Top Nonprofit Tips for Marketing Volunteer Grants Internally

Top Nonprofit Tips for Marketing Volunteer Grants Internally

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Most nonprofits know that volunteer grants are a hidden goldmine. Corporate programs that pay organizations for the hours their employees volunteer (sometimes called “Dollars for Doers”) can turn a Saturday service project into a significant unrestricted donation. Yet, despite the potential, many organizations leave these funds on the table. The problem often isn’t a lack of eligible volunteers; it’s a lack of internal awareness. Thus, marketing volunteer grants internally is a must.

If your volunteer coordinator doesn’t know to ask about employment, or your development director doesn’t view volunteer data as fundraising data, the pipeline breaks. To truly unlock this revenue stream, you need more than just a donor-facing strategy; you need an internal marketing plan.

Getting your staff, leadership, and board aligned on the value of volunteer grants is the first and most critical step. When your internal team understands that every hour served has a potential dollar value, they become active participants in identifying and securing these funds. This guide will walk you through how to market volunteer grants internally, transforming your organizational culture from one that silos volunteers to one that views them as a vital part of your financial sustainability.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

By treating your internal team as your primary audience, you empower them to become champions for corporate philanthropy, ensuring no opportunity slips through the cracks.

Why Internal Awareness is the Biggest Barrier to Revenue

The disconnect between volunteer management and fundraising is a classic nonprofit silo. Volunteer managers are often measured by “hours served” or “shifts filled,” while fundraisers are measured by “dollars raised.” Volunteer grants sit squarely in the middle, and without internal education, they often get lost in the shuffle.

When staff members aren’t educated on volunteer grants, they miss simple, organic opportunities to identify eligibility. A volunteer might casually mention they work for Verizon during an orientation. An informed coordinator knows that Verizon offers $750 grants for 50 hours of service and would immediately flag that in the database. An uninformed coordinator simply smiles and says, “That’s nice.”

The Cost of Silence:

  • Missed Revenue: A single unsubmitted grant from a super-volunteer could cost you $500 to $5,000 annually.
  • Lower Retention: Volunteers who successfully submit grants feel a deeper sense of impact and are more likely to return.
  • Weaker Corporate Ties: Every volunteer grant is a touchpoint with a local employer. Missing these grants means missing chances to build corporate partnerships.

Internal marketing bridges this gap. It shifts the mindset from “volunteers are labor” to “volunteers are partners.”

Key Stakeholders: Who Needs to Know What?

Not everyone needs the same level of detail. To market volunteer grants internally effectively, you need to tailor your message to the specific roles within your organization.

1. Volunteer Coordinators & Program Staff

What they need to know: How to identify eligible companies, the basics of the submission process, and why collecting employment data matters.

What’s In It For Them?: Volunteer grants provide unrestricted funding that can directly support their program budgets (e.g., buying new supplies, funding volunteer appreciation events).

2. Development Directors & Major Gift Officers

What they need to know: Which volunteers work for top corporate prospects. Volunteer grants can be a “foot in the door” for larger sponsorships or major gifts.

What’s In It For Them?: High-capacity donors often start as volunteers. Identifying a volunteer from a major corporation adds a qualified lead to their prospect pipeline.

3. The Board of Directors

What they need to know: The high ROI of volunteer grant programs (low cost to implement, high potential return).

What’s In It For Them?: It demonstrates fiscal responsibility and diversifies revenue streams—key metrics for board governance.

Strategy 1: Training Volunteer Managers as Frontline Fundraisers

Your volunteer coordinators are the face of your organization for thousands of supporters. They have the relationships, the trust, and the daily interactions. The most effective internal marketing strategy is to empower them with training.

incorporate into Onboarding: Make volunteer grant training a standard part of onboarding for new program staff. Explain that part of “volunteer management” is helping volunteers maximize their impact through corporate philanthropy.

Scripting the Conversation: Give your team simple scripts to use during orientation or check-in:

  • “By the way, do you know if your company offers volunteer grants? Many of our volunteers from [Local Company] double their impact that way!”
  • “Make sure you check the ‘Employer’ box on the sign-in sheet—it helps us qualify for corporate funding that pays for these supplies.”

The Feedback Loop: Establish a clear process for what happens after a coordinator identifies a lead. Should they email the development team? Tag a record in the CRM? Make the handoff seamless so they don’t feel burdened by “extra work.”

Quick Tip: Frame this as “advocacy” rather than “fundraising.” Volunteer managers are often protective of their volunteers and may resist “asking for money.” Frame volunteer grants as a way for the company to pay, not the volunteer.

Strategy 2: Gamifying Data Collection for Your Team

Data entry is boring. Finding hidden treasure is exciting. To get your team excited about collecting employment information, turn it into a challenge.

The “Missing Link” Campaign: Run a month-long internal campaign where the goal is to append employment info to as many volunteer records as possible.

The Goal: “Identify 50 volunteers who work for match-eligible companies.”

The Prize: A team lunch, a half-day off, or a gift card for the staff member who finds the most potential revenue.

This not only cleans up your database but also trains your staff to look for employer domains in email addresses (e.g., @microsoft.com) and ask the right questions during phone calls.

Strategy 3: Creating a “Cheat Sheet” Resource Hub

Internal marketing fails when the information is hard to find. If a staff member has to dig through five different folders to find your Tax ID or a list of eligible companies, they won’t do it.

Create a centralized Volunteer Grant Resource Hub on your internal drive or intranet. It should include:

  • Top 20 Local Employers: A list of the biggest companies in your area that offer grants (e.g., Walmart, CVS, Home Depot) with their specific rates (e.g., “$10/hour”).
  • The “One-Pager”: A PDF document volunteers can hand to their HR department with your nonprofit’s EIN, address, and mission statement.
  • Email Templates: Pre-written follow-up emails that coordinators can copy/paste to send to volunteers who mention their employer.

Strategy 4: Celebrating Wins to Build Momentum

Nothing markets a concept better than success. When a volunteer grant check arrives, don’t just deposit it quietly. Celebrating it internally reinforces the behavior you want to see.

The “Grant of the Month”: In your all-staff meeting, highlight a specific grant received. “Thanks to Sarah in the volunteer department asking one question, we just received $500 from Apple!”

Visual Trackers: Put a thermometer or chart in the breakroom (or on Slack) showing “Volunteer Grant Revenue Year-to-Date.” Watching the number climb creates a shared sense of ownership.

Impact Stories: Connect the money to the mission. “That $1,000 grant from the Dell volunteer team paid for all the snacks for our summer camp.”

The Tech Stack: Using Automation to Support Your Staff

Finally, the best way to market volunteer grants internally is to make them easy to execute. If your staff has to manually look up every company, they will burn out.

Invest in tools that automate the heavy lifting:

  • Volunteer Management Systems (VMS): Ensure your VMS has an optional yet prominently placed “Employer” field.
  • Matching Gift Databases: Tools like Double the Donation can integrate into your volunteer forms. When a volunteer types in “Disney,” the system automatically tells them (and your staff) that they are eligible for a grant.

By providing these tools, you show your staff that you value their time and are serious about maximizing this opportunity.

Wrapping Up & Next Steps

Marketing volunteer grants internally is about breaking down silos. It’s about helping your program staff see that they are powerful revenue generators and helping your fundraising staff see that volunteers are more than just “free labor.”

When you align your team around the potential of corporate volunteerism, you create a culture that maximizes every hour given to your cause.

Ready to get your team on board?

  • Audit your data: How many volunteer records currently have employer info? (This is your baseline).
  • Build the “Cheat Sheet”: Create the one-pager resource for your volunteer coordinators this week.
  • Host a “Lunch & Learn”: Spend 30 minutes training your program staff on the basics of “Dollars for Doers.”

Don’t let internal silence cost you funding. Start the conversation today, and find out how tools like Double the Donation Volunteering can help!