Sourcing & Utilizing Employment Data for Higher Ed Fundraising
Colleges and universities often rely on generous donors to fund their academic programming, extracurricular activities, research and development, and more. In the realm of educational fundraising, understanding your supporters—and their professional journeys—can significantly enhance engagement and boost giving across the board. One of the best ways to do so involves making the most of employment data for higher ed fundraising.
That said, we urge you to consider the following questions:
Do you have comprehensive and up-to-date employment information for your donors, alumni, and other supporters?
And do you understand the vitality of these insights for your school’s overall fundraising?
By effectively sourcing and utilizing employment data, colleges and universities can create more personalized and compelling fundraising campaigns—not to mention, target invaluable workplace giving opportunities.
In this guide, we’ll explore the importance of employment data, recommended methods for sourcing the information, and strategies for leveraging the insights in your fundraising.
- Why Does Employment Data Matter in Higher Ed Fundraising?
- 6 Ways for Colleges and Universities to Uncover Employment Data
- How to Use Donor Employment Info to Boost Higher Ed Fundraising
- Top Employers with Workplace Giving Programs for Higher Education
If you’re looking for a way to bring your institution’s fundraising and engagement to new heights, comprehensive donor employment information is the tool you need.
Why Does Employment Data Matter in Higher Ed Fundraising?
The more you know about your donors, the better you can engage them in your fundraising. Employment data in particular plays a crucial role in maximizing support for higher education. By providing insights into the professional networks and financial capacities of alumni and other supporters, you can significantly enhance targeted fundraising strategies, identify lucrative company giving opportunities, and more.
In essence, employment data equips higher education institutions like yours with the information needed to establish and grow stronger relationships with supporters—individual and corporate alike. However, it’s important to take a proactive approach to continuously source new data rather than relying on stale or outdated insights. To uncover the most lucrative opportunities available to your team, you’ll want to ensure employment data accuracy as you gather the information.
6 Ways for Colleges and Universities to Uncover Employment Data
Do you lack complete or updated employment data for your donors? No worries! There are a number of ways for colleges and universities to gain access to this information.
To get the most complete picture of your school’s supporters, we recommend enlisting multiple of the following methods.
1) Donation form fields
Incorporating employment-related fields into donation forms allows colleges to directly collect information about a donor’s employer at the point of donation.
While a simple, optional form field encouraging users to supply their company name will suffice, we recommend embedding an employer search tool in your giving page instead. This way, users are prompted to enter their company name in an embedded form widget connected to a comprehensive database with information on thousands of companies’ giving programs.
Fun fact: 73% of donors will use a matching gift search field on a donation form when presented with the opportunity.
2) Confirmation screens
Confirmation screen search tools can also be used to collect employment data after an individual hits “submit” on their gift. This approach ensures each donor is met with multiple opportunities to provide the information, making the process a seamless and efficient one.
3) Data appends
Even after implementing the above methods to uncover employment information, a number of contacts in your database are likely to have some gaps. For this, a third-party data enhancement service might be the exact answer you’re looking for to help clean up your historical data.
All your team has to do is select an employer appends provider, supply the company with the information you do have on your donors, and they’ll fill in as much of the data as possible using a combination of public and privately held data sources.
4) Email domain screening
Donors giving online are generally prompted to supply an email address so your institution can keep in touch. When an individual provides their corporate or work email address, it can offer powerful clues about their employers.
For example, you can determine that a gift made using an email ending in “@company.com” likely comes from an employee within the company.
5) Donor outreach
If, at this point, you’re still missing employer data, we recommend going straight to the source. Engaging donors directly through automated outreach is an easy, low-lift way to uncover additional employment insights—especially using Double the Donation’s prewritten email cadences.
Soon after a donor gives, simply follow up and encourage them to share the name of their employer and look into any available giving programs they may offer.
6) Online research
While more time-consuming, utilizing online resources such as LinkedIn, other networking platforms, or company websites is another way to gather employment information about donors.
Top tip: Due to the manual approach it requires, we recommend retaining online research for your highest-value donors and prospects.
How to Use Donor Employment Info to Boost Higher Ed Fundraising
Once you’ve built out your donor profiles with accurate and up-to-date employment information, you have what you need to initiate a data-driven fundraising plan. Check out the following tips to maximize your potential and empower your college or university with a stronger, more well-informed strategy.
Data-Driven Tip #1: Personalize communications.
Personalized engagements strengthen donor relations by facilitating a more meaningful connection. Customizing fundraising outreach with details specific to each recipient is a great way to make your communications stand out in supporters’ minds.
This can be as simple as addressing an individual by name in your greeting. However, it can also involve more advanced fields, such as referring to a donor’s employing company in relevant messaging.
Check out these examples: “More than 20 of your colleagues at Carl’s Computer Company support our school through your employer’s giving program. Will you consider joining them to give back to your alma mater?”
“Did you know your employing company offers a generous VTO program? That means you and your colleagues can receive paid time off work to volunteer with our institution!”
Data-Driven Tip #2: Estimate wealth data and capacity to give.
Donors’ employment data can also provide powerful insights into an individual’s potential wealth level—and, therefore, their approximate capacity to give. Not to mention, if you also know the individual’s job title or status, this provides additional details to inform your fundraising strategy. This information allows institutions to identify major gift prospects, craft tailored appeals, and encourage larger gift amounts.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you determine that an existing donor holds an executive-level position at a lucrative and rapidly growing tech company. From that data, you glean insights into their expected salary range, and adjust your recommended donation ask accordingly.
Data-Driven Tip #3: Identify and pursue matching gift opportunities.
Matching gifts are a leading form of corporate giving. Yet despite their potential, more than $4 to $7 billion worth of matching gift funds go unclaimed each year. Your school likely qualifies for a significant amount of match revenue, and if you want to maximize these programs’ potential, knowing where your donors work is a must.
Donor employment data helps fundraising institutions identify employers that offer matching gift programs. This allows them to promote these opportunities effectively, encouraging donors to double or even triple their contributions.
Here’s an example: “Your employer, Pat’s Pet Supply Co., offers a generous matching gift program—and your most recent donation likely qualifies for a match. By completing a brief online form, you can double the impact of your gift for our school to help us achieve [goal or project]!”
Data-Driven Tip #4: Encourage corporate volunteerism.
Tons of companies offer generous volunteer incentives—such as Dollars for Doers or paid volunteer time off—as a way to encourage their staff to give back of their time. Understanding donors’ corporate affiliations can enable schools like yours to uncover such opportunities and ensure supporters are well-informed.
By offering specialized volunteer opportunities that align with a company’s culture and values, your college or university can encourage volunteers to contribute their time and expertise through their company-sponsored program.
Here’s an example: “Businesses like Really Great Company offer generous grant funding to the organizations their employees volunteer with. Make your volunteer efforts count twice for our school and get involved with [upcoming event or program]!”
Data-Driven Tip #5: Facilitate prospective sponsor conversations.
Beyond existing employee-led giving programs, donor employment data can also help identify opportunities for new, broader corporate partnerships. How? The best partnerships are built around shared audiences—so knowing where supporters work can be instrumental.
You can even encourage donors or alumni to facilitate a warm introduction between your team and their employer to break the ice!
Here’s an example: “In the past year, your company has matched more than 30 employee donations to our school. We are so grateful for the support, and we see an opportunity to expand our mutually beneficial partnership. Will you consider sponsoring our upcoming fundraising event?”
Top Employers with Workplace Giving Programs for Higher Education
Once you know which companies your donors work for, you can use the information to uncover the most valuable workplace giving opportunities in your network. But, in order to do so, you’ll need to be familiar with the companies that offer these programs.
We recommend investing in a corporate giving database (like Double the Donation) to gain access to thousands of companies’ program materials. In the meantime, we’ve compiled a list of ten employers with standout matching gift, volunteer grant, and VTO programs your team should know.
COMPANY NAME |
MATCHING GIFTS? |
VOLUNTEER GRANTS? |
VOLUNTEER TIME OFF? |
|
YES ✔️ Donation threshold: $10 – $1,000 |
YES ✔️
$500 per 8 hours of service |
YES ✔️ Skills-based volunteer days |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $1 – $25,000 |
YES ✔️
$10 per hour of service |
YES ✔️
80 hours per year |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $100 – $1,000 |
Not at this time ❌ | YES ✔️
Quarterly days of service |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $50 – $2,000 |
Not at this time ❌ | YES ✔️
Annual day of service |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $15 – $5,000 |
YES ✔️
$250 grants |
YES ✔️
32 hours per year |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $50 – $32,500 |
Not at this time ❌ | YES ✔️
8 hours per year |
|
| Not at this time ❌ | YES ✔️
$10 per hour of service |
YES ✔️
32 hours per year |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $25 – $5,000 |
YES ✔️
$100 per 10 hours of service |
Not at this time ❌ | |
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $10 – $1,000 |
YES ✔️
$10 per hour of service |
YES ✔️
40 hours per year |
|
| YES ✔️
Donation threshold: $1 – $10,000 |
YES ✔️
$25 per hour of service |
Not at this time ❌ |
Wrapping Up & Additional Data-Driven Fundraising Resources
Employment data is a strategic tool for powering higher education fundraising—from personalized engagement efforts to tailored workplace giving initiatives. When sourced and leveraged effectively, this information can shed light on groundbreaking opportunities, guiding your efforts as you enlist support from existing donors and their employers alike.
Interested in learning more about workplace giving opportunities for your college or university? Check out our recommended further reading below:
- Matching Gifts & Higher Education: Companies That Match [+Tips]. Enhance your fundraising by exploring matching gifts for colleges and universities. This resource overviews top companies with higher ed-specific matching programs, allowing you to identify the best opportunities for your school.
- Employer Append Services: Grow Individual and Corporate Giving. Your donors’ employment data is essential. An employer append service can help fill in gaps in donor records to identify matching gifts and tailor your engagement strategies. Find out how your team can get started here!
- Free Download: The Ultimate Guide to Corporate Volunteer Grants. Unlock the full potential of corporate volunteer programs with our comprehensive guide. Find out everything you need to know about volunteer grants, top companies offering these programs, and strategies to encourage participation.
