effective solution for managing VTO and enhancing volunteer engagement.

Either way, it’s crucial that you ensure your team (and its volunteers) are equipped with the best tools to provide the best user experience. The easier it is for volunteer time to be tracked, the higher participation rates you can expect to see through the programs!

Bonus! Free Template For Tracking Volunteer Time Off

Ready to get started? Below is a template your team can use to document volunteers’ time as they engage with your organization.

We recommend exploring dedicated software to streamline and simplify the time-tracking process. However, the following log will provide a foundation for accurate record-keeping, growing engagement, and increased transparency in collaborations.

Basic Volunteer Time Off (VTO) Tracking Template

Organization Name: _______________________________________
Volunteer Role (position or activity): ____________________________

Volunteer Name: _________________________________________
Volunteer Email Address (work email): __________________________
Volunteer Phone Number: ___________________________________

—

VTO Pre-Approval Request Form

Date of Request: [MM/DD/YYYY]

Date(s) of VTO Activity: [MM/DD/YYYY]
Total VTO Hours Requested: __________

Description of activity/Reason for VTO: _______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

—

Volunteer Time-Tracking Log

Name Activity Date Check-In Check-Out Total # Hours

Hour Verification by Nonprofit: ☐
Volunteer Supervisor Signature: ______________________________________

💡 Get a free downloadable version of the VTO hour-tracking template here!

Wrapping Up & Next Steps

Whether you’re looking to identify existing volunteers or expand your network with new prospects, an efficient tracking mechanism is crucial. This makes it easy for individuals to participate in their employers’ programming, thus incentivizing ongoing involvement. Plus, it can also drastically reduce the overhead required of your team to manage the initiatives. In doing so, you foster a culture of community and support.

A well-structured VTO program can be a powerful tool for attracting new volunteers, retaining existing ones, and advancing your mission. Embrace the opportunity to support your devoted volunteers, and watch as your nonprofit continues to thrive.

Interested in learning more about tracking volunteer time off and other ways to maximize your corporate and individual engagement? Check out these recommended resources:

Volunteer Time Off | The Ultimate VTO Guide For Nonprofits. Grow your knowledge on all things volunteer time off with our complete guide to the programs. Explore top companies offering VTO, guidelines and criteria to know, and more.
Free Download: The Ultimate Guide to Matching Gifts. In addition to volunteer time off, one of the most widely available types of giving programs is matching gifts. See how your organization can supercharge engagement with matching here!
The Complete Fundraiser’s Guide to Corporate Giving Opportunities. Go beyond the basics and dive deep into your nonprofit’s corporate giving strategies. Get familiar with common types of programs, their benefits, and how to get started.

Scale up your organization's corporate volunteer strategy with 360MatchPro 💡

A Deep Dive into Marketing Volunteer Time Off for Nonprofits

May 17, 2024/in Marketing Strategies, Donor communications, Learning Center, About Double the Donation /by Adam Weinger

Paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO) programs continue to gain traction as companies boost their CSR while engaging employees in meaningful community activities. These initiatives not only reflect a company’s commitment to social impact but also empower organizations to make the most of their volunteer base. However, despite the growing prevalence of VTO, there’s a significant knowledge gap regarding workplace giving initiatives⁠—even among eligible supporters. And that’s where a well-thought-out plan for marketing volunteer time off to your audience will come in handy!

In this post, we’ll dive into the world of Volunteer Time Off for nonprofits and share key recommendations for effectively promoting VTO. Here’s what we’ll cover:

What Is Volunteer Time Off?
Why Does Marketing Volunteer Time Off Matter?
10 Top Strategies For Marketing Volunteer Time Off at Your Org
Bonus: Free Sample Volunteer Time Off Marketing Materials

Read on to explore the transformative impact corporate volunteer initiatives like these can have on your organization, its mission, and your community as a whole.

Let’s get started!

What Is Volunteer Time Off?

Volunteer Time Off (which is also referred to as VTO, paid-release volunteer time, or employer-sponsored volunteerism) is a unique benefit that allows employees to spend typical work hours volunteering with charitable causes. This type of program supplies additional time off, above and beyond any existing vacation or sick leave, and is specifically designated for team members to participate in volunteer activities.

VTO programs vary among companies in terms of eligibility criteria, time off granted, submission processes, and more. Some companies offer a set number of VTO hours per year, while others allow employees to use VTO on a flexible basis. The types of volunteer activities permitted can also range from community service projects to skills-based volunteerism and more.

Why Does Marketing Volunteer Time Off Matter?

As a form of corporate partnership, the purpose of Volunteer Time Off is multi-fold. First, the programs enable companies to demonstrate commitment to social responsibility and engage employees in meaningful ways. At the same time, employees are presented with a unique opportunity to give back to their communities and support their favorite causes—like yours⁠—without missing a day’s wages. This fulfills individuals’ desires to make a positive impact and fosters a sense of purpose in their work inside and outside the office.

For nonprofits, the availability of volunteer time off widens the prospective supporter pool, incentivizing individual involvement and significantly increasing engagement. However, many employees are unaware of the VTO programs offered by their employers, leading to a missed opportunity for companies and nonprofits alike.

That’s why marketing the programs is so essential, and why organizations like yours are taking increasingly proactive steps to drive awareness among their audiences. When done well, simply highlighting VTO opportunities in donor- and volunteer-facing materials will allow you to bridge the knowledge gap and unlock a new avenue for community involvement.

10 Top Strategies For Marketing Volunteer Time Off at Your Org

Crafting a Volunteer Time Off marketing plan is essential for organizations looking to supercharge volunteerism and engage supporters with corporate incentives. So, how, specifically, will you increase awareness of the programs among your audience to maximize participation? We recommend implementing the following strategies and best practices in your efforts.

1. Establish Volunteer Time Off metrics and KPIs to track.

When it comes to marketing just about anything⁠—including volunteer time off⁠ and other corporate giving programs—determining which KPIs⁠ (or Key Performance Indicators⁠) your team will track is an essential first step. Implementing the appropriate metrics in your promotional plan allows you to measure the effectiveness of your VTO program and identify opportunities for improvement in your strategy.

These might include:

Volunteer participation rates
Number of existing volunteers using VTO
Number of first-time volunteers using VTO
Total number of hours donated through VTO programs
Average number of VTO hours used by volunteers
Number of companies offering VTO for your volunteers
VTO volunteer retention rate
Tangible project impact
Digital engagement (email clicks, social media likes, etc.)

By tracking these indicators and more, you can supercharge your efforts with data-driven decisions, demonstrate the program’s value to stakeholders, and optimize volunteer engagement. And that will set you up for successful marketing as you begin promoting the opportunities to supporters.

P.S. It’s easy to track these metrics and more with 360MatchPro Volunteer Hub!

2. Look at examples of other organizations’ VTO marketing efforts.

If your organization has yet to begin promoting volunteer time off to your audience, it can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not sure where to start. Fortunately, studying successful examples from your peers and other organizations’ VTO marketing efforts can provide valuable insights and inspiration.

Take a look at the following web pages from two nonprofits sharing information about Volunteer Time Off programs with their supporters:

Example #1

Example #2

Each one provides an essential overview of the opportunity, and analyzing their strategies can help identify best practices, innovative ideas, and common pitfalls to avoid.

3. Provide an overview of VTO basics on your nonprofit website.

As the examples showcase above, one of the best ways to promote volunteer time off to your supporters is to share information about the programs on your nonprofit or school’s website. After all, your website is an invaluable resource for volunteers and donors looking to get further involved with your organization. It makes sense for VTO to be a featured opportunity!

If you already have a Volunteers’ page on your site, be sure to add a blurb about Volunteer Time Off there⁠—along with instructions on how individuals can locate their companies’ guidelines. You can also include information on your workplace giving or “Ways to Give” pages or even dedicate a brand new page to all things VTO.

Regardless, a clear and concise overview can serve as an essential incentive for volunteer engagement. By making this information easily accessible on your site, you can educate visitors, encourage more individuals to take advantage of VTO, and reduce barriers to participation.

Top tip: Once you have VTO content live on your website, use Google’s Ad Grants program to promote the page to a wider audience at no cost!

4. Share impact-focused volunteer time off content on social media.

Another way to spread the word about Volunteer Time Off programs is by sharing information from your organization’s social media profiles. For the best results, the content you publish should highlight the benefits of volunteerism on your cause and emphasize the convenience with which individuals can support your efforts.

Try scheduling a combination of informational content, mission impact stories, volunteer testimonials, statistics and research, participating companies, step-by-step instructions, and more. Across all your posts, keep in mind platform-specific best practices, such as regarding multimedia materials, hashtags, linking strategies, and more.

Remember: Social media is a powerful tool. Use it to show supporters how they can do even more to move your mission forward in tangible, hands-on ways. As a result, you can amplify your organization’s message, attract new supporters, and build a growing community around your cause.

5. Source employment information from volunteers and donors.

In order to locate opportunities for supporters to take VTO while volunteering with your cause, you’ll need access to their employment data. It should be a no-brainer that you’ll want to know where your volunteers work⁠. However, you shouldn’t overlook the VTO potential of your donors, either! Most organizations’ donors and volunteers overlap by a significant amount⁠—and volunteer incentives like VTO can help encourage even more donors to give their time.

So, how can you get the information if it’s not already available? One of the easiest ways is to request employment data directly within your volunteer registration forms, donation pages, and more. However, other identification methods may include the usage of a matching gift company search tool, email domain screening, data appends service, and more.

6. Inform volunteers about VTO opportunities within onboarding.

Make sure volunteers are familiar with the idea of volunteer time off from the start of their engagement to ensure available opportunities do not go unclaimed. For this, we recommend incorporating VTO information directly within the onboarding or training processes.

This approach helps set expectations, drives immediate engagement, and encourages volunteers to see if they qualify. Early education about VTO can also enhance volunteer retention and satisfaction by making it easy for eligible supporters to get paid while supporting your cause!

7. Send personalized follow-ups after volunteer activities.

Personalized follow-ups help build a stronger relationship between each volunteer and the nonprofits they support, thus increasing the likelihood of ongoing engagement and retention. As you begin implementing a plan for marketing volunteer time off for your cause, you don’t want to overlook the power of personalized communication.

Here’s how this can work:

Let’s say your organization gains a new volunteer who works for Warner Media, which you know offers a generous amount of VTO. After the individual’s first volunteer shift, you decide to send a tailored thank-you note. The note should demonstrate your appreciation of the individual’s support and remind them about their company’s volunteer incentives.

When the individual reads the message, they’re ultimately inspired to complete the request process for their employer to count their hours toward the Volunteer Time Off program.

If you have access to program guidelines or submission instructions, that information can help simplify the experience for your volunteer, too!

8. Encourage VTO-eligible supporters to organize group events.

One of the most impactful ways to promote volunteer time off is by leaning into word-of-mouth marketing. To demonstrate the value, let’s say the same volunteer continues supporting your organization with their VTO. You already know the individual works for a company that offers volunteer time off for its employees. One of the best ways to get more VTO-eligible supporters through your doors is to empower existing volunteers to organize group events with their peers.

If Volunteer A receives dedicated VTO hours, it can be assumed that Volunteer A’s colleagues can likely request VTO, as well⁠. That means you’ll have a larger pool of individuals willing to do important work for your cause without facing the impact of a lost day’s wages.

Bonus: Free Sample Volunteer Time Off Marketing Materials

Ready to jump into marketing volunteer time off to your audience, but not sure where to begin? Feel free to use these sample graphics as a starting point.

Sample #1: General VTO Overview

Here’s what this example does well:

With an attention-grabbing header and concluding with a clickable CTA button, this sample focuses on driving action among volunteers. When users click the button to learn more, they should be directed to a VTO resource on your site. There, it should overview the opportunity in detail and instruct supporters on how to determine their eligibility for the programs.

Sample #2: Informational Infographic

Here’s what this example does well:

An infographic can be an excellent way to share tons of important information in an engaging and visually appealing manner. This sample content highlights a few key insights from our Volunteer Time Off statistics page, providing a helpful snapshot of the opportunity for nonprofits and their supporters.

Sample #3: Defining Volunteer Time Off

Here’s what this example does well:

It’s important for your audience to have a solid understanding of VTO programs before you can expect them to participate. Therefore, starting at the beginning with an easy-to-understand definition allows you to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page.

Sample #4: VTO Company Spotlight

Here’s what this example does well:

One of the best ways to ensure supporters understand the VTO opportunity is to highlight real examples of the programs. This sample marketing material does so well by sharing specific guidelines and insights regarding the highlighted company’s programming. Plus, it encourages the organization’s audience to self-identify as eligible for the particular program!

Wrapping Up & Next Steps: Start Growing VTO

Volunteer Time Off programs can drive significant social impact for nonprofits, their supporters, and the companies interested in giving back. As a result, the opportunity is not one that should be overstated.

Start by encouraging your audience to tap into VTO and other workplace giving initiatives. From there, your team can harness the power of employee volunteerism to advance its mission more effectively than ever before.

Interested in supercharging your organization’s corporate engagement strategy? Check out these recommended resources for further reading:

Volunteer Time Off Companies | Top Programs to Know. Tons of businesses offer VTO opportunities for their employees. Explore our compilation of leading companies with volunteer time off to see examples.
Maximizing Impact With Corporate Volunteer Grant Programs. Volunteer incentives can go beyond volunteer time off, too. Learn all about volunteer grants, or Dollars for Doers, in this complete guide.
Free Download: The Ultimate Guide to Corporate Matching Gifts. Matching gifts are one of the most widely available forms of corporate giving. See how your nonprofit can maximize its fundraising here!

The Power of Email Domain Screening For Matching Gifts

May 10, 2024/in Learning Center, About Double the Donation, Marketing Strategies /by Adam Weinger

Find out how email domain screening can bring your organization’s matching gift fundraising to new heights.

Matching gifts supply a powerful revenue source that allows nonprofits to amplify individual generosity by leveraging corporate philanthropy. These programs, through which corporations match employees’ donations to charitable causes, hold immense potential for bolstering fundraising and driving growth.

However, despite the widespread availability of matching gift programs, nonprofits often struggle to fully capitalize on this funding channel. Many supporters remain unaware of the opportunity, and identifying eligible donors on your own can be a time-consuming process.

Fortunately, there are a few ways organizations can uncover match-eligible gifts in their donor base with varying levels of ease. In this guide, we’re going to focus on one in particular: email domain screening.

Table of Contents

What is Email Domain Screening?
The Email Domain Screening Process
How Email Domain Screening Uncovers More Matching Gifts
Other Ways to Identify Matching Gift Opportunities

By reading this guide, you’re already on your way to identifying and collecting more matching gifts. Now, let’s dive in to explore the role that email domain screening can play in this endeavor.

What is Email Domain Screening?

As donors give online, they’re generally asked to provide an email address within an organization’s donation form. While some choose to share a personal email (think: addresses ending in gmail.com, yahoo.com, outlook.com, etc.), others opt to use their business emails (e.g., name@company.com) to make their gifts.

This can be a great way to uncover match-eligible gifts using an email domain screening process.

So, how does it work? When it comes to uncovering matching gifts, email domain screening involves an organization (or a dedicated software solution it enlists) checking for donations made using corporate email addresses.

Domain screening streamlines the identification of eligible donors using information your supporters are already sharing. In the end, it simplifies the matching gift process for donors and maximizes the funds your organization collects through the programs.

The Email Domain Screening Process

The better your team understands the email domain screening process, the more equipped you’ll be to boost your organization’s matching gift revenue. Take a look at the following walkthrough to learn more about each stage involved.

Step #1: Data Collection
As donors give online, the software collects their personal information, including email addresses and other contact information. The system also captures employment-related data, such as the donor’s employer name, if provided, and the associated email domain.
Step #2: Domain Extraction
The software extracts the domain part of each donor’s email address. For example, if a donor makes a gift using the email john.doe@homedepot.com, the extracted domain would be homedepot.com. From there, the organization can establish that the individual (likely) works for the Home Depot, and update its records accordingly.
Step #3: Database Matching
From there, transaction records for individuals who do provide corporate emails are scanned against known matching gift suppliers. This is generally done using a matching gift database (complete with guidelines and documentation for thousands of participating companies) or a list of top companies to uncover vital employment and eligibility insights.

Then, donors whose email domains match with participating companies are identified as potentially eligible for matching gifts!
Step #4: Retrieval of Company Info
For each eligible donor, the organization or software retrieves employer-specific matching gift information. These insights generally include minimum and maximum donation amounts, match ratios, submission deadlines, and direct links to online request forms based on the company extracted from the individual’s corporate email address.
Step #5: Personalized Donor Outreach
Once matching gift information is retrieved, the organization or software solution generates targeted communications for eligible donors. (Hint: if you’re looking to save staff time, an automation tool is a must-have!)

These communications should inform donors about their eligibility for matching gifts and provide guidance on how the recipient can initiate the matching gift process. Whenever possible, this should include instructions on how to submit a match, any relevant forms or links, and additional documentation required by the employer.

How Email Domain Screening Uncovers More Matching Gifts

Email domain screening can significantly benefit an organization’s matching gift strategy. In fact, vetting donations made using a corporate email address can result in tons of new donors being flagged as matching gift eligible. All in all, that leads to more than a 1% increase in total revenue for nonprofits each year.

Let’s see what this means by the numbers for a few types of organizations:

Small nonprofits ⁠raising $100,000–$250,000 a year ⁠tend to see a return of $1,000 to $2,500 from email domain screening.
Medium nonprofits ⁠raising between $250,000 and $1 million a year ⁠⁠tend to see a return of $2,500 to $10,000 from email domain screening.
Large nonprofits ⁠raising over $1 million a year ⁠tend to see a return of $10,000 or more from email domain screening.

But the benefits don’t end there, either! In addition to direct financial returns, email domain screening also empowers fundraisers to…

Learn more about the supporters in their networks while building out increasingly well-rounded donor profiles
Encourage individual donors to take advantage of available corporate matching gift opportunities
Implement tailored communications using employment insights gathered from corporate email addresses
Maximize fundraising performance by streamlining the matching gift identification process
Allocate resources more efficiently, freeing up staff time to focus on other valuable fundraising and mission-relevant activities
Identify some of their most valuable corporate partners with which they share key audiences

The best part is that, with the right matching gift software, conducting an email domain screening requires little to no added effort from a nonprofit’s fundraising team. By enlisting this strategy to uncover more match-eligible gifts, organizations like yours can amplify their impact and achieve their goals more effectively than ever before.

Other Ways to Identify Matching Gift Opportunities

So far, we’ve talked a lot about email domain screening in this guide⁠. And while it’s a sound strategy for organizations looking to give their matching gift efforts a boost, it’s certainly not the only way to determine donors’ eligibility.

On average, nonprofits report that between 5% and 7% of donors use corporate email domains when completing their initial gifts. So, what can you do to supplement domain screening and engage with the remaining portion of your supporter base?

Let’s quickly walk through some other leading ways nonprofits can uncover matching gifts from within their networks. Keep in mind that the more screening mechanisms you enlist, the greater the likelihood that you’ll capture every opportunity without letting matches fall astray.

Enlisting multiple identification methods allows fundraisers to identify up to 30% more match-eligible donors.

Source: https://doublethedonation.com/matching-gift-statistics/

1. Embed a company search tool on your donation form.

Make it as easy as possible for donors to provide employment information directly as they give⁠—even if they opt not to use a corporate email address. When an individual makes a contribution through your online donation form, ensure they encounter a field where they can input the name of the company they work for. Even better would be an auto-completing search tool, such as the one powered by Double the Donation!

(P.S. Our company database search tool integrates with nearly all leading donation platforms and CRMs, making it a seamless opportunity to connect the solutions.)

DIVE INTO THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE MATCHING GIFT DATABASE

2. Add a matching gift widget to your confirmation screen.

After donors complete their gifts, they’ll generally be directed to a confirmation page on your site. Here, they should be thanked for their gift and provided with recommended next steps. And when you incorporate a matching gift tool on your confirmation screen, donors will have yet another chance to supply employment data.

Such a widget allows each donor to quickly search for their employer’s matching gift program by typing in the business name. If a program from their employing company is found, the individual can be marked as match-eligible in real time and encouraged to complete a matching gift request on your behalf.

FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN IMPLEMENT MATCHING GIFTS IN THE DONATION PROCESS

3. Enlist email follow-up outreach.

Following a donor’s contribution, send a personalized follow-up email thanking them for their support and inviting them to provide their employment information if they haven’t already.

This email should also supply instructions on how donors can uncover their own eligibility⁠—such as by reaching out to their company’s HR department or CSR team.

EXPLORE TIPS AND TRICKS FOR MARKETING MATCHING GIFTS IN EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

4. Consider an employer append service.

Regardless of the methods you use to collect employment information and identify match-eligible gifts, you’re going to have some gaps in your donor records. And that’s where a data enhancement service⁠—specifically an employer append⁠—can come in handy.

All you need to do is partner with a data appends provider and supply the company with the information you have in your existing records. From there, the appending company conducts a variety of enrichment processes to augment each profile with fresh insights gleaned from a wide array of data sources⁠—including employment information and matching gift eligibility.

SEE HOW YOU CAN APPEND EMPLOYER DATA TO YOUR DONOR RECORDS

5. Conduct a bulk matching gift screening.

If you already have accurate and up-to-date employment information for your donors, there’s another type of data enhancement service you can consider. That’s a bulk matching gift screening, where you provide an appends provider with your donors’ names, the companies they work for, and other data insights. Then, the appending company screens your donor profiles against its database of matching gift information and indicates each individual’s likely matching gift eligibility.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR BULK MATCHING GIFT SCREENING SERVICES

Wrapping Up

Email domain screening offers nonprofits an invaluable opportunity to uncover more matching gifts and transform their fundraising endeavors. By utilizing this technology, organizations like yours can tap into the vast pool of matching gift opportunities provided by corporate employers.

In doing so, you’ll reap benefits like streamlined identification practices (driving operational efficiency), heightened donor engagement, and increased revenue for your mission.

Interested in learning more about matching gifts and other fundraising strategies? Check out these recommended resources:

Top 20+ Matching Gift Companies: Leaders in Corporate Giving. Explore this list of companies leading the way in corporate giving. Check out examples of generous matching gift employers and see if your donors work for them!
Free Download: The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Matching Gifts. Master the art of marketing matching gifts with the complete downloadable guide. Learn proven strategies and tips for promoting matching gift programs to your donors effectively.
Matching Gift Process | A Complete Step-by-Step Guide. Understanding the ins and outs of matching gifts is essential for guiding donors through the process. Walk through each step to learn what’s required of you and your supporters.

Nonprofit Data Collection: How to Gather The Right Insights

May 9, 2024/in Donor communications, Learning Center /by Adam Weinger

From local communities to global movements, effective nonprofit data collection is a silent hero. Collecting nonprofit data involves systematically gathering, analyzing, and using information to track performance, enhance decision-making, and amplify impact. It’s not just about numbers; it’s about understanding your organization’s needs, measuring progress, and strategizing to meet local and global challenges.

Collecting the right data helps organizations like yours understand what works so you can do more good in the world. That way, you can use your resources more efficiently to reach the right supporters and beneficiaries.

In this ultimate guide, we’ll share how nonprofits can collect data effectively and explain how that data can serve as the fuel for transformative action. Here’s what we’ll cover:

How Do Nonprofits Collect Data?
The Importance of Efficient Nonprofit Data Collection
Key Types of Nonprofit Data to Collect
Tips to Improve Your Nonprofit Data Collection

With the right insights, your nonprofit can make a greater impact on the world, whether you’re focused on improving your corporate partnerships, marketing segmentation, finance management, or programs. Let’s dive in!

How Do Nonprofits Collect Data?

Nonprofits can collect data through various methods, depending on their goals, resources, and the nature of the data they need. Here are some common methods and types of data collection software for nonprofits:

Forms: Your nonprofit can use donation forms, volunteer applications, event registrations, and intake forms to gather supporter and beneficiary information. Each form is designed to collect data about different types of recipients. For example, donation forms collect donor data like contact information, donation amount, payment information, employer information for matching purposes, and gift designations.
Surveys and Questionnaires: Nonprofits can use surveys to gather feedback from beneficiaries, donors, and the general public. These questionnaires can be distributed online, via email, social media, or in person.
Marketing Platforms: Nonprofits can view metrics within their digital marketing platforms to understand audience behaviors and tailor messaging. For example, Google Analytics provides information about website visitors, including how much time they spend on specific pages, what content they engage with, and what channels drive them to the site. Meanwhile, email marketing tools provide insights on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions which explain which content and calls to action resonate.
Financial Management Software: Specialized software helps manage and report on financial data like revenue and expenses, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and regulatory requirements.
CRM Systems: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce for Nonprofits, Bloomerang, and Blackbaud store all interactions with supporters and corporate partners, including communications, contact information, contributions, and feedback.

How you collect data depends on which metrics you want to focus on to ensure long-term sustainability and increase impact. Decide on which data will best support your organization and put systems in place to gather it.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Nonprofit Data

There are two categories of nonprofit data you can collect:

Quantitative data refers to information that can be quantified, meaning it can be measured and expressed numerically. Examples include the number of volunteers who participated in an event, the amount of money raised from a fundraiser, the number of website visits, and the number of acquired donors in a certain time frame.
Qualitative data is descriptive data that cannot be assigned a numerical value. This includes information like donor names, anecdotal survey responses, and preferred contact methods.

By leveraging both types of data, nonprofits can gain a more comprehensive understanding of their impact, tailor their services more effectively, and better communicate their successes and challenges to stakeholders.

The Importance of Efficient Nonprofit Data Collection

Nonprofits are expected to compete for time, attention, and money with companies and peer organizations. In fact, the average person sees roughly 5,000 ads per day. Standing out requires speaking to the right people at the right time with the right message. Nonprofit data makes that possible!

Here’s a rundown of the most important benefits of nonprofit data:

Measure impact and see which programs are working
Better understand how to effectively allocate resources (e.g., time, money, and personnel)
Make informed decisions, such as planning new programs based on community needs assessments
Demonstrate accountability by sharing how funds are being used
Deliver timely appeals based on past engagement data to inspire action, raise funds, and cultivate relationships
Send powerful messages at the optimal time by segmenting communications based on interests and preferred communication channels
Communicate program impact and challenges to stakeholders

For an example of nonprofit data in action, imagine an organization dedicated to providing clean water across continents. By collecting data on water quality, community health, and usage patterns, the nonprofit can tailor its initiatives to each region’s specific needs, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and that the solutions are sustainable.

By processing and analyzing data, nonprofits can create targeted interventions, monitor outcomes, and adapt strategies—activities that are crucial in a world where resources are limited and stakes are high.

Key Types of Nonprofit Data to Collect

There are endless types of nonprofit data you can collect, but some are much more helpful than others. For example, you don’t need to know which elements a user hovered over but didn’t click on your website. Unless this metric directly tied to improving user experience, collecting this nonprofit data will only bog down your software.

Let’s explore six types of nonprofit data you should collect.

Supporter Data

Data can tell you a lot about your donors, volunteers, and corporate sponsors. The more you know about your supporters, the better you can tailor your appeals to resonate with them.

Some of the most helpful supporter data to collect includes the following:

Full name, including preferred name and title
Geographic location to send relevant appeals, such as nearby events
Date of birth so you can segment communications based on age and reach out on supporters’ birthdays
Contact information, including email addresses, phone numbers, and postal mailing addresses
Employment details to locate corporate giving opportunities and estimate giving potential
Education, including areas of study to reveal causes they’re likely to support
Giving history such as donation amounts, frequency, gift designations, attended events, and volunteer involvement
Hobbies and interests to understand what opportunities inspire donors
Charitable involvement with other organizations, such as board service or donations

Here’s a sample donor profile to give you an idea of what this data might look like:

Sufficient nonprofit data collection practices will enable you to easily segment your supporters into groups to improve your outreach. The good news is that if some of this information is missing or outdated, data appending services can fill it in. We’ll explore this type of nonprofit data collection service later.

Marketing Data

You know who your supporters are, but do you know how to communicate with them? Collecting marketing data will help you understand what messages resonate and encourage your audience to get involved.

Key marketing data to collect includes:

Website traffic: Pay attention to how many people visit your site, how they get there, what pages they visit, and how long they stay. This information will help you optimize the user experience and set your website up to convert.
Social media engagement: Impressions, likes, shares, and comments tell you whether your social media posts are reaching your audience and encouraging engagement.
Email open and click rates: Are your subscribers opening your emails and clicking through to your site? These metrics let you know how effective your email marketing is. If your open rates are low, experiment with your subject lines and send emails under a real person’s name, like your fundraising director.
Advertising data: If your nonprofit advertises, look at keyword volume and competition. Getting Attention recommends choosing keywords with high search volume and low competition. For your ads themselves, nonprofit data like impressions, ad conversions, click-through rate (CTR), and cost per click (CPC) tell you how well your ads are performing and how much they’re costing you.

To collect this nonprofit data, audit your past marketing efforts and review what information your marketing software automatically collects. In turn, you can learn which platforms and messages drive supporter engagement to set future outreach up for success.

Campaign Data

Collecting campaign data will help evaluate your nonprofit’s effectiveness and better plan campaigns in the future. Important nonprofit campaign data to collect includes:

Donor and volunteer retention rates: Track how many donors or volunteers continue engaging with your organization over time. A donor or volunteer is considered “lapsed” if they haven’t given or volunteered within the past 12 months, but the length of time is up to your organization. High retention rates often indicate strong relationships and effective engagement strategies. Compare your nonprofit data with industry data to gauge success. For instance, Fundraising Report Card’s donor research indicates that the average donor retention rate is approximately 35%.
Event attendance: Measuring attendance at events helps your nonprofit gauge interest and engagement levels and assess the effectiveness of promotion strategies.
Campaign conversions: Monitor data on how many people took the desired action as a result of a campaign, such as donating, signing up to volunteer, or registering for an event. Also, pay attention to how many people your campaign converts into first-time supporters vs. recurring supporters.
Fundraising totals: Track the total funds raised per campaign to assess financial success and allocate your budget to future campaigns.

By systematically collecting campaign data, you can continuously improve your campaigns and invest in the most successful campaigns.

Financial Data

Nonprofits often operate on tight budgets, so keep a close eye on your finances by tracking:

Expenses: Monitor costs associated with delivering programs and running fundraising campaigns. Also, use your financial data collection software to monitor operational and capital costs like salaries, rent, utilities, major equipment, and buildings.
Revenue: Track your income via donations, grants, event fees, product sales, membership sales, and other revenue sources.
Cash-on-hand: This is the total amount of accessible money at any given time from checking accounts or on-premise cash reserves that aren’t reserved or invested. This data indicates how long your nonprofit can survive without donations or funding.

Tracking this information will ensure your nonprofit’s financial health, help meet regulatory requirements, make informed management decisions, and maintain the trust of donors, volunteers, and other key stakeholders.

Corporate Partnership Data

Strong corporate partnerships help expand your nonprofit’s initiatives. Considering these relationships need to be mutually beneficial, you should track data related to your partnerships, such as:

Key contacts: Track the names, positions, and contact details of the primary contacts at the company.
Agreement terms and duration: Monitor the specific terms of the partnership agreements like the objectives and responsibilities of each party so you can fulfill all obligations. Also, know the start and end dates of the agreement.
Renewal conditions: Ensure you know the criteria your nonprofit must meet to have the partnership renewed at the end of the contract’s term.
Financial contributions: Track donation amounts, dates, and in-kind contributions such as goods, services, or expertise provided by the partner.
Employee engagement: Monitor corporate employees’ involvement in your nonprofit’s activities, including volunteer hours, participation in events, or matching donations.
Impact metrics: Collect and share quantitative and qualitative data demonstrating the impact of the partnership on your nonprofit’s goals.

By collecting the right nonprofit data for your partnerships, you can maximize companies’ impact and demonstrate the value of these partnerships to your corporate sponsors. This data-driven approach not only helps maintain current partnerships but also attracts new corporate sponsors by showcasing the tangible benefits of collaborating.

Data From External Studies

Your nonprofit can better understand the market and improve its programs by leveraging data from external studies. Consider collecting data from the following sources:

Public records: Collect demographic, economic, health, and educational statistics from public records to tailor services and understand the needs of your community. For example, a childhood education organization might collect demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau to identify low-income areas with limited educational resources.
Privately funded surveys: Incorporate data from market surveys, impact assessments, and stakeholder surveys to inform marketing strategies, evaluate program effectiveness, and gather feedback from key constituents.
Research publications: Use academic research, industry reports, and policy analysis to gain evidence-based insights, understand industry trends, and navigate the regulatory landscape effectively. For instance, a health-focused nonprofit can use academic research from a university study that identifies effective strategies for reducing diabetes.
Sector benchmarks: Use benchmarks to evaluate your organization’s performance related to peers. For instance, an animal welfare nonprofit might review annual benchmarking reports from a national animal protection agency to compare their animal adoption rates, recovery rates from medical treatment, and rehoming success with similar organizations.

Collecting data from external sources can cut down on the amount you spend conducting research. Just make sure you entrust reliable sources.

Tips to Improve Your Nonprofit Data Collection

Building an efficient nonprofit data collection strategy can be a large undertaking, but it will ultimately drive greater success for your organization. Here are some industry best practices to collect data ethically and efficiently.

Use Software That Integrates.

Chances are, your nonprofit uses software to run fundraisers, collect donations, manage volunteers, hold events, and oversee every aspect of your organization. In terms of nonprofit data collection, choosing systems that integrate can reduce the time and effort required to manage data across different platforms.

Integrated software ensures that nonprofit data is consistent and accurate, which minimizes errors that occur when manually transferring information between systems. Plus, it enables real-time data updates, giving all team members access to the latest information to make decisions.

For example, our matching gift software integrates with 100+ leading nonprofit software platforms, including fundraising tools, workplace giving platforms, CRMs, and more. That helps minimize nonprofit data inconsistencies from manual data entry, guaranteeing that donor information and matching gift opportunities are current and accurate across all systems.

Leverage Nonprofit Data Appending Services.

Nonprofit data appending is a process where additional data elements are added to your database to enrich the information you have on donors, volunteers, and other contacts. The process involves comparing the data you provide to a larger, external database and integrating new information to create more complete constituent profiles.

Our nonprofit data appending guide explains that you can append all sorts of information, such as:

Contact details like phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, and social profiles
Employment data like job title and employer’s name
Demographics like net worth, birthdate, gender, and political affiliation

Routinely leveraging data enhancement services ensures you have accurate, complete information to understand your supporters, can contact them without messages bouncing, and can better drive them to give.

Use Ethical Nonprofit Data Collection Practices.

When it comes to nonprofit data collection, you should always respect the rights and privacy of your supporters. Here’s how you can accomplish that:

Obtain explicit consent from individuals before collecting their data. This involves explaining why their data is being collected and how it will be used.
Leverage secure databases and software that enable encryption.
Collect only necessary data and avoid gathering irrelevant sensitive information.
Give participants the right to access their own data, request corrections to inaccurate data, and opt out of your nonprofit data collection processes.
Follow nonprofit regulations regarding data protection and privacy.
Require employees to enable two-factor authentication, use a secure password management system, and routinely update passwords for your nonprofit’s software.
Only give certain employees access to sensitive data.

Collecting data ethically will not only help you comply with legal standards, but it will also build trust among your supporters. Pay attention to standards and best practices specific to your industry. For example, nonprofits that handle protected health information (PHI) in the United States must adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Routinely Clean Your Data.

As part of managing your nonprofit data, you’ll want to keep it clean. “Clean” data refers to data that’s not excessive, erroneous, inaccurate, outdated, mislabeled, or duplicated. The cleansing process helps maintain data hygiene and should be performed regularly, such as annually or bi-annually.

Some data collection software for nonprofits offers features like deduplication to make this process a breeze. Plus, data enhancement is always an option for updating or filling in missing information.

Imagine a nonprofit that continues to use community demographic data from ten years ago to design its youth education programs. Because the demographic profile (such as age distribution, income levels, and educational attainment) of the community can significantly change over the decade, relying on this outdated information could lead the nonprofit to offer programs that are no longer relevant or effective for the community’s current needs.

Next Steps for Your Nonprofit Data Collection

Ultimately, your nonprofit’s strength lies in its ability to make informed decisions that drive its mission forward. Effective data collection is the foundation of this strength, providing the insights needed to optimize resources, engage stakeholders, and measure the true impact of your work. As the sector continues to evolve, the organizations that prioritize data-driven decision-making will be the ones leading the charge toward a brighter future.

While you refine your nonprofit data collection processes, explore these resources to learn more:

Improving Your Donor Development Approach: Expert Tactics. Developing donor relationships hinges on your nonprofit data. Make sure you’re leveraging your data to grow supporter relationships.
Data Ethics and Privacy: Questions in Matching Gift Fundraising. Protecting donor data is essential for building trust and growing fundraising revenue. Follow the tips in this guide to ethically collect and protect data during the matching gift process.
Prospect Research: The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits. Explore what types of data to collect during prospect research and how to use this information to find new supporters.

Key Volunteer Time Off Statistics to Grow Your Volunteerism

May 8, 2024/in Nonprofit Basics, Learning Center, Lists and Rankings /by Adam Weinger

Volunteer time off statistics indicate that, as corporate social responsibility continues to gain traction in the business landscape, companies are increasingly offering paid release time for employees to participate in volunteer activities.

For nonprofits and schools, that means extended volunteer pools and enhanced engagement opportunities. Thus, understanding the availability and impact of paid volunteer time on your mission is crucial for leveraging the resources effectively. To do so, we’ve compiled the following insights:

Getting Started: Essential Volunteer Time Off Statistics
The Widespread Benefits of Volunteer Time Off Programs
Growing VTO Opportunities Over Time: Key Trends & Patterns
Fun Facts on Other Corporate Giving & Volunteerism Programs

Ready to dive in? Browse the VTO statistics below to begin growing your knowledge on the topic. ↴

Getting Started: Essential Volunteer Time Off Statistics

65% of companies offer some sort of paid-release-time volunteer programs for their employees.

Companies with paid volunteer time off programs offer an average of 20 VTO hours per team member annually (equalling about 2.5 days each year).

VTO is the most desired philanthropic offering a company can offer for its employees.

49% of individuals state work commitments are their biggest obstacle to volunteering.

Conversely, only 30% of volunteers cite one of their reasons for volunteering as having had the time to do so.

Nonwage benefits, including workplace giving opportunities like VTO, constitute 31.1% of private sector workers’ total compensation value.

Employees feel their corporate volunteer activities are most fulfilling when their input about the causes they support is taken into account.

As of 2024, the value of a single volunteer hour (according to the benefit it produces for an organization) is estimated to be $29.95.

An estimated 63 million Americans volunteer 7.7 billion hours each year, which is valued at ~$175 billion annually.

Key Takeaway

The popularity and growing prevalence of paid volunteer time off can go a long way for organizations looking to re-engage with dedicated supporters. The programs alleviate primary obstacles such as work commitments for potential volunteers, thereby extending the pool of interested individuals and tapping into a meaningful source of no-cost labor.

The Widespread Benefits of Volunteer Time Off Programs

Offering VTO increases a company’s employee engagement and productivity levels by 7.5% and 13%, respectively.

67% of survey respondents say that having paid time off work to participate in volunteer activities would make for a positive employee volunteer experience.

Meanwhile, 62% of individuals report that the ability to volunteer during business hours would be the top factor for a positive experience.

70% of individuals who participate in corporate volunteer programs believe that doing so boosts workplace morale more than company mixers or other bonding events.

Employees who participate in their companies’ volunteerism programs are 52% less likely to turnover, thus reducing costs for recruitment and training.

Employees who engage in corporate giving programs tend to have 75% longer tenure within their companies.

93% of respondents felt better and less stressed after 12 months of volunteering, which means less burnout, fewer instances of absenteeism, and far greater productivity for participating companies.

83% of executives believe VTO can help employees be purpose-driven.

76% of people say they developed core work skills through volunteering opportunities.

Employees see 5x higher engagement rates at companies with employee volunteer programs.

89% of Americans believe companies that sponsor volunteer activities offer a better overall workplace environment than those that don’t.

77% of nonprofit professionals report that having qualified volunteers on staff might improve their organization’s practices.

Key Takeaway

Volunteer time off, or VTO, can have a transformative impact on charitable organizations. And that’s in addition to the value received by other program stakeholders like companies and their employees. Access to qualified volunteers through corporate engagement programs (particularly those with unique skills and expertise) presents a powerful opportunity for nonprofits like yours to improve operations and further their missions effectively.

Growing VTO Opportunities Over Time: Key Trends & Patterns

An additional 21% of companies plan to implement VTO programs by the end of 2024.

Formal volunteerism has declined since 2006, with leading causes including a lack of time and flexibility by supporters.

61% of survey respondents reported that participation in employee volunteer activities increased in 2023.

Professional services, information technology, and financial services companies are the most likely to offer paid VTO programs.

The average corporate volunteer participation rate is 33%.

The participation rate at top-quartile corporate volunteer programs is 66%.

25% of survey respondents experienced an increase in their employee engagement budgets in 2023.

51% of workers expect their employers to allocate work time and resources for their employees to volunteer for social causes.

Leading volunteer activities include fundraising (36%), food collection or distribution (34.2%), making or distributing clothing, crafts, or other goods (26.5%), and mentoring youth (26.2%).

Key Takeaway

Staying abreast of trends in corporate volunteerism and other philanthropic initiatives is paramount for nonprofit staff. Why? Understanding the ongoing patterns and progression of the programs enables organizations to adapt their strategies and outreach efforts effectively. This ensures they can capitalize on emerging opportunities for collaboration and support with the greatest results!

Overall, keeping up to date empowers nonprofits to better navigate the dynamic landscape of social impact, fostering greater resilience, adaptability, and success in achieving organizational goals.

Fun Facts on Other Corporate Giving & Volunteerism Programs

Companies donate an average of $21 billion to nonprofits, schools, and other fundraising organizations each year.

40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs.

80% of companies with volunteer grant programs provide between $8 and $15 per hour to the organizations to which their employees devote their time.

79% of people who volunteer with a nonprofit also contribute financially to the organization, with 84% being more likely to give if a donation match is available.

Over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs.

An estimated $2 to $3 billion is donated through employee matching gift programs each year, with an additional $4 – $7 billion going unclaimed.
Leveraging a matching gift automation tool increases matching gift revenue for nonprofits by an average of 20% to 60% each year.
360MatchPro’s Volunteer Hub database contains program information on thousands of companies with volunteer grant programs, paid volunteer time off, and more.

Key Takeaway

VTO programs aren’t the only way your organization can benefit from corporate and workplace giving! From matching employee gifts to generous community grants, these initiatives represent a vital source of funding for nonprofits and schools alike. Take some time to research the giving programs made available by your supporters’ companies and see how your organization can reap the rewards.

Powering Engagement With These Volunteer Time Off Statistics

Volunteer Time Off programs hold immense potential for nonprofits like yours. As evidenced by the VTO statistics presented above, these initiatives seek to deepen engagement and incentivize supporter involvement in your cause.

When volunteers know they won’t miss out on a day’s wages to support your organization, they’ll be more inclined to play a role. As a result, VTO not only enhances employee morale for your corporate partners but also fuels meaningful philanthropy. And your nonprofit can benefit!

By leveraging these insights, pursuing available opportunities, and addressing the challenges highlighted, organizations can empower volunteers to use their time off to create lasting change.

Interested in diving deeper into volunteer time off and other workplace giving incentives? Check out these additional resources to learn more:

Volunteer Time Off | The Complete VTO Guide For Nonprofits. Learn more about VTO opportunities in the complete guide with tips and examples here. Bring volunteer engagement to new heights!
Free Download: The Ultimate Guide to Matching Gifts. Unlock greater fundraising potential with matching gifts. Get the free guide to equip your team with knowledge and strategies to double more donations.
Top Volunteer Grant Companies: Do You Work For One? Find out if your supporters qualify for volunteer grants. Discover leading companies and learn how your nonprofit can benefit from monetizing volunteerism.