Corporate Giving Programs: The Ultimate Fundraising Guide
Corporate Giving Programs: The Ultimate Fundraising Guide
What is a Corporate Giving Program?
Corporate Giving Definition
Corporate giving programs allow companies of all sizes to make investments in social good. These programs are a form of corporate philanthropy that facilities charitable giving to nonprofit causes. Such programs are often driven by employee giving. In other words, the more employees contribute to philanthropic organizations, the more their company will donate.
Types of Corporate Giving Programs
Matching Gifts
Matching gifts occur when a company contributes to a nonprofit that an employee donates to, usually matching their donation at a 1:1 ratio. However, some companies will match gifts up to a 4:1 ratio!
Volunteer Grants
Volunteer grants are corporate giving programs that encourage employees to volunteer their time and efforts in their communities. Companies provide monetary grants to organizations where their employees regularly volunteer.
In addition to these main types of corporate giving programs, there are many others that can also benefit nonprofits. Check out the complete list below:
| Types of Corporate Giving Programs | Fundraising Potential |
|---|---|
| Matching Gifts | ✔✔✔ |
| Volunteer Grants | ✔✔✔ |
| Fundraising Matches | ✔✔ |
| Community Grants | ✔ |
| Dollars for Doers | ✔✔ |
| Team Volunteer Grants | ✔✔ |
| Volunteer Support Programs | ✔ |
| Annual Giving | ✔✔ |
| Automatic Payroll Deductions | ✔ |
| Annual Grant Stipends | ✔ |
| Internal Employee Fundraising | ✔ |
| Employee Product Donations | ✔ |
- Matching Gifts
- Volunteer Grants
- Fundraising Matches
- Community Grants
- Dollars for Doers
- Team Volunteer Grants
- Volunteer Support Programs
- Annual Giving
- Automatic Payroll Deductions
- Annual Grant Stipends
- Internal Employee Fundraising
- Employee Product Donations
Top Companies for Corporate Giving Programs
Corporate social responsibility is on the rise and, as a result, many companies now offer corporate giving programs. These programs range from matching gifts and/or volunteer grants to a variety of other programs. Check out the top 10 companies for corporate giving:
| COMPANY | MAXIMUM MATCH AMOUNT | LEARN MORE |
| Disney | $25,000 | Disney’s corporate giving program |
| Apple | $10,000 | Apple’s corporate giving program |
| The Home Depot | $3,000 | The Home Depot’s corporate giving program |
| IBM | $10,000 | IBM’s corporate giving program |
| $10,000 | Google’s corporate giving program | |
| General Electric | $5,000 | General Electric’s corporate giving program |
| Bank of America | $5,000 | Bank of America’s corporate giving program |
| BP | $5,000 | BP’s corporate giving program |
| Microsoft | $15,000 | Microsoft’s corporate giving program |
| Intuit | $5,000 | Intuit’s corporate giving program |
Our Top Corporate Giving Program for Donors: Matching Gifts
As mentioned earlier, matching gifts are a type of corporate philanthropy where companies match donations that their employees make to nonprofits. These are a great way for nonprofits to maximize their donation revenue and for donors to maximize their impact.
How do matching gifts work?
The matching gift process generally follows these steps:
- The donor makes a donation to a nonprofit.
- The donor determines if their donation is eligible for a company match using a matching gift database.
- If their employer will match their donation, the donor can click on the link to the online forms provided by the database and submit the request.
- The donor’s employer reviews the forms and follows up with the nonprofit to confirm the donation.
- The employer makes a matching donation.
Nonprofits can receive twice as many donations as they normally would as a result of matching gift programs. It takes little effort on the employees’ end and companies can contribute to a cause their employees care about. As a result, it’s important to actively promote matching gifts.
STEP 1:
Access the matching gift database.
STEP 2:
Search for your employer.
STEP 3:
View the results.
Our Top Corporate Giving Program for Volunteers: Volunteer Grants
As touched on before, volunteer grants are corporate giving programs through which companies provide monetary grants to nonprofits where their employees regularly volunteer.
How do volunteer grants work?
Volunteer grants come in two forms:
- A monetary donation for every hour an employee volunteers
- A set grant amount once employees have volunteered a certain amount of time
The volunteer grant process generally follows these steps:
- The volunteer gives their time to a nonprofit.
- The volunteer determines if their time spent is eligible for a volunteer grant using a volunteer grant database.
- If it’s determined that their employer does offer volunteer grants, the volunteer can use the database to find and submit their company’s forms.
- The volunteer’s employer will review the forms and verify with the nonprofit that the employee volunteered.
- The employer will send the nonprofit a monetary grant.
Volunteer grants are important corporate giving programs because they provide extra support to nonprofits as a result of their established volunteers. If your organization has a regular cohort of volunteers, it’s worthwhile to have them check and determine if their companies offer volunteer grant programs.
Companies typically provide grants to one nonprofit per employee per year.
STEP 1:
Access the volunteer grant database.
STEP 2:
Search for your employer.
STEP 3:
View the results.
Other Types of Corporate Giving Programs
Fundraising Matches
Fundraising matches, like matching gifts, provide nonprofits with donations after an employee has donated time or effort to the nonprofit, but these are in the form of fundraising events. Examples include walkathons, runs, or bicycle events. The participant’s employer will match the money they raise through sponsorships or other donations.
Community Grants
Community grants are a slightly different corporate giving program in that the nonprofit must pursue the grant itself. Nonprofits can request community grants, such as disaster relief grants, from companies that want to see a positive impact in their communities, though there are specific deadlines.
Dollars for Doers
Dollars for Doers is one of the most common corporate philanthropy programs offered by employers. Also called “individual volunteer grants,” Dollars for Doers rewards employees who donate their efforts to a nonprofit.
In order to make this happen, there are usually thresholds that must be met. For instance, a company might offer $250 to a nonprofit for every 15 hours that an employee volunteers there.
Dollars for Doers is a great corporate giving program to take advantage of when you have a dedicated group of volunteers!
Team Volunteer Grants
Team volunteer grants are a type of corporate philanthropy program where companies reward groups of employees who volunteer at a nonprofit together. Employees fill out a volunteer grant request form to have the funds donated to the organization at which they volunteer.
This is a great team building activity that can benefit all parties involved. Nonprofits receive both volunteered time and money, employees feel accomplished by volunteering for a great cause, and companies get to demonstrate their philanthropy and interest in bettering the community.
Volunteer Support Programs
Volunteer support programs are great corporate giving programs that allow companies to offer their products and services to those in need. For instance, companies may donate computers, consulting services, food, or marketing strategies.
These corporate philanthropy programs allow nonprofit organizations to benefit from free products and services, and companies can also feel pride in knowing they’ve helped a worthy cause.
Annual Giving
As part of this corporate giving program, companies encourage their employees to donate at certain times of the year, so nonprofits should keep track of when this occurs. Every company varies, so it’s important to reach out to donors at those specified times.
The most common time for companies to promote employee giving is at the end of the year. This is because employees have a better idea of how much they can donate to charitable causes. Keep track of these corporate giving programs to maximize donation revenue.
Automatic Payroll Deductions
Automatic payroll deductions are one of the easiest corporate giving programs to take part in. As the phrase implies, employees can arrange to have a portion of their paycheck regularly contributed to a nonprofit.
One thing to note is that companies typically limit the type of nonprofit their employees can contribute to. For example, a company that has an interest in the environment might restrict donations only to nonprofits whose missions are targeted toward the environment. That said, once a nonprofit is on the company’s list of approved organizations, this is a great way for the nonprofit to receive ongoing donations.
Annual Grant Stipends
Annual grant stipends, though not as common, are a great way for nonprofits to benefit from companies and their employees.
An annual grant stipend is essentially an allocated amount of money that is given each year to employees, who then donate the money to the nonprofit of their choice. Volunteer hours are not required, and the company donates for them.
The stipends are not incredibly large, but nonprofits can still benefit from these annual corporate giving programs.
Internal Employee Fundraising
It’s easier to cultivate a relationship with people you know, rather than start a new one. Through internal employee fundraising, nonprofits can encourage their own employees to volunteer to support the cause, therefore increasing their chances that others will follow suit.
By looking internally, nonprofits can receive even more donations and volunteer efforts without putting in too much extra effort.
Employee Product Donation Programs (EPDP)
As part of their corporate philanthropy programs, many companies encourage employees to give by offering discounts on their products, which can then be donated to nonprofits.
While mostly popular at technology companies, these corporate giving programs are also found in several other industries. Companies may have restrictions on who can receive these products, but this is still a program that can benefit the greater community.
How Can A Company Start a Corporate Giving Program?
The most powerful corporate giving programs can also be complex. But you can get started by following Crowd101’s fundamental steps for starting a corporate giving program:
- Decide which programs you want to pursue
- Set a minimum and maximum per employee
- Decide which employees and causes are eligible
- Establish your submission process and tech
- Promote your programs to your employees
- Add your program to the Double the Donation database
It might take some time for your corporate giving program to take shape. Consider consulting a corporate giving expert or using a corporate giving management software solution to keep your program on track, so you can start impacting your community.
Corporate Giving Software for Nonprofits
Too many charitable donations go unmatched each year. In fact, an estimated $4-$7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year. So how can your organization change this?
Nonprofits can grow their corporate giving dollars by promoting matching gifts and volunteer grant programs to their supporters. Through these corporate giving programs, donors can multiply the effects of their contribution and volunteers can make an even greater impact with their time.
Double the Donation provides several ways for organizations to integrate matching gifts and volunteer grants into their fundraising strategies.
Double the Donation offers the #1 matching gifts database, with more than 8,500 organizations using it. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date database, you can gain access to thousands of profiles that help you connect with companies offering matching gift and volunteer grant programs.
360MatchPro by Double the Donation
For large organizations bringing in $25,000+ in matching gift revenue annually, or for any size organizations whose donation software integrates with Double the Donation, 360MatchPro by Double the Donation is an ideal option. This solution takes the entire matching gift process a few steps further through automation.
How It Works
With 360MatchPro by Double the Donation, the information donors provide on donation forms is automatically scanned to determine their matching gift eligibility.
Here’s the basic process:
- Once a donor submits a donation to your nonprofit, 360MatchPro will automatically scan their provided information to determine whether they’re eligible for a match, typically through email domains or employer details.
- Depending on their eligibility, the platform will trigger emails to the donors advising them of the next steps to take to submit a match request.
- The platform will then track the matching gift submission process through to completion, offering your team insights and metrics you can effectively leverage.
Because 360MatchPro simplifies the process for you, your team won’t have to focus as much time and energy on tracking matching gifts.
Benefits
360MatchPro by Double the Donation comes with many benefits, including:
- More matching gift opportunities. Identify more match-eligible donors by automating your outreach efforts and boost your matching gift revenue as a result.
- More completed matching gift submissions. Provide the right information to the right donors at the right time to drive more matches to completion.
- More time to focus on top opportunities. Because 360MatchPro automates every piece of outreach, your team can focus on following up with your highest-value donors, rather than focusing on every small dollar-value match.
Using a platform like 360MatchPro will take the stress out of pursuing matching gift revenue and allow your team to focus its efforts on serving your mission.
Corporate Giving Software for Companies
Nonprofits aren’t alone when it comes to benefiting from corporate giving software. Because workplace giving takes so many forms, there’s a lot to keep track of on the company end, too.
When corporate giving programs are effectively organized from the company’s standpoint, nonprofits get to reap the benefits via funding, volunteer hours, and more.
Simply put, a company’s corporate giving strategy has a direct impact on the nonprofits they’re meant to benefit. The easier it is for employees to participate, the more nonprofits will thrive.
That’s where corporate giving software for companies becomes important.
How It Works
When you think about all the corporate giving programs we’ve discussed, there are many elements to keep track of. These include:
- Employee donations/automatic payroll deductions
- Matching gift requests
- Volunteer hour logs
- Volunteer grant requests
- Volunteer opportunities
- Overall company goals and progress
When companies use software that allows them to manage donations, approve match and grant requests, and track the overall impact of their corporate giving strategies, they will in turn get the most out of the programs they’ve invested in. By streamlining all components of their corporate giving programs into one system, it’s easier for employees to take part.
Companies should look for the right corporate giving software that meets their needs, makes it easy for employees to participate, and helps keep each part of their workplace giving program running smoothly.
Additional Corporate Giving Resources
Matching Gift Programs: The Complete Guide
Matching gifts are a type of corporate giving in which companies match donations that their employees make to nonprofits.
Learn why matching gifts are valuable and how donors can take charge of the process.
Corporate Philanthropy: The Ultimate Guide
Corporate philanthropy is growing, and it takes on many different facets that can benefit your nonprofit.
Learn what corporate philanthropy is, how much corporations donate, and why it’s important.
Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics
Few organizations have a plan for maximizing matching gifts and tapping into corporate philanthropy.
Explore these matching gift statistics to learn more about its potential impact.
