The list of matching gift companies is endless—and not exclusive to one region, business size, or corporate sector. Instead, employers all over the world opt to match their employees’ charitable donations. Doing so results in elevated corporate philanthropy, team-wide engagement, and even positive brand image.
So what makes one company’s program stand out over another? There are a lot of factors that go into a top matching gift company, including donation (low) minimums and (high) maximums, open eligibility, seamless donor experiences, and more.
One that stands out in all areas is legal services company Innovative Discovery. And we’ll tell you why!
Ready to get started? Dive in and see what makes Innovative Discovery’s matching gift program top-tier.
Fun Fact: By working with a CLMA-certified matching gift platform, Innovative Discovery has become a Certified Leader in Matching Automation. That means it’s recognized for its dedication to providing the best possible experience for its employees participating in the program.
What to Know About Innovative Discovery
Founded in 2005 in Arlington, Virginia, Innovative Discovery is a strategic consulting firm and legal services provider to a wide range of corporations and groups. The company partners with government agencies, construction and manufacturing businesses, energy and utility companies, financial services, healthcare and life sciences providers, and more.
Innovative Discovery employees—a combination of technologists, lawyers, and cybersecurity experts—work as strategic consultants to provide authoritative guidance throughout the litigation processes and information lifecycles. Specifically, the consulting group aims to offer unique insights into cybersecurity, data breaches, digital forensics, and high-stakes litigations to set their clients up for maximal success.
This corporation also places a significant emphasis on giving back to the communities in which they operate, including offering community service, nonprofit sponsorships, and more. Plus, they support nonprofit organizations of all shapes and sizes through their generous matching program.
Current Matching Gift Program Guidelines
Innovative Discovery employees have the opportunity to double their charitable giving impact by participating in the company’s matching initiative. Personal gifts made by Innovative Discovery team members of between $25 and $2,500 are eligible to be matched at a 1:1 rate.
Even better, nearly all nonprofits qualify for the program. This includes K-12 and higher education institutions, arts and cultural institutions, environmental nonprofits, and other registered 501(c)(3) organizations.
And the company makes it as easy as possible for employees to take part, driving participation and overall program usage with auto-submission, a new solution from Double the Donation.
Here’s a quick overview of the Innovative Discovery corporate matching gift program eligibility requirements:
Matching gift ratio – 1:1 (or dollar for dollar)
Qualifying employees – Current full-time and part-time Innovative Discovery team members qualify to request corporate matching donations.
Eligible nonprofit recipients – Most nonprofit mission types qualify for Innovative Discovery matching, which includes:
Educational institutions (K-12 included)
Health and human services
Arts and cultural organizations
Civic and community groups
Environmental nonprofits
And most other 501 (c)(3) organizations
Submission process – Employees may complete their match request directly following their initial donation on the organization’s giving form using auto-submission or navigate to Selflessly’s online matching gift portal to fill out a brief application.
Standing Out With Matching Gift Auto-Submission Through Selflessly and Double the Donation
The #1 thing that makes Innovative Discovery’s matching gift program so innovative is its participation in newly developed matching gift auto-submission. By partnering with Double the Donation and corporate giving platform Selflessly, ID is streamlining the process for employees getting involved.
Enabling the solution, which recently came out of beta, significantly reduces the time and effort involved in completing a matching gift request. And it can all be done directly from a nonprofit’s website—driving more ID employees to participate. With increased program participation, more funding goes to the nonprofit causes their employees care about. Not to mention, the company itself receives elevated benefits from its corporate giving offerings. It’s a win-win-win—and it’s easier than ever before!
Here’s how the matching process works for Innovative Discovery team members using auto-submission:
An ID employee makes a donation directly on their favorite nonprofit’s website and enters their company name—Innovative Discovery—in a donation form field.
On the confirmation screen, the employee enters their corporate email address. They then check a box and authorize Double the Donation to submit the match request on their behalf.
Innovative Discovery facilitates its matching gifts and other corporate giving initiatives by leveraging a CSR management software company, Selflessly. Selflessly is framed as an “all-in-one giving platform for CSR,” offering both corporate giving and volunteerism features.
Through this software solution, companies like Innovative Discovery are able to:
Elevate corporate giving and employee matching with ease;
Simplify corporate volunteering and organize team and individual volunteer opportunities;
Increase employee engagement by participating in social good;
Make the most of purposeful reporting and impact assessments.
Recently, Selflessly was also one of the first providers to participate in the beta program for auto-submission functionality with Double the Donation, making corporate matching gifts easier than ever before.
Other Innovative Giving Initiatives
Innovative Discovery’s website shares that “the primary focus of ID’s corporate philanthropic efforts are nonprofit organizations valued by our employees.” This idea is reflected in the company’s matching gift program as well as additional team-wide efforts for various charitable causes.
This includes:
ID Civic Day — Innovative Discovery’s Civic Day offers an annual opportunity for team members to engage in their communities. Beyond typical PTO, the company offers an additional paid day off work for employees to volunteer with community service projects.
Employee volunteer grants — ID states that the company supports team member philanthropy through matching donations and investments of their time with corporate volunteer grants. When employees volunteer with various causes, the company pays out grants to the organizations to which they dedicate their time and efforts.
Steps for Autism team challenge — Every April, Innovative Discovery employees take part in a workplace giving campaign on behalf of the Autism Society. During World Autism Month, team members compete by department to see who can get the most steps. At the end of the month, ID makes a donation to the Autism Society on behalf of the winning group.
Sponsorship for Climbing Blind: Tibet Expedition — In 2004, Innovative Discovery aided groundbreaking Climbing Blind’s Tibet Expedition. The company sponsored the event by building essential technical infrastructure. With their newly developed interactive website and intuitive web content management system, Climbing Blind had access to the tools they needed to connect climbers with their growing online community.
Innovative Discovery leadership has made it a point time and time again to invest in giving back to their communities. We’re excited to see what they roll out next!
Wrapping Up
Companies like Innovative Discovery are paving the way for more businesses—and the nonprofits, donors, and communities they support—to benefit from groundbreaking matching gift programs with ease. As more and more corporations roll out innovative auto-submission functionality by leveraging partnerships between corporate giving and matching gift-specific technology, the results will continue growing to new heights.
Ready to learn more about standout matching gift companies and practices? Explore other Double the Donation resources here:
Matching Gift Auto-Submission + CSR Platforms | What to Know. Auto-submission functionality enables companies like Innovative Discovery to streamline the experience for employees and ultimately get more out of their giving programs. And the nonprofits involved benefit as well! Learn more with this comprehensive guide.
Selflessly Launches Auto-Submit Match Requests. Companies can bring their philanthropic programming to the next level thanks to the integration between Selflessly and Double the Donation. Find out how auto-submission helps improve programs and how your company can benefit here.
How to Start a Matching Gift Program [For Companies]. Are you a corporate executive looking to launch an employee matching gift program at your company? This step-by-step walkthrough provides unique insights into how your team can develop the most impactful initiative possible.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DTD_Company-Spotlight-Article-Selflessly-Innovative-Discovery_Feature-1.png6001600Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-10 15:48:382024-08-02 21:24:56Company Spotlight: Maximizing Matching Gift Innovation with Innovative Discovery
A thoughtful and robust fundraising strategy is key to any nonprofit’s success. As a nonprofit professional, you’re probably always on the lookout for new ideas and strategies to spice up your organization’s fundraising efforts. That’s where challenge gifts come in—when done correctly, this fundraising idea can supercharge your mission with increased gifts.
In this guide, we’ll go over the basics of challenge gifts and empower you to leverage them by covering the following topics:
To maximize the fundraising impact of your challenge gifts, consider investing in fundraising software that will streamline your fundraising processes and efforts. Matching gift software, in particular, will greatly increase the effectiveness of donations made during your challenge gift campaign.
What is a challenge gift?
A challenge gift is a donation that is contingent on another goal, usually another donation. Usually, the donor will commit to donating a certain amount to a nonprofit if the organization or its other donors fulfill a certain goal or take an action within a certain amount of time. Only then is the donation made.
Common challenge gift goals include:
Total money raised. This goal is fairly self-explanatory—essentially, the donor’s gift hinges on the nonprofit reaching a fundraising goal. For example, a major donor might commit to donating $20,000 if the nonprofit raises $40,000 worth of other donations during their next fundraising campaign.
Total number of donors. Instead of committing a donation based on the amount raised, some donors choose instead to base it on the total number of donors that give during a set amount of time. The goal for this type of challenge gift is to help the nonprofit recruit more donors. Some challenge donors may specify that they only count first-time donors, while others will count donations made by any donors.
Matching gifts. For a matching donation challenge, a major donor or sponsor will commit to matching gifts made by other donors. For instance, a major donor may match gifts at a 1:1 ratio up to $30,000. That means that if you raise $30,000 from other donors, then you’ll receive $60,000 in total. However, if you raise less than the match amount, such as $10,000, then you’ll only receive the match up to that amount, or $20,000 total.
Challenge gifts are a great way for a major donor to inspire and encourage other donors to give, resulting in greater fundraising success for the nonprofit. When handled properly, these challenges can be used to secure future support and improve the sustainability of your organization.
What are the benefits of challenge gifts?
At this point, you may be thinking: Aren’t challenge gifts just donations with strings attached? Why would I want those instead of straightforward donations?
Although you might feel that way, challenge gifts bring your nonprofit a variety of game-changing benefits. Some of these include:
Increase fundraising impact. The most obvious benefit of challenge gifts is that they incentivize supporters to give. Your supporters are invested in your nonprofit’s success, which makes it more likely that they’ll donate so that you can secure challenge gift funds.
Attract new donors. If the challenge gift is contingent on acquiring a certain number of donors, it will be especially useful in attracting new donors. Plus, challenge gifts inspire a sense of urgency, providing a compelling reason for potential supporters to engage through donations.
Engage board members. Board members who are passionately invested in your nonprofit’s cause may inspire and engage their fellow board members by making a challenge gift for them. For example, a board member might say that they will give an extra $30,000 if the board as a whole gives $200,000 by a certain date.
Strengthen existing relationships. The urgency from the time-sensitive nature of challenge gifts will also help you secure donations from previous donors. Alongside a great stewardship plan, challenge gifts can greatly contribute to engaging previous donors and increase retention rates.
Form corporate partnerships. Although challenge gift donors don’t have to be businesses, if they are, it presents an opportunity for you to form partnerships with companies that are invested in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Having such a partnership may lead to future support through initiatives such as volunteer grants.
Secure long-term support. Aside from short-term support for immediate fundraising campaigns, certain challenge gifts can also help your nonprofit secure long-term funding. For example, a challenge donor may create a bequest challenge for $50,000. Every time someone submits a signed statement that they have put your nonprofit in their estate plan, the donor will release $2,000 from the challenge gift total.
When it comes to boosting your fundraising and securing support, challenge gifts are a valuable opportunity for nonprofits to reliably meet their goals. While the donor dictates the terms of the challenge, the concept itself has a lot of flexibility, as it accommodates multiple types of challenges.
What are the drawbacks of challenge gifts?
We’ve already touched on the main drawback of challenge gifts—the inability to fulfill the challenge, and therefore the loss of the challenge gift funds. The most common restrictions on a challenge gift include:
Goal amount. Whether it’s the number of donors or the donation amount, each challenge gift comes with a goal amount that the nonprofit must reach. Without reaching this objective, part or all of the challenge gift might be forfeited.
Time. That challenge gifts are time-sensitive creates a great sense of urgency that propels supporters to give. However, that same benefit is also a restriction—your nonprofit only has a set amount of time to reach your goals. This duration can vary greatly, based on the challenge the donor has set.
Donation requirements. These refer to any extra requirements that the challenge donor places on gifts that count toward the challenge gift goal. We’ve discussed that the challenge donor might choose to restrict the type of donor that can participate in the challenge, but they can also restrict the type of donation that qualifies. For example, they might specify that the challenge only applies to direct donations and specify that purchases made at a fundraising auction don’t qualify.
Although challenge gifts have their drawbacks, with proper planning and consideration, you can mitigate their disadvantages. While they might put your nonprofit’s fundraising and donor acquisition strategies to the test, the result will be well worth it—a large amount of funds that you can leverage to support your beneficiaries.
Acquiring Support for Challenge Gifts: 5 Tips
To help you make the most of any challenge gifts your nonprofit receives, we’ll go over five tips for acquiring support to fulfill your challenges. Let’s dive in!
1. Create a challenge gift proposal.
While some donors may make a challenge gift unprompted, it’s more likely that your nonprofit will need to specifically seek out challenge donors, much like you seek out sponsorships. To do so, you’ll want to draft a challenge gift proposal to pitch to potential donors.
As you create your proposal, be sure to:
Introduce your nonprofit. Provide a general overview of your nonprofit’s mission, beneficiaries, and the purpose of the challenge gift that you’re requesting.
Give any relevant context. If there’s any relevant information that would help contextualize your proposal, add it. For example, if your nonprofit works with individuals experiencing homelessness and the weather is much colder than usual in winter, you may say that you’re fundraising for warm winter clothing.
Outline your goals. Whether your goal is to obtain funds, new donors, or bequests, outline it in your proposal. Be specific—for instance, you may say that you want to raise $100,000, attract 500 new donors, or obtain 300 bequests.
Determine the challenge details. Lay out the general details of your challenge so your potential challenge donor knows exactly what is expected of them. Let’s say you want to raise $100,000. In your proposal, detail that you want to do this through a matching donation challenge, where your challenge donor matches $50,000 worth of donations at a 1:1 ratio to help you meet your overall goal of $100,000.
Detail the benefits. Aside from describing what you need from your challenge donor, let them know what they’ll be getting from your partnership as well. For instance, if you partner with a company, include their logo and branding on your promotional materials. That way, they can access potential customers amongst your nonprofit’s supporters.
Keep in mind that your challenge gift proposal should look different depending on which potential donor you’re trying to connect with. Just as you would segment your regular donors based on their interests and preferences, make sure to tailor your proposal based on the donor’s gift capacity and previous engagement with your nonprofit.
2. Strategically connect with challenge gift donors.
There are different types of potential donors that you can connect with to pitch challenge gifts to. When first starting, we recommend reaching out to similar types of potential donors to get a better feel of interacting with them and minimize the number of proposals you need to customize.
In general, most challenge gift donors fall into one of the following groups:
Local businesses. When connecting with local businesses, focus on the benefits that you bring to the local community and how that will bring greater success for the business. For instance, your nonprofit’s environmental focus might enhance a business’ neighborhood and bring in more customers.
Large corporations. Large corporations will likely have more money to donate as a challenge gift to your cause but require more effort when forming a partnership. Keep your pitch focused on the benefits that they receive from the partnership. This could look like a shoutout from your nonprofit or a mutually beneficial CSR partnership.
Major donors. Especially if they’ve previously made donations to your nonprofit, major donors are invested in your mission and strongly want you to succeed. For these pitches, you can discuss more in-depth the benefits that your nonprofit will receive while emphasizing how their previous support impacted your success.
Foundations and grantmakers. For this group of potential challenge donors, you’ll likely go through a rigorous application process to be considered. However, foundations and grantmakers exist to provide support to nonprofits, so you can focus your application on what your nonprofit gains.
Celebrities and influencers. Celebrities and influencers receive a large boost in reputation for being associated with charitable causes such as your own. Plus, their influence will greatly increase the visibility of your challenge. Be sure to take both of these factors into consideration as you craft your appeal to this group of potential donors.
To help you narrow down the potential donors you should connect with, focus on those who have already indicated a philanthropic interest in some way. For example, businesses with existing corporate citizenship or CSR initiatives that align with your cause will be more open to aiding your nonprofit.
3. Thoroughly promote your challenge gifts.
Ensure that your challenge gifts drive the impact you desire by thoughtfully promoting them to all of your nonprofit’s supporters. Use the following marketing channels to do so:
Your website
Direct mail
Email
Text or SMS
Social media
Send communications before and during the challenge to drum up excitement and secure support. Provide all relevant details to supporters so they know how they can help. For example, if your goal is to acquire 100 first-time donors, ask your supporters to reach out to their friends and family to appeal for first-time donations. Provide templates for social media posts and emails that they can use to make their appeals easier.
Additionally, be sure to focus your messaging on urgency and speed. Emphasize the approaching deadline and don’t be afraid to send multiple messages during the challenge as reminders. To make this process more efficient, consider using a marketing tool to streamline your promotional efforts.
4. Maximize your gift impact.
When properly planned and marketed, one of the great benefits of challenge gifts is a boost in the number of donations made during the challenge. Maximize the impact of gifts by diving into matching gifts.
If you’re new to matching gifts, they are a form of corporate philanthropy where employers match their employees’ donations to nonprofits. Although most match at a 1:1 ratio, particularly generous companies may match at a higher ratio, such as 2:1 or even 3:1.
This is how it works:
An employee donates to a nonprofit.
The employee submits a donation match request to their employer.
The employer reviews the request.
The employer approves the match and donates the matching funds to the nonprofit.
As around $4-7 billion of matching gift funds is estimated to go unclaimed every year, it’s clear that one of the biggest obstacles to obtaining matching gift funds is awareness.
During a donation challenge period, you’ll be sending out many communications to supporters to urge them to donate. Maximize the impact of those donations by also reminding supporters to look into their employers’ matching gift programs. With a small amount of effort from them, they’ll be able to greatly increase the funds that you raise. Plus, it won’t require them to gift more of their money!
5. Celebrate achievements and goals.
When the period set by your challenge gift has ended, be sure to celebrate all achievements and goals met with your supporters. Recognize all the donors that have given during this time and thank them for participating in the challenge. Even if you didn’t meet your goals, saying a simple thank you goes a long way toward facilitating long-lasting and fruitful relationships.
If you did meet your goals, then consider hosting a celebration! This can take the form of a donor appreciation event, where you invite all those who gave to come and have fun. Or, if your donors are spread all over the country or the globe, send gifts to them instead. These don’t have to break your budget, as they can be small trinkets or merchandise branded to your nonprofit.
The most important thing here is to let your donors know that your success would not be possible without them. Show your genuine gratitude so that donors are incentivized to continue supporting your mission.
Additional Resources
Challenge gifts are an incredible opportunity for your nonprofit to buckle down and meet its goals. They also incentivize increased giving from your supporters through gamification, making them a worthwhile gift to receive.
If you’re interested in learning more about nonprofit fundraising opportunities, check out the following resources:
How to Unlock Corporate Sponsorships: Get More Support. While not all challenge gift donors are corporations, there’s a possibility that you’ll need a business sponsorship to acquire these gifts. In this guide, you’ll discover how to unlock corporate sponsorships.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Challenge-Gifts_Feature.png8801680Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-10 13:46:562025-02-25 16:37:54What are Challenge Gifts? A Guide to High-Speed Fundraising
Planned giving is an important part of a robust nonprofit fundraising strategy. This diverse category of gifts can unlock growth for your organization, help you reach new prospects, and deepen your ties with donors.
Getting started with planned giving is challenging for many organizations since this form of fundraising is unlike typical campaign-based and annual fundraising. However, the benefits of launching even a small-scale preliminary planned giving program are worth the effort and will scale over time to drive even greater results for your nonprofit.
To get started, you must understand the basics. This quick guide will cover the essentials by answering the following key questions:
Planned giving consists of donations to nonprofits made through donors’ estates or financial plans. Organizations that pursue these gifts consistently do so through dedicated planned giving programs, which are often managed as part of or alongside their other development efforts like major gift fundraising.
Most planned gifts are bequests established in donors’ wills and disbursed after their passing. But planned giving is much more than bequests—it’s an extremely diverse category of gifts.
What are the common types of planned gifts?
In addition to bequests, planned giving includes donations like:
Retirement plans and life insurance: A donor chooses to name a nonprofit as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or unused retirement assets.
Charitable gift annuities: A donor gives a large donation in exchange for a fixed income payment. The nonprofit can invest these funds and keep any remaining funds when the annuity’s terms are up or the donor passes away.
Charitable remainder trusts: A donor gives a gift of cash or securities in exchange for an income payment of a percentage of the principal amount, which can be revalued and increased annually depending on the type of trust created.
Charitable lead trusts: A donor makes payments to the nonprofit for a certain number of years or their lifetime. At the end of that term, the payments are returned to the donor or their beneficiaries.
Each type of planned gift brings different requirements and benefits, so the gift that a donor ultimately decides to make will hinge on several factors including their financial situation and giving motivations. Some gifts will also work best for only certain types of high-impact donors.
Many nonprofits also pursue a variety of non-cash gifts alongside their planned giving programs since the processes of identifying these donors and setting up their gifts can be fairly similar. Popular non-cash gift options include:
Grants from donor-advised funds
Donations of real estate
Gifts of private or public stock or mutual funds
Gifts of cryptocurrency
Explore the additional resources at the end of this article to start learning more about these types of donations.
What is the state of planned giving today?
How much opportunity is there for nonprofits in planned giving today? Who creates planned gifts? Understanding the context and trends of this type of giving will empower your organization to create the best possible strategy.
Consider these 2023 statistics from FreeWill, a will creation and planned giving platform for nonprofits:
The total number of estate plans created increased by 12% over the previous year.
15% of those users chose to create a bequest gift—a total of 40,123 bequests adding up to a value of over $2.36 billion.
The average size of a charitable bequest was $46,594.
Younger will-makers are expressing an increased interest in bequests. Those aged 18-24 were the most likely to include a bequest in a will, and their average gift increased by over $9,000. Those aged 25-44 were the only other age segment to also increase their average gift value.
Older will-makers still represent the largest groups involved in planned giving, with adults aged 65-84 committing 38% of all bequest dollars.
These trends are occurring within the larger phenomenon of the “Great Wealth Transfer,” an unprecedented transfer of assets from the aging Baby Boomer population to their heirs and charitable organizations—estimated to be around $68 trillion over the next 25 years.
Key takeaways: Donors are making wills and estate plans, especially as they age. If you’re not asking them to consider creating a planned gift, you’re missing out. Considering the giving patterns of older donors, the Great Wealth Transfer, and younger generations enjoying or entering their prime working years, a robust planned giving strategy can generate significant revenue for your organization. You’ll just need to know how to talk about planned giving effectively, starting with its benefits.
What are the benefits of planned giving?
Planned giving can help both the donor and the nonprofit in significant ways. Let’s take a closer look.
Benefits for Donors
Planned gifts allow donors to create lasting legacies and impact on the missions that they care about and/or have been meaningful for their families.
These donations are also highly flexible, giving donors the option of designating specific purposes for the funds and updating their instructions over time.
Planned gifts often also bring significant tax benefits for donors, usually relating to estate taxes, which can be a major motivator for some. However, the exact tax implications of planned gifts can vary widely, so it’s crucial to avoid giving donors explicit advice and instead direct them to professionals to confirm the specifics.
Benefits for Nonprofits
Planned giving is inherently meaningful and can greatly deepen relationships between your organization and its donors when thoughtfully stewarded.
Financially speaking, planned gifts can be extremely helpful for nonprofits. They’re often much larger than typical cash donations, and they’re usually unrestricted. A planned giving program can create a projectable, dependable source of general funding.
Planned gifts are also more accessible to more donors than cash gifts of the same values—while you might have only a handful of donors who can give a major cash gift, there’s a good possibility that you have more donors who could give the equivalent through saved assets.
Effective stewardship strategies have also been shown to increase annual donations from committed planned donors over time.
How do you get started with planned giving?
Your organization should spend time creating a strategy for its planned giving program before getting started asking for these gifts. Follow these steps to successfully execute your program:
Educate and organize your teams. Decide your goals and determine who will lead your planned giving efforts (usually a member of your development or fundraising department). Educate the members of your fundraising, marketing, or communications teams and any other staff who will play roles in your program.
Gather the right tools. You’ll need tools to market your program, track donation data, and help donors set up their planned gifts. Look for a planned giving platform that gives donors free will creation tools and provides you with the data you need to follow up and steward your relationships with them over time.
Identify potential donors. When looking for prospects, start with those most dedicated to your cause, including board members, volunteers, and longtime donors. Ask about their awareness of and interest in planned giving (and if they’ve already created a planned gift). Use these responses to build an initial prospect list, get a sense of their shared characteristics, and refine your approach as you learn more.
Create a legacy giving society. This can cultivate a feeling of community and inclusion in your organization, especially if it comes with perks like public acknowledgment or access to special events.
Outline a marketing strategy. Use multiple marketing channels to explain what planned giving is and why it’s so beneficial for both donors and your mission. Make it easy for donors to access information about planned giving, ideally by adding it as a section on your Ways to Give page or on a dedicated planned giving microsite.
Steward and learn more about planned donors over time. As you begin asking for and receiving planned gifts, actively work to keep those donors involved and engaged. Learn more about why they choose to give to inform your future strategies.
Don’t be afraid of starting small—your planned giving program can grow over time. By beginning with a targeted focus on simpler gifts like bequests, you can lay out an effective framework for eventually asking for more complex planned gifts or different types of non-cash gifts over time.
The key is to keep learning more and refining your approach as you go. Your development team already likely follows best practices for conducting prospect research, qualifying donors, building relationships, and stewarding donors. Use and adapt these strategies to your new planned giving goals.
Additional Planned Giving Resources
Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring our other introductory guides and glossary entries.
Planned Giving Marketing – Here are seven strategies to get your donor base on board with planned giving.
Donor-Advised Funds — Check out this complete introduction to DAFs, a type of philanthropic fund that’s skyrocketed in popularity in recent years.
Moves Management — Learn the basics of how to keep track of donor interactions as you work towards a specific goal like creating a planned gift.
Double the Donation and CrowdChange is excited to announce their new partnership and unveil a technical integration between Double the Donation and the CrowdChange fundraising platform. This collaboration equips nonprofit organizations to take advantage of the underutilized fundraising avenue that is corporate matching gifts.
“CrowdChange is committed to providing an intuitive, comprehensive fundraising platform for our partners,” says Marni Wiener, Chief Revenue Officer at CrowdChange. “By integrating with Double the Donationby Double the Donation, we enhance our existing fundraising platform and give our clients the tools they need to raise more from matching gifts.”
Leveraging Double the Donation and CrowdChange, organizations will be able to identify more match-eligible donors during the donation process and drive those matches to completion with Double the Donation’s customizable, automated workflows. This technology simplifies the matching gift process for donors and nonprofits alike, making it that much easier to bring in revenue from corporate matching programs.
“Double the Donation is excited to launch this partnership and add Double the Donationto CrowdChange’s powerful fundraising suite,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “Nonprofit organizations often miss out on valuable matching gift funds, but with this technical integration CrowdChange users are equipped to make the most of matching gifts and raise more for their mission.”
The seamless integration between Double the Donation and CrowdChange equips fundraisers with the industry-leading matching gift software, effortlessly connecting donors to the next steps and raising more for the causes that matter most.
Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!
With this seamless integration and streamlined activation process, you can connect your CrowdChange and Double the Donation instances in minutes.
Once you’ve connected your CrowdChange and Double the Donation accounts, all that is left to do is add the Double the Donation search tool to your donation forms! Donors can identify their employer on the donation form and be met with actionable next steps on the thank you page.
Double the Donation also sends automated email notifications to donors following the donation to reconnect donors to their matching gift application form based on their employer information, making it even easier to drive revenue with matching gifts.
Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!
Double the Donation ensures your matching gift opportunities don’t fall through the cracks.
Take advantage of this solution to:
Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: Double the Donation enables you to automatically collect matching gift eligibility from donors using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more matching gift opportunities Double the Donation discovers and shares with donors, the more matching gift requests your donors will successfully submit.
Drive more matches to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct donors immediately to their matching gift forms after the donation process is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right donors at the right time with custom emails based on match eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more matching gift checks from companies through your door.
Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing small dollar-value matching gifts? Let Double the Donation automate your matching gift outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable match-eligible donations. Rest easy knowing that Double the Donation can handle the rest.
Ready to get started with matching gifts automation using CrowdChange? Request a demo today.
About CrowdChange: CrowdChange is a comprehensive events and fundraising software platform in the market. With an easy-to-use, no-coding design and features to cater to all your fundraising needs. Whether you’re planning signature events, DIY, or peer-to-peer campaigns, their platform provides the perfect tools for seamless execution. Ideal for non-profits, hospital foundations, universities, schools, and other impactful organizations, CrowdChange empowers you to take charge of your fundraising. To learn more visit https://www.crowdchange.co/home-og#Talktous
About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more, visit https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DTD_CrowdChange-partnership-announcement.png290775Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-09 11:00:202025-04-17 13:31:23Double the Donation and CrowdChange Partner to Debut Innovative Matching Gift Integration
Expectations of the modern company have changed. To many people, a successful, noteworthy company is not just one that earns profits or offers enticing employee benefits. To win the support of employees, consumers, and other stakeholders, you must also stand as an advocate for social change. That’s where corporate volunteering comes in.
77% of consumers are more motivated to purchase from companies with CSR initiatives. By facilitating corporate volunteering, your company can power social good while engaging your employees in meaningful, rewarding activities. Whether you already have an established philanthropy program, or you’re just looking to launch one, you’ll need to build a repertoire of compelling volunteer ideas to inspire employees to participate.
We’ve compiled over 25 inspiring in-person and virtual ideas, along with tips on making the most of each corporate volunteer experience, in the following sections:
Chances are, many of your employees enter their roles expecting more than just responsibilities and a paycheck. Through corporate volunteering, you can help them find a larger purpose in their roles and encourage them to stay with your company for the long term.
Corporate Volunteer Activities: FAQs
Before we explore corporate volunteer ideas to engage your employees, let’s answer some frequently asked questions to get you started on the right foot.
What is corporate volunteering?
Corporate volunteering, or employee volunteering, refers to the time and skills that a company’s employees dedicate to charitable causes as part of their combined corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.
Since the estimated national value of every volunteer hour is $31.80, corporate volunteering allows companies to make a substantial difference in supporting nonprofit missions worldwide and leave a lasting impact on society. The most common types of corporate volunteering programs are volunteer time off (VTO) and volunteer grants.
VTO is a form of paid time off that employees must use to volunteer, thus allowing them to volunteer for their favorite causes during standard work hours. Volunteer grants are financial contributions awarded to the organizations that employees volunteer with the most (most companies have a minimum hours threshold to determine eligibility). To learn more about corporate volunteer programs and see how solutions like Double the Donation Volunteering can help your nonprofit take advantage of them, check out this video:
What are the benefits of corporate volunteering?
While it’s clear that volunteering brings significant benefits to nonprofits, it can be very rewarding to your company as well. By incorporating corporate volunteering ideas into your philanthropic initiatives, you can:
Promote team-building. A winning company culture relies on team-building. By assembling employees for a corporate volunteer event, you’ll help them develop collaboration and communication skills that they can then apply to their roles.
Boost employee retention. It’s one thing to have your employees show up for work every day. It’s another to have them fully invested in their roles and your company’s overall success. Corporate volunteering enables you to better engage your employees by creating a sense of community and purpose among them. This makes them more likely to stick around year after year.
Increase talent acquisition. According to a survey conducted by Paul Polman, 76% of U.S. employees want to work for a company that is trying to have a positive impact on the world. If your company makes it clear, through its corporate volunteering efforts, that it’s committed to the common good, then you’ll attract many more socially conscious job seekers to your roles.
Elevate your reputation. Ultimately, corporate volunteering demonstrates that your company is interested in more than making profits. This can go a long way toward building trust and cultivating support within your community.
While other corporate giving initiatives, such as community grants, can lead to similar benefits, corporate volunteering is one of the most popular and effective ways to directly engage employees in your social impact.
15 In-Person Corporate Volunteering Ideas
In-person corporate volunteer activities allow your employees to get directly involved in their local neighborhoods. Consider the following ideas to start engaging employees and strengthening connections with your community:
1. Organize a community cleanup.
Keep America Beautiful estimates that there are nearly 50 billion pieces of litter along U.S. roadways and waterways. Gather your employees to clean up a local park, beach, or other public space in your local area. This will not only create a more beautiful place for everyone to appreciate, but it will also reduce pollution and protect wildlife in the area.
Furthermore, this corporate volunteering idea can inspire local residents to pay more attention to their carbon footprint and how they can take better care of the community in which they live.
2. Spend a day at an animal shelter.
Enlist your employees to help out at an animal shelter for a win-win corporate volunteer activity. They’ll improve the lives of animals in need of homes, and at the same time, experience a boost to their mental health. Studies indicate that spending time with dogs can raise oxytocin and dopamine levels in people, which promote happiness and reduce anxiety.
There are a variety of volunteer roles that your corporate employees can fill at an animal shelter, such as walking dogs, taking pictures of adoptable animals, and cleaning up the shelter.
3. Build homes for people in need.
If your employees spend much of their time sitting in front of a desk, this corporate volunteering idea provides a wonderful opportunity for them to get active for a worthy cause. To organize this activity, you’ll typically partner with a nonprofit, such as Habitat for Humanity, that can oversee your employees’ efforts and guide them through the construction process.
Bank of America is one standout company that champions affordable housing, with a 30+ year partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Their employees spend about 35,000 a year supporting the nonprofit’s initiatives and making a difference in the lives of people facing housing insecurity.
4. Visit a senior center.
There are numerous roles that corporate volunteers can fill at a senior center. Depending on your employees’ skills and interests, they can:
Speak with and provide companionship to residents.
Lead arts and crafts activities.
Help with administrative tasks.
Assist with meal preparation.
Beyond lending a hand with daily activities, your employees can even plan and host a holiday party or another type of special event to brighten up residents’ lives.
5. Partner with a homeless shelter.
Last year, homelessness in the United States reached record highs. Support your local homeless shelter and assist an increasingly vulnerable population by:
Preparing and serving meals.
Helping children with their homework.
Sorting donated clothes and other goods.
Leading life skills workshops, such as resume writing.
Planning a corporate volunteer event at a homeless shelter is an opportunity for your employees to make a direct impact on the lives of other people in their community. They can not only help raise awareness about homelessness, but also build meaningful relationships with people in need of compassion and support.
6. Help out at a food bank.
Visiting a food bank is a popular volunteering activity for companies and individuals alike. Employees can work together to sort food at the facility, and then transport and distribute these supplies to support hunger relief in the community.
Disney is another company that has a particularly impactful corporate volunteering program. Employee participants in Disney’s VoluntEARS program often team up with food backs to address the needs of thousands of food-insecure community members. Beyond that, they get involved in initiatives ranging from making blankets to recording bedtime stories for children living in rural areas.
7. Support a school improvement project.
Engage your employees in enhancing the education of local students by participating in a school improvement project. These projects might involve:
Renovating classrooms.
Making improvements for accessibility.
Beautifying the school through landscaping and gardening.
Expanding and updating a school library.
This corporate volunteering idea is a stellar way to invest in the future generations of your community. To get started, reach out to local schools and identify those in need of support. With a thoughtful approach, your company can build lasting partnerships and set up more corporate volunteering opportunities in the future.
8. Donate blood.
According to the American Red Cross, someone in the United States needs blood and/or platelets every two seconds. Your company can either host its own blood donation drive or encourage employees to attend one that another organization is holding in the local area.
Before the event itself, be sure to provide educational materials to employees to highlight the importance of donating blood and include basic details on how the process works. This ensures that more employees feel comfortable participating when the day rolls around.
9. Run a donation drive.
Beyond donating blood, your employees can arrange and run a donation drive for a range of essential supplies and resources. For instance, your company could collect:
Clothing
Food
Books
School supplies
Pet supplies
In addition to encouraging employees to give their new and gently used items, you can invite everyone in your community to get involved. This can help your company cultivate new relationships with potential customers and job seekers while furthering your CSR goals.
10. Start or maintain a community garden.
Establishing or maintaining a community garden allows your company to leave a lasting impact on its community. If there isn’t currently one in your local area, consider renting out a vacant lot and creating a plan for how the garden will benefit everyone in the neighborhood.
If there is an existing community garden nearby, assemble a team of corporate volunteers to help with weeding, planting, and harvesting.
11. Plant trees as a team.
80% of consumers are more likely to buy from and 84% of employees are more likely to work for a company that stands up for the environment. Demonstrate your company’s commitment to the environment and engage your employees in a team-building exercise with tree planting.
One of the easiest ways to organize a tree-planting activity is to partner with a nonprofit or local conservation group dedicated to the environment and reforestation. They’ll have the expertise to guide your employees on how and where to plant saplings.
12. Offer a mentorship program.
Consider launching a mentorship program to facilitate connections between your employees and community members. Employees can volunteer their time to support mentees in areas such as:
Resume writing
Job interviews
Career advancement
Your company can choose to offer a virtual mentorship program as well. This would enable more people outside of your local area to participate, including remote employees.
13. Participate in a literacy program.
Literacy programs are essential resources that empower people of all ages to improve their communication skills and set a foundation for their future success. There are numerous ways your employees can support a literacy program, from serving as a reading buddy to creating educational resources for participants. Or, your company can even create its own.
Costco has its own Volunteer Reading Program that allows employees to support students in schools, community centers, and after-school programs. The company engages over 2,600 volunteers and even provides all the reading materials for the program.
14. Prepare and distribute care packages.
Throughout the year, or following a specific incident such as a natural disaster, your employees can assemble and distribute care packages to people in need. These can include anything from hygiene supplies to first aid kits.
Last year, for example, Delta volunteers delivered grocery boxes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and care packages for service members during USO Fleet Week events.
15. Host a sports clinic.
By hosting a sports clinic, your company can encourage both its employees and community members to engage in physical activity to promote well-being. The process is simple:
Choose a specific sport or activity based on employee or community interests.
Find a suitable location for the clinic.
Promote the event in your community.
Enlist employee volunteers to run the clinic.
With this corporate volunteering idea, your company can demonstrate its dedication to health and wellness in society.
11 Engaging Virtual Corporate Volunteer Ideas
For companies with remote or hybrid employees, putting together in-person corporate volunteer events may not be as practical or effective. Plus, some employees may want to participate in social change beyond just their local communities. In these cases, consider incorporating some of the following virtual corporate volunteer activities into your program:
1. Tutor students online.
About one-third of school leaders indicate that they don’t have the capacity to provide frequent, one-on-one tutoring to all students who need it, and nearly 20% report that they can’t even provide regular tutoring. By engaging your employees in online tutoring, your company can alleviate staff and resource shortages at educational institutions.
With video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, your corporate volunteers can offer one-on-one tutoring sessions with students. In doing so, they’ll be able to support academic excellence and make a tangible difference in the lives of individual students.
2. Provide translation services.
This virtual corporate volunteering idea is ideal for multilingual employees. Many nonprofits serve diverse populations, which means they may interact with people who prefer communicating in another language. In fact, nearly 66 million people, or around 21.6% of the U.S. population, speak a language other than English in their homes.
To help nonprofits make their services more accessible to everyone, your employees can translate documents, website content, and more.
3. Teach language classes.
Encourage your company’s multilingual employees to teach language classes as part of your corporate volunteering activities. They can conduct these classes over Zoom and facilitate practice discussions among online participants.
To make it easy for your employees to get involved, consider creating language learning materials that they can use in their classes. This way, they can dedicate their time to teaching without having to worry about creating a comprehensive curriculum or worksheets.
4. Plan skills-based workshops.
Your employees are a diverse group of individuals with their own interests, skills, and hobbies. Empower them to share their expertise by hosting workshops for people who are interested in learning a new skill. As a form of skills-based volunteerism, these workshops could focus on topics such as:
Business management
Art
Cooking
Leadership
Financial Literacy
If these workshops are related to employees’ roles, they can have the added benefit of reinforcing their skills and knowledge to boost their performance in the workplace.
5. Create content for nonprofits.
To secure enough support for their missions, nonprofits need to produce content to spread awareness and solicit donations. Your employees can assist nonprofits with their marketing efforts in various ways. For instance, they can:
Write blog articles.
Craft social media posts.
Produce short videos.
This corporate volunteering idea leaves employees with a finished product that they can look back on with pride.
6. Pitch in with graphic design.
If your employees have an eye for graphic design, consider having them offer their services to nonprofits. There are many areas where having well-designed images and graphics can come in handy, including:
Whether a nonprofit is looking to redesign its logo or revamp its website, having graphic design services can go a long way toward reaching and engaging new supporters.
7. Help with social media management.
According to Nonprofit Tech for Good, 87% of nonprofits regularly use social media for digital marketing and fundraising. However, with so much activity on social media, it can be a challenge for them to stand out among all the noise. Enlist your social media-savvy employees to help nonprofits by:
Creating eye-catching social media content.
Scheduling posts to maximize engagement.
Interacting with followers.
Doing so will free up more time and energy for nonprofits to focus on other mission-critical activities, such as delivering services to their beneficiaries.
8. Assist with grant writing.
Nonprofits need to seek funding from a variety of sources to continue fulfilling their missions. Many foundations and corporations offer grants to cover program or project expenses—however, a nonprofit must submit a compelling application before they can access those funds.
Since effective grant writing takes time and effort, this is an excellent opportunity for your company to pitch in, especially if you have employees with strong writing and communication backgrounds. They can research grantmakers, help write proposals, and proofread everything before submission.
9. Coordinate remote volunteers.
A nonprofit organization may have plenty of volunteers willing to dedicate their time and skills. Without proper volunteer management, however, they won’t be able to make the most of the resources at their disposal.
Recruit your employees to take over some key remote volunteer coordination responsibilities by onboarding, communicating with, and organizing volunteers in other areas of the world. This creates impactful, satisfying experiences that encourage volunteers to continue supporting a nonprofit time after time.
10. Offer coding support.
If your employees have coding experience, bring them together to offer coding assistance to nonprofits. They can lend a hand with:
Cybersecurity best practices
Web development
General IT support
Staff training
Additionally, consider opening up support beyond nonprofits and planning workshops for those interested in developing their programming skills.
11. Host virtual fundraising events.
Encourage your employees to take the lead in fundraising for nonprofits by hosting online fundraising events. Doing so allows them to tap into their personal networks and cultivate new supporters for a nonprofit’s mission. Get creative as you determine which types of fundraisers will appeal most to your employees and be sure to poll them on which organization or cause should receive the funds raised.
For instance, you could plan a virtual walk- or run-a-thon that employees can participate in by using their treadmills at home. Additionally, consider hosting silent auctions, raffles, and other contests such as a trivia night.
How to Put Your Corporate Volunteering Ideas into Action
Now that your company has some engaging corporate volunteer ideas up its sleeve, it’s time to start planning an experience that employees will be excited to take part in. Follow these steps to set your next event up for success:
Gather employee feedback. Survey your employees in advance to determine which types of corporate volunteer events, activities, and nonprofit causes resonate most with them. Use these insights to guide your planning.
Spread the word about upcoming opportunities. Ensure that your employees are aware of upcoming opportunities, so they can make room in their schedules to participate.
Communicate about nonprofit causes. One effective way to engage more employees in corporate volunteering is to share more information about the nonprofit causes that they’ll have an impact on. This may inspire them to sign up for your next event and make a difference in the community.
Consider offering incentives. For employees who are on the fence about participating, add an extra incentive such as paid volunteer time off (VTO) or a free lunch after volunteering to encourage them to get involved.
If you haven’t already, consider investing in workplace giving software to make planning and participating in corporate volunteer activities easier for everyone. A high-quality solution will streamline processes such as promoting volunteer opportunities and tracking employee hours.
Maintaining Momentum After a Corporate Volunteer Activity
For your corporate volunteer program to be successful in the long term, it’s important to understand that each event is not a one-and-done activity. Consider these tips to maintain momentum and keep your employees engaged after volunteering:
Practice recognition
Show employees that you value their participation by recognizing them for volunteering. There are several effective ways to do so, including:
Social media shoutouts
eCards
Branded merchandise
Furthermore, invite employees to give feedback on their experiences to demonstrate your commitment to providing them with more enticing volunteer opportunities in the future.
Share impact
Don’t leave your employees wondering whether their volunteer efforts actually left a meaningful impact on the world. According to VolunteerMatch, 66% of volunteers are motivated by making a difference in their community. Use multiple channels to celebrate the results of each volunteer event, including:
Website
Email newsletter
Social media
Doing so will both maintain employee engagement within your company and boost your reputation among customers and other stakeholders in the community.
Promote other corporate giving opportunities
Beyond taking part in your corporate volunteer activities, there are many ways employees can contribute to your philanthropic goals. For instance, consider offering volunteer grants to nonprofits after employees volunteer a certain number of hours with them.
Matching gifts are another popular program among many businesses, offered by 65% of Fortune 500 companies. Whether your company already has one in place or is considering starting one of these programs, check to see whether your corporate giving software integrates with the latest matching gift tools. Innovative features such as auto-submission, for example, make it easier than ever for employees to submit matching gift requests.
Wrapping Up: Enhancing Your Company’s Social Impact
As with any company initiative, remember to adopt an improvement mindset from the get-go. Identify and track relevant metrics to unearth insights for improving your corporate volunteer program over time. This ensures that you engage more employees and power more impact year after year.
To learn more about corporate philanthropy and employee engagement best practices, take a look at these additional resources:
What would you do if your organization hit a record number of new donors within a year?
Celebrate! But what about after the initial excitement wears off? Discovering that donors share the same passion for your cause is exhilarating. However, many organizations fail to communicate their appreciation adequately, which can have negative retention effects.
In fact, lack of recognition is one of the top five reasons why donors choose to stop giving. That said, donor recognition is a key part of donor stewardship, which can usher first-time donors into long-term supporters.
In this guide, we’ll explore the ins and outs of donor recognition and discover how your organization can create an effective acknowledgment strategy. Let’s dive in!
What is donor recognition?
Donor recognition describes the practice of thanking your organization’s donors for their gifts to your nonprofit. It’s a way for nonprofits to express gratitude and reinforce supporters’ commitment to the cause.
Many nonprofits separate recognition into tiers based on the type of gift and amount given by a donor. We’ll explore this concept more later, but for now, know that nonprofits refer to this tier system to ensure their recognition level matches a donor’s generosity.
There are several methods for recognizing donors. Everything from a simple phone call to a fancy outdoor display falls under this category. At the most basic level, you should send a prompt donor thank-you letter or email acknowledging them for responding to your fundraising appeal and supporting your mission. As with any nonprofit fundraising letter, this thank-you should:
Be personalized with the donor’s preferred name
Include relevant, engaging images
Convey the impact of the donor’s support
Despite the various methods, the purpose of every donor recognition strategy is always the same: to acknowledge a donor’s generosity.
Why does donor recognition matter?
Donor recognition is a vital component of nonprofit fundraising and relationship-building. It’s what inspires donors to stick around and continue supporting your cause, so you can pursue your mission and build a community behind your cause. Let’s explore how meaningful donor recognition impacts both nonprofits and their donors.
Benefits for Nonprofits
Acknowledgment plays a fundamental role in acquiring, retaining, and inspiring greater support. For nonprofits, meaningful donor recognition helps:
Increase donor retention. Recognizing donors makes them feel like they are making a difference. It also indicates that your organization prioritizes showing appreciation regardless of the gift amount.
Encourage recurring giving. Donors who feel recognized are more likely to give more and give more often. When you take time to recognize a donor’s gift, you indicate that they’ve made a smart choice to donate to your cause.
Acquire more donors. Recognizing donors publicly can act as a form of social proof. When people see their friends donate to a cause, it motivates them to explore the organization and maybe get involved themselves.
Promote a positive brand image. Organizations that prioritize donor recognition further their positive perception in people’s minds. People notice when nonprofits go the extra mile for their supporters.
Encourage an atmosphere of gratitude. Staff, volunteers, and other supporters want to work for an organization that expresses gratitude regularly. The positive emphasis on appreciation creates a vibrant work culture.
Nonprofits rely on their donors to power their missions, making proactive recognition a vital part of their fundraising efforts. From retaining donors to expanding your community of supporters, showing gratitude goes a long way.
Benefits for Donors
On the other side of things, proper acknowledgment can impact donors in several ways, too. Here’s a quick rundown of how you can influence supporters by recognizing them:
Make donors feel valued. Donors like knowing that their gift is appreciated. Frequently showing recognition makes them feel valued as important contributors to your organization.
Affirm their decision to give. Donors could have given to any cause, or not given at all. When you recognize their contributions, you reassure them that they made the right choice.
Deepen their connection with your organization. When organizations recognize donors individually, it makes them feel like a part of the team. This deepens their connection and can even encourage them to get involved in other ways like volunteering.
Remind them of their impact. With plenty of distractions, donors can easily forget to support your organization regularly. But, when you recognize them, you remind them of their special part in driving impact. After all, 41% of donors will give again when they receive personalized outreach on the impact of their support.
Offer community connections to like-minded people. Recognition policies, especially event-oriented ones, allow donors to connect with like-minded individuals and expand their personal and professional networks.
As you can see, consistent donor recognition accomplishes both nonprofit-related and donor-related objectives. That’s why creating a robust recognition program now can cause positive ripple effects for your organization for years to come.
When should you recognize donors?
The short answer: as soon as the gift is received. Expressing acknowledgment and gratitude promptly is what makes donor recognition matter. After all, saying thank you a few weeks or even a few days later does not carry the same meaning. Instead, aim to recognize a donor within 48 hours of receiving their gift. Many nonprofits document their official gift recognition and substantiation procedures in their gift acceptance policies.
Of course, more involved recognition strategies like a naming opportunity will take longer to complete. However, all donors should receive a prompt and personalized acknowledgment. More specifically, plan to thank donors at every touch point. For example, capital campaigns should use donor recognition strategies that actively support the larger campaign purpose and complement each stage of the project.
Who should your nonprofit recognize?
Your goal should be to make all supporters feel recognized and valued for their contributions, regardless of the size of their gift.
But, it’s important to choose recognition strategies that adequately address the level of a donor’s generosity. Responding with an unexpected abundance or limited amount of recognition can throw your donor relationships off-kilter, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction.
To avoid this, you’ll need to create donor recognition levels based on donation type, donation amount, engagement level, and donor type. Let’s explore each in more detail below!
Donation Type
There are several different donation types, from matching gifts to in-kind donations. Generally, donors give through one of the following donation methods:
Cash: Direct monetary deposit to your nonprofit organization.
In-Kind: Food supplies, medical supplies, or other tangible goods.
Time: Donors can choose to devote part of their time to volunteering with your organization and may even apply for volunteer grants to help you raise more funds.
Matching Gifts:Many corporations offer matching gifts as a part of their philanthropic initiatives, meaning they match their employee’s donations at a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio.
Depending on the type of donation, you can organize your recognition program to acknowledge donors’ specific gifts. For instance, if a donor opts to give through a matching gift program, your recognition should acknowledge their thoughtfulness in doubling their donation.
Donation Amount
Many nonprofits segment their donor tiers by donation amount. How you determine the tiers will depend on your organization’s average donation size. A smaller nonprofit’s average donation size might be $200 while a more established nonprofit’s average donation size might be closer to $2,000.
For example, a community-based nonprofit’s donation recognition levels might look something like this:
Friends: $100 – $499
Tax receipt and handwritten thank-you note from the Executive Director
Recognition in annual report
Believers: $500 – $4,999
All the benefits of the Friends level
Exclusive updates on nonprofit activities, impacts, and forthcoming initiatives
VIP experiences and behind-the-scenes access or unique networking opportunities
Advocates: $5,000 – $19,999
All the benefits of the Believers level
Website or newsletter recognition feature
Named sponsorship recognition
Visionaries: $20,000 – $49,999
All the benefits of the Advocate level
Press release and major publication recognition
Special event recognition
Naming opportunities
Ongoing personalized stewardship
You can also organize these levels based on impact. For instance, a food pantry might categorize amounts by their ability to feed five families, 50 families, or 250 families. Adjust the amounts and the recognition titles to best suit your organization’s average donation size and mission impact.
Engagement Level
You can also categorize donors by their engagement level with your organization. This identifier will significantly impact how you decide to recognize them. Here are the various engagement levels to consider:
First-time donors: It’s important to promptly recognize first-time donors to affirm their decision to give to your cause and welcome them to your organization. Welcome packets full of fact sheets about your organization, branded merchandise, a thank-you note, and upcoming volunteer opportunities are a great way to recognize new donors.
Repeat donors: Currently active donors who know your organization well are also worth recognizing. Show them your appreciation with personalized phone calls, exclusive nonprofit updates, and event invitations tailored to their interests.
Major donors: Donors who give significant amounts of money to your cause deserve thoughtful recognition. Keep them in the loop with specialized impact reports and dedicated donor thank-you events as a part of your stewardship efforts.
Legacy donors: People who decide to dedicate their life’s earnings through planned gifts or estate plans qualify as legacy donors. Include these generous individuals in legacy society publications and send them exclusive updates on their future gifts’ impact.
You can categorize this donor data within a dedicated CRM so that your team can reference and update it throughout your relationship. That way, you’ll never miss a beat when recognizing new or long-time donors.
Donor Type
When you think of donor recognition, you might primarily think of individual contributors. However, there are a few different types of donors, and you should adjust your recognition strategies for each type. Donor types differ across three major categories:
Individual donors are private individuals who contribute their personal funds. They are the most common type of donors and range from small contributors to high-net-worth individuals making major gifts.
Foundations are organizations formed to provide funding and support to charitable causes. They can be private (i.e., established by individuals or families) or public (i.e., government-funded or endowed by corporations).
As mentioned, you’ll need to adapt your recognition efforts for each donor type. For example, personalized acknowledgments and donor spotlights are suitable for individual donors, while corporations might benefit from specialized CSR employee engagement programs. Foundation recognition, on the other hand, would take the form of grant acknowledgments.
Top Donor Recognition Ideas
Depending on the above considerations for each donor, there are several ways you can recognize them. As always, you’ll need to match the strategy to your relationship with the donor for maximum impact. Here are some top recognition ideas based on engagement levels and donation amounts:
Digital eCards
To make your recognition both prompt and personalized, use digital eCards. This approach allows you to send a branded thank you to donors. These digital tools make it easy to honor donors and spread the word about your cause. It’s as simple as logging in, customizing your design, drafting a thank-you, and sending it to your donor’s social media account or inbox.
Not to mention, eCards are a great source of revenue when you sell them to supporters, too. Check out this video for an in-depth review of how this technology works:
From thanking donors to raising funds, digital greeting cards can add a special touch to your fundraising techniques. Greeting cards are perfect for any occasion, including saying thank you to your valued supporters!
Phone Calls
Simple and straightforward, a phone call from your nonprofit’s Executive Director is a meaningful way to recognize a donor. This strategy will make donors feel seen by your nonprofit’s efforts. Be sure to have the donor’s donation type and amount handy so you can express gratitude for their specific gift.
Branded Gifts
Send your donor nonprofit branded merchandise as a thank-you! Blankets, t-shirts, hats, and hoodies all make for fabulous donor recognition gifts that will make your donor feel welcomed into your organization. If your nonprofit has an online gift shop, consider sending a donor a discount to choose a branded gift that best suits them.
Thank-You Notes from Beneficiaries
Your donors likely expect a thank-you message from your nonprofit’s team, but you can pleasantly surprise them with a handwritten appreciation letter from your beneficiaries. All you need to do is:
Sign up beneficiaries to write letters. Ensure they know that this is a small time commitment to encourage more people to join.
Provide writing resources for beneficiaries. Offer items such as a thank-you card template, paper, and pens to make the writing process as easy as possible.
Coordinate letter drop-off. Instead of sending letters themselves, ask your beneficiaries to drop their thank-you letters off at your office. This way, beneficiaries don’t need to pay for stamps, and your donors’ sensitive information is kept safe.
Send the thank-you notes to donors. Make sure to send your letters in a timely manner. If you’re worried about stamp prices, look into qualifying for USPS’ nonprofit discount to cut costs.
Take the following example from Youth For Understanding. The nonprofit offers study abroad opportunities, helping young adults learn about the world via semester and year-long exchange programs. They had previous program participants craft thank-you notes to send to their host families or anyone else who made their experience memorable.
This idea is a fun twist on traditional approaches to nonprofit thank-you cards, allowing your beneficiaries to build personal connections with donors and secure their future support.
Looking for a way to make an individual donor feel special? Social media spotlights are an effective option for highlighting your donor’s generosity. First, make sure your donor follows you online and regularly engages on the platform you choose. Then, with their permission, feature an image of them with a caption describing the impact of their generosity and why your team is grateful for their support. Or, host a livestream during a big campaign to thank donors.
Appreciation Videos
Appreciation videos are great for social media posts and blog posts on your website. These do not need to be long. However, be sure to include your executive staff thanking individuals for their support. You can also include, with their permission, a thank-you from the beneficiaries who your donors have helped. Doing this will help your donors understand the importance of their gifts.
Donor Lunch
Invite your donors to a dedicated lunch to celebrate their generosity. Send an invitation in advance and keep the invite list small to focus on a couple of key individuals. This option is great for donors who would appreciate more than a thank-you note but are uncomfortable attending a large dedicated event.
Donor of the Month Program
While your donors don’t give for the attention, you can still provide public shoutouts to your mid-tier contributors. Unlike social media spotlights, Donor of the Month is a time-bound award that’s given to the donor who’s made a big impact during that calendar month.
For instance, some good candidates for this award include a volunteer who decides to donate for the first time or an existing donor who smashes their peer-to-peer fundraising goal. You can highlight their dedication to your mission by:
Featuring them in your newsletter
Allowing them to write a guest post for your blog
Interviewing them and sharing the video on your website and social media accounts
Ensure your donor consents to being publicly recognized and notify them in advance so you can get your appreciation materials out on time.
Outdoor Displays
Take your recognition outside with a vibrant outdoor display to honor your donors. A nonprofit-specific monument or statue outside your facility can be a valuable addition to your headquarters. Consider partnering with design and construction partners to ensure that your display can withstand weathering and is designed to inspire. Include donor names in a plaque beneath the display.
Donor Plaques or Walls
Probably the most well-known recognition practices, donor plaques and donor walls are popular strategies. Donor plaques honoring the sole donors of a nonprofit project are often posted outside of buildings that the donors funded, for example. Donor walls can display several names and are best unveiled following a capital campaign.
Appreciation Events
Host a virtual happy hour or in-person dinner as a way to say thank you to donors. This can provide a valuable opportunity for donors to network with other supporters and discuss your cause. You could even run an online cooking class or informal craft tutorial. Or, you can make your event larger scale and host a fancy gala; just be sure to keep the focus on donor appreciation.
Donor Hall of Fame
Donor social media shoutouts and Donor of the Month are great ways to publicly appreciate your donors, but you can take this idea to the next level for major donors by starting a Donor Hall of Fame. This honor should be reserved for your most engaged and influential donors and awarded sparingly (e.g. once or twice a year). You can inaugurate donors by:
Hosting a dinner in their honor
Adding their picture to a wall in your organization’s office
Naming events and items after your donors
Unlike Donor of the Month and one-off shoutouts, this idea immortalizes your most impactful contributors. By going the extra mile with this idea, you can demonstrate how donations fuel your mission and that donors forever mark your nonprofit.
Board or Committee Invitations
Invite mid-sized and major donors to serve on advisory boards or committees. This form of recognition engages them more deeply in the organization’s work by showing you value their input and expertise.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering might not seem like an appreciation idea at first glance. However, many donors will appreciate engaging with your cause in new ways. By encouraging donors to volunteer, you’ll deepen their involvement in your mission. This will help them form a more personal connection to the work your organization does and see the impact of donations.
Private Tour
With this donor recognition idea, you’ll show donors where the magic happens! Even though they contribute to your mission substantially, many of your mid-sized and major donors may not have seen your office space and work sites before. Give donors an inside look into your organization by showing them around.
A great chance to use this type of recognition is when someone contributes to fund a specific project or initiative. For example, let’s say a major donor gave to your capital campaign to relocate to a bigger office. You might host an in-person tour or record a virtual one to show them around the new space.
Tips to Level Up Your Donor Recognition
Now that you have some creative donor recognition ideas, it’s time to brainstorm how you’ll cater each one to your unique donor community. Here are some ways to take these donor recognition ideas up a notch:
Communicate impact. According to Blackbaud, two of the top reasons donors churn are because they never received information on how their gift was used, and they don’t think the organization needs them. Avoid this by tying donations to tangible results. For example, show donors you need their support by telling beneficiaries’ stories and giving them an inside look into their impact.
Get permission for public recognition. While some donors might love a public shoutout, others might prefer private recognition, like a phone call or letter. Before acknowledging anyone publicly, ask them if it’s okay first!
Get creative. While a traditional thank-you letter can show appreciation, catch your donors’ attention by testing new recognition techniques. You have tons of powerful technology at your fingertips. Pair that with your team’s creativity, and you’ll come up with out-of-the-box ideas. Even formatting your letters as eCards can make recognition more impactful.
Creating a thoughtful donor recognition strategy can go a long way in showing that you genuinely care about their support. Pay attention to what resonates with donors, and you’ll learn how to show appreciation in more meaningful ways.
Final Thoughts and Additional Resources
Your donors are the reason you can continue pursuing your mission. By properly recognizing them, you’ll increase donor acquisition and retention. Remember, acknowledge your donors often and authentically to convey your nonprofit’s appreciation for them. Be sure to always ask for their permission for public recognition and mention how their specific gift impacted your mission. In turn, thoughtful recognition will pave the way for stronger donor relations.
Did you enjoy this guide to donor recognition? Check out these resources to learn more:
Donor Data Management: A Quick Guide for Nonprofits – Keep your donor data clean, organized, and accessible with NPOInfo’s guide to donor data management. That way, you can make sure to send the best types of acknowledgment to each donor!
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Donor-Recognition_Feature-Image.png3751000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-08 06:00:022024-09-20 15:31:06Donor Recognition: When & How to Acknowledge Supporters
Did you know that corporations give an average of $20-$26 billion to nonprofit causes each year?
More than ever before, companies are committed to giving back to their communities and improving the welfare of others—they’re embracing corporate philanthropy.
But what exactly does corporate philanthropy look like when it’s put into action? We’ve put together this guide to explore different types of corporate philanthropy you should know about and how you can embrace them, whether you’re a company looking to start your own program or a nonprofit strategizing to increase giving to your cause. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Corporate philanthropy holds the potential to benefit both companies and nonprofits. In order to get the most out of these programs, it’s important to gain an understanding of the different forms they can take and how they work. Let’s get started.
Corporate Philanthropy: A Quick Overview
First, let’s create a strong foundation for understanding the different types of corporate philanthropy by covering some basics.
What is corporate philanthropy?
Corporate philanthropy is a term that refers to the ways in which a company gives back to its community or promotes the welfare of others. Most commonly, corporations donate money or time to nonprofits to accomplish these goals. However, each company’s program will look a little different, as they’re often built around the company’s unique values and the needs of the community it aims to serve.
As you research corporate philanthropy, you’ll likely come across the term corporate social responsibility (CSR). Though related, CSR should not be confused with corporate philanthropy. CSR refers to the general attitude a company takes toward society and the role it plays in it. You can think of corporate philanthropy as a specific way that companies put their CSR into action.
Eye-Opening Corporate Philanthropy Statistics
Corporate philanthropy may sound good in theory, but you’re probably wondering if corporate philanthropy is successful in the real world. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
The Prevalence of Corporate Philanthropy Programs
65% of Fortune 500 companies have matching gift programs.
Clearly, companies that are leaning into corporate philanthropy are making a difference in their communities and even strengthening their workplaces. But wait—there are even more benefits!
The Benefits of Embracing Corporate Philanthropy
Corporate philanthropy is a win-win-win for the companies that embrace it, the employees who participate in it, and the nonprofits that are able to move their missions forward because of it.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits each party experiences when they participate in corporate philanthropy.
Benefits for Companies
Strengthened reputation and brand image. A company that demonstrates a commitment to making the world a better place is often perceived as a more appealing company to work for and buy from.
Boosted employee engagement. When employees are empowered to give back through their employers’ corporate philanthropy initiatives, they have more pride in their jobs and are more motivated to be high achievers.
Better connections with stakeholders. The investors, suppliers, and other groups who support a company’s operations want to see their partners making a positive difference in society. Stakeholders may even want to get involved in a company’s philanthropic work.
Tax benefits. Depending on the area in which a company operates, it may be eligible for tax deductions up to a certain amount if it engages in corporate philanthropy initiatives like matching gifts.
Benefits for Employees
Sense of purpose beyond daily tasks. When charitable work or giving is woven into employees’ working lives, they have a stronger sense of purpose and a more expansive view of their work. They can see the connections between what they do every day and what their company does to improve others’ lives.
Heightened camaraderie between employees. Philanthropic programs that encourage employees to volunteer or serve together enable people to get to know their coworkers outside of the day-to-day at the office. Employees can bond over shared values and experiences, which can help build friendships and improve how employees collaborate.
Enhanced skills. Some corporate philanthropy initiatives provide opportunities for employees to use their professional skillsets or to develop new skills. For example, an expert computer programmer might find it fulfilling to use their knowledge to tutor at-risk youth in coding. Or, an employee may enjoy the chance to do something they don’t do every day, like walking shelter dogs.
Improved health. Research shows that people who give back are healthier and happier. According to the Cleveland Clinic, philanthropic giving can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, boost self-esteem, help combat depression, and even extend the lifespan.
Benefits for Nonprofits
Amplified support. Any increase in support, whether it’s funding or volunteer time, is the obvious benefit nonprofits experience from corporate philanthropy. But its importance can’t be overstated. Nonprofits translate companies’ support into tangible results for their beneficiaries. More funding and time may also empower a nonprofit to drive new projects forward instead of staying in maintenance mode.
Increased visibility and awareness. Because companies often promote their philanthropic work, the nonprofits they partner with get more exposure while the causes they champion get more awareness and attention.
Access to new audiences. A corporate donor or volunteer may very well turn into a lifelong supporter. Tapping into a company’s philanthropic initiatives opens nonprofits up to entirely new communities of potential supporters and, better yet, gives them the chance to start building relationships with those potential supporters.
Access to skilled volunteers. When a company partners with a nonprofit to help drive its mission forward, the nonprofit has access to a whole new group of volunteers with diverse skills. Those skills might include customer service, landscaping, graphic design, or more!
Corporate Philanthropy Challenges To Be Aware Of
While companies, employees, and nonprofits can experience countless benefits from corporate philanthropy initiatives, there are also challenges that come with these programs.
For instance, the initial setup of a corporate philanthropy program can divert resources from a company’s business activities and require careful and consistent monitoring of employee engagement in the program. Or, a nonprofit may face difficult questions from its supporters regarding how it allocates funds from its corporate partner.
Whether your organization is a company or a nonprofit, be aware that you will face challenges as you work to lean into corporate philanthropy. However, don’t let the challenges you face deter you from getting involved with corporate philanthropy programs. With careful planning, open communication, and a commitment to making a positive difference in the community, nonprofits and their corporate partners can overcome the challenges of corporate philanthropy and share in the benefits.
14 Types of Corporate Philanthropy To Know
Now that you know what corporate philanthropy is and why it’s important for companies, employees, and nonprofits, you’re likely ready to start participating. Knowing what to look for in a corporate partner or what your company’s program can offer will be critical to your success. So, let’s explore 14 types of corporate philanthropy you should know!
1. Matching Gifts
The most popular type of corporate philanthropy program that companies offer is matching gifts.
Through these programs, companies financially match the donations their employees make to charitable organizations, usually organizations deemed eligible by the company beforehand (e.g., educational institutions or youth-focused nonprofits).
The company will typically donate the same amount of money to the nonprofit, effectively doubling the donor’s gift. Sometimes the company will donate double or even triple the amount of the initial donation.
The beauty of a matching gift program is that it allows a donor to boost their donation’s impact without reaching back into their wallet!
Here’s how the process works:
An individual donates to a nonprofit of their choice.
The employee checks their corporate matching gift eligibility using a database search tool on the nonprofit’s website.
Once the donor knows their donation is eligible for matching, they fill out any necessary online forms provided by the database tool.
After the donor’s company reviews the forms, it follows up with the nonprofit to confirm the donation.
Then, the company sends the nonprofit a donation!
This process is made even easier when a donor uses a CSR platform that offers auto-submission (more on this below). Instead of filling out multiple forms, all they have to do is provide their corporate email address. The rest is taken care of for them!
Each company’s matching gift program will look a little different, depending on the nonprofits they deem eligible for gift matching, the types of employees they deem eligible for the program (e.g., full-time, part-time, retired), the ratio at which they match gifts, the minimum and maximum gift amounts they will match, and the submission deadlines for the program.
If this type of corporate philanthropy sounds too good to pass up, learn more about matching gifts with these resources!
Sometimes referred to as Dollars for Doers, volunteer grants are another incredibly popular type of corporate philanthropy.
Through these programs, employers match the hours their employees have volunteered with a nonprofit with a donation to that nonprofit.
Volunteer grants are a way to turn time into money—and another way for your nonprofit’s supporters to drive more impact without spending a cent.
The volunteer grant process works like this:
An individual volunteers with a nonprofit on a regular basis.
The volunteer uses a corporate giving database to check if they’re eligible for a volunteer grant from their company.
After verifying their eligibility, the volunteer submits their application for a volunteer grant to their company.
The company reviews the application and confirms the volunteer hours the volunteer has put in with the nonprofit.
The company sends the nonprofit a donation!
Like matching gift programs, volunteer grant programs can differ. For instance, one company may give nonprofits a certain amount of money per hour volunteered, while another may donate a flat amount once a certain threshold of volunteer hours is met. Some companies may also offer team volunteer grants, where a grant is provided when a group of employees volunteers together!
Whether you’re a nonprofit or a company, it will be important to have volunteers log their hours. Verifying those hours will be essential to giving and collecting a volunteer grant.
3. Corporate Grants
When awarding a corporate grant, a company gives money to a nonprofit for a specific program or project. Typically, large companies will offer a grant program, as it can be a lot to manage. But this doesn’t mean smaller companies should shy away from the opportunity to award grants!
The process of getting a grant is a little more complex than something like matching gifts or volunteer grants. But the process for uncovering grant opportunities can be largely the same, especially using Double the Donation’s corporate giving database! Once identified, the nonprofit will have to apply for the grant with a compelling written grant proposal that clearly outlines its needs for the grant and what it will do with the money.
After reviewing the grant proposals, the company decides which nonprofit will receive the funding. The nonprofit must then use the money specifically for the purposes outlined in the proposal and approved by the granting corporation. To maintain a strong relationship with the company (and to lay the groundwork for future grant success), the nonprofit must report back to the company on how it used the funds and impacted its beneficiaries.
4. Employee Grant Stipends
Also known as employee grants or annual grant stipends, employee grant stipends are given on top of an employee’s normal compensation package each year to allow that employee to give to the nonprofit of their choice.
Grant stipends may not yield as much funding for nonprofits as something like a matching gift program, but they do put the power in an employee’s hands, allowing them to choose where their donations go. This allows a company’s employees to choose to give to an organization that aligns with their personal values or interests. Plus, employee grant stipends can be an attractive part of a well-rounded compensation package!
5. Automatic Payroll Deductions
With this kind of corporate philanthropy, employers make giving extremely easy for their employees.
To participate, employees simply arrange to have part of their paycheck deducted and given to a nonprofit of their choice. However, companies may dictate which types of organizations are eligible to receive donations. To offer this type of corporate philanthropy, companies will need to check that their payroll system enables this functionality.
6. Corporate Volunteer Programs
With a corporate volunteer program, a company coordinates with a nonprofit to set up times when the company’s employees can volunteer.
These volunteering outings may take the form of optional standing times for employees to volunteer with a nonprofit after work or on the weekends. Alternatively, businesses might host full-blown corporate volunteering days, where the entire company engages in a day of volunteer work.
Whatever they look like, corporate volunteer programs can be a lot of fun for the people involved. Employees can enjoy working alongside each other and nonprofits can get to know a new large group of enthusiastic potential supporters.
Plus, these programs allow nonprofits to tap into the company’s skill sets or specialties. For example, a graphic design company might volunteer with a nonprofit and spend time helping a nonprofit revamp the branding on its social media content. Or, a team of bakers might come together to bake and serve treats at a nonprofit event.
The possibilities are endless! And employees will love using the skills they’ve developed at work to do good in the community.
7. Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
Volunteer Time Off (VTO) is paid time off for employees to do volunteer work for nonprofits in their community.
According to the Academy to Innovative HR (AIHR), VTO is a relatively new form of corporate philanthropy. (Remember, 28% of employers currently offer VTO, with the number increasing each year.)
AIHR also notes that the amount of VTO usually ranges from eight to 40 hours per employee per year. While that may not sound like a lot of time, a day or two of VTO can be an attractive part of a benefits package and do a lot to nurture a culture of giving within a workplace. Plus, the collective VTO hours donated by just one company can translate into a huge amount of progress for a nonprofit’s cause.
8. In-Kind Donations
When you think of a donation to a nonprofit, you probably picture a check or credit card. However, donations of items or services, also known as in-kind donations, can also be extremely valuable for a nonprofit.
The great thing about in-kind donations is they cut out a step for nonprofits. Instead of having to purchase items or invest in services, they get access to them with less footwork, saving them time and money.
Here are some examples of how a company might provide a nonprofit with in-kind donations:
Give the nonprofit gently used computers or other technology when transitioning to new equipment for the company’s employees
Donate a day of weeding to clean up the grounds of the nonprofit’s facilities
Run a canned food or clothing drive on behalf of the nonprofit
Have the company’s accountants give nonprofits advice during tax season
In-kind donations are a flexible form of corporate philanthropy. Nonprofits should be specific in what they’re looking for—we suggest nonprofits post a wishlist on their websites. Meanwhile, companies should think of out-of-the-box ways they can give items or services.
Giving scholarships to deserving students is an excellent way for companies to invest in the potential of the rising generation and show how much they value education. A company may decide to offer scholarships directly to high school students headed for college or students who are already studying at the undergraduate or graduate levels. Or, a company may partner with a nonprofit to fund an existing scholarship program.
10. Sponsorships
Setting up a sponsorship between a nonprofit and a company is an effective way to create a long-lasting partnership.
Through a sponsorship, a nonprofit provides frequent financial support to its nonprofit partner. In return, the nonprofit acknowledges its sponsors’ contributions through methods such as:
Issuing press releases to announce the sponsorships
Giving the sponsors a shout-out at events in promotional materials
Spotlighting the sponsors on its website
Creating a sponsorship acknowledgement wall or display
Providing sponsors with exclusive opportunities like behind-the-scenes tours or meetings with the nonprofit’s board
Giving sponsors tokens of gratitude related to the nonprofit’s cause (such as branded merchandise)
The months and weeks ahead of an event is an especially good time for nonprofits to seek out sponsors. Companies can not only provide funding for the event but also critical equipment or even venue space.
11. Cause-Related Marketing
Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) is a type of corporate philanthropy in which a company partners with a nonprofit organization to support a specific cause. The nonprofit then develops marketing campaigns that promote its products or services while raising awareness for the chosen cause or issue at the same time.
The key to a successful CRM initiative is to call the company’s audience to action. When they see the marketing materials promoting both the nonprofit cause and the company’s product, they should be inspired to do something on behalf of the nonprofit cause. This could be donating, sharing a social media message, or registering for an event.
12. Annual Giving
For this type of corporate philanthropy, companies encourage their employees to donate to nonprofits at certain times of the year. This is most common at the end of the calendar year. Donating is popular at the end of the year for personal tax purposes and because of the autumn and winter holidays that focus on giving and generosity!
This can be a fun way for companies to engage their teams around holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, and more. Companies can even get involved in their local communities’ GivingTuesday campaigns, which take place on the Tuesday after American Thanksgiving.
13. Employee Product Donation Programs (EPDP)
Some companies may encourage charitable giving among their employees by offering discounts on the products they sell, which can then be donated to nonprofits.
This is an especially popular form of corporate philanthropy for tech companies. And what nonprofit wouldn’t love new computers, tablets, or smartphones to streamline its operations?
14. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Fundraising
Companies may also partner with a nonprofit and transform their employees into volunteer fundraisers for the nonprofit’s cause.
This is done through peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising campaigns. For these fundraisers, participants (like a company’s employees) are given their own personal online fundraising pages. Then, the volunteer fundraisers solicit donations from their personal networks of family and friends, usually through social media.
This can be a powerful way to engage a company’s workforce, tap into employees’ competitive spirits, and even expand a nonprofit’s audience to volunteer fundraisers’ family and friends.
For Companies: How to Create Your Own Corporate Philanthropy Program
If your organization is a company, you might be interested in starting a corporate philanthropy program of your own after learning about the different options out there.
Here are some steps your company can take to set yourself up for success and engage employees in your efforts:
Consider your objectives. What are you hoping to achieve through your charitable efforts? You may want to make a positive social impact, build customer loyalty, or take care of your local environment. After you define your objectives, set clear and achievable goals, like “Launch a matching gifts program in March for all of our full-time employees.” Having a rock-solid goal will make it easier to bring your corporate philanthropy program to life in a way that maximizes your team’s efforts and minimizes the strain on your company’s time and other resources.
Choose the type of program you want to start. Review the list above to decide which type of program you’d like to start. Consider your company’s philanthropic goals, the shared values you have with potential nonprofit partners, and your employees’ interests. Taking into account the type of program that will resonate with your employees will be imperative because success will depend on their participation. Also, note that you can work up to running multiple types of corporate philanthropy programs. For instance, you may want to have both a matching gift program and a scholarship program, but currently only have the bandwidth for the matching gift program. That’s okay! One initiative is a great starting point and will provide the framework you need to expand your efforts later.
Design the program. Lay out what your program will look like and how it will work. Continuing with the matching gift program example, you should identify which nonprofits will be eligible to receive matched donations, what matching ratio you will offer, and what the minimum and maximum donation amounts are that your company will match. As part of your program design efforts, you may want to invest in a CSR platform to help you facilitate the program.
Partner with a nonprofit that resonates with your values. Partner with organizations that your company and your employees can be excited about working with. Your missions don’t have to be totally aligned, but that can be a bonus. For example, if your company manufactures toothbrushes, you could partner with organizations that provide dental care to people in need.
Create guidelines for employee participation. Identify who at your company can participate in the program. For instance, you might allow part-time, full-time, and retired employees to tap into your matching gift program. You should also lay out the process for how to kickstart the matching process and who employees can talk to if they have questions or encounter any issues.
Launch the program. When you roll out your corporate philanthropy program, be transparent with your employees (and the rest of your community) about the program’s goals and how it will work. Don’t be afraid to share that the program is part of a larger push for CSR or that you’re looking to make more of a positive impact on the community in which your company operates. This honesty will drive more interest in your program and get your employees excited to participate.
Engage employees in the program. Actively promote your corporate philanthropy program to your employees. For example, you might include information about your new VTO policy in your weekly company-wide newsletter or encourage managers to talk about the program in their next one-on-one meetings with directs. To make things more exciting, launch a participation challenge. You might see which department can volunteer the most hours with your nonprofit partner over the next quarter or see which team can bring in the most cans of food for your in-kind donation drive. Don’t forget to reward the winners!
Report on the program’s impact. After your program has been up and running for a good amount of time, take a look at how things are going. (Hint: A CSR platform can help you gather data on your program!) Report to your employees, nonprofit partners, and the larger community on the program’s impact and how you envision the future of your efforts.
Make adjustments as necessary. As you evaluate your program, you may find that some things need to change. For example, you may need to adjust your matching gift ratio or the scholarship amounts you’re offering to local students. Don’t be afraid to make changes. You can even seek feedback from your employees and nonprofit partners so that you have a better idea of how to improve the program.
Starting a corporate philanthropy program takes a lot of work and ongoing maintenance, but it’s worth the effort! You’ll positively impact your community and drive employee participation when you take a thoughtful and thorough approach from the very beginning.
The Winning Element of A Corporate Philanthropy Program: Matching Gift Auto-Submission
Starting a matching gifts program is the easiest way for your company to dive into corporate philanthropy. But sometimes, the process of getting a gift match can be long and drawn out, meaning that employees may disengage with the process and your nonprofit partners may lose out on critical funding.
Take any complexity out of the donation matching process for your employees
Guarantee all matching gift requests are formatted correctly (and actually submitted to your company)
Ensure that the matching gift funds reach your nonprofit partners faster
To tap into the power of auto-submission and level up your matching gifts program, you’ll need to work with the right CSR platform. Double the Donation is not a CSR platform, but we partner with plenty of great vendors that leverage our auto-submission technology. Click the button below to learn more!
For Nonprofits: How to Tap Into Corporate Philanthropy Programs
If your organization is a nonprofit, you’re probably eager to benefit from one or more of the types of corporate philanthropy discussed above! To do so, you need to have a strategic approach. Here’s what we recommend:
Build relationships with potential corporate partners. Get to know the business leaders who run companies in your local area or who share similar values or missions to your own. Get face time with them so that your teams are familiar with each other. Invite them to events. Demonstrate the impact that you could have if you worked together. Then, when the time is right, ask how your nonprofit can become part of their philanthropic program.
Highlight the benefits of partnering with your organization. For instance, when reaching out directly to ask companies to partner with your organization, you might highlight the benefits you give sponsors, such as free publicity or exclusive perks. You could even speak to how your specific cause will help to engage that company’s workforce or how your causes align.
Promote corporate philanthropy among your supporters. Depending on the type of program, the onus will be on your supporters to help your nonprofit tap into their employers’ corporate philanthropy initiatives. Let your donors know that programs like matching gifts and volunteer grants exist and that they could be eligible. Encourage them to inquire about these programs at work, or even to advocate for the creation of a program.
Being thoughtful in how you approach corporate giving will allow you to tap into as many opportunities as possible. You’ll develop more impactful relationships with companies and ultimately drive greater outcomes for your mission.
The Key to Maximizing Corporate Support: A Corporate Philanthropy Database
Our database is the largest and most up-to-date collection of information about companies’ matching gift and volunteer grant programs. Here are a few fun facts about our platform:
We have 24,493 company records
This represents nearly 27 million employees
Our database covers an estimated 99.68% of all gift-match-eligible donors
So, when you invest in our database and embed it on your donation form or your website, you’re empowering your donors (and your team members) to check their volunteer grants and matching gift eligibility and start the process.
Click the button below to take Double the Donation for a test drive!
Wrapping Up: Don’t Miss Out on Corporate Philanthropy!
Remember, although there are many different types of corporate philanthropy out there, the benefits for companies, employees, and nonprofits are universal. Now that you know your options (if you’re a company looking to build its own program) or what to look for in a corporate partner (if you’re a nonprofit), you’re ready to experience those benefits for yourself!
Want to continue exploring the world of corporate philanthropy and CSR? Check out these resources:
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/types-of-corporate-philanthropy_feature.png7602000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-07 19:05:372025-04-18 14:14:4214 Types of Corporate Philanthropy You Should Know About
In the world of nonprofit fundraising, few strategies have stood the test of time as effectively as the phonathon. While technology has transformed the fundraising landscape, the power of a well-placed phone call can still work wonders.
Phonathons may seem like a relic of the past, but they remain a tried-and-true resource for all sorts of nonprofits and higher education institutions to engage donors and raise money. While the benefits of a phonathon campaign are straightforward, running a successful campaign isn’t easy. A lot of hard work goes into powering these campaigns, but they can generate incredible results for your cause — especially when you know how to identify donors eligible for matching gifts from their employers.
So, how do you optimize your phonathons and drive even greater results with matching gifts? We’ve compiled a number of tips and tricks to effectively communicate with your donors about matching gifts and raise more in phonathon revenue overall. By the end of this guide, you’ll be a phonathon pro and ready to start dialing!
Want to find out how to optimize your organization’s upcoming phonathon to raise more? Let’s cover the basics before diving into tips that will transform your next campaign.
The Fundamentals of Phonathons
Making the most of any type of campaign requires you to understand the basics of how they work. Let’s make sure you have the background knowledge you need before crafting your phonathon plans.
What is a phonathon?
A phonathon is a fundraising campaign in which organizations call supporters to solicit donations and engage with them. During a phonathon, trained staff or volunteers make outbound calls to donors to encourage contributions, share mission updates, and strengthen relationships via personalized conversations.
Often hosted by nonprofits and educational institutions, phonathons are a valuable tool for connecting with supporters, increasing donor retention, and boosting fundraising revenue. Successful phonathons require effective training, well-prepared scripts, and donor management systems to track and manage interactions.
What role do matching gifts play in phonathons?
Corporate matching gifts have the power to double (or sometimes even triple) the contributions your donors make. Through these CSR programs, companies offer to match their employees’ donations to charitable organizations. However, they often implement eligibility criteria alongside minimum and maximum donation amounts they’re willing to match.
By adding matching gifts to your phonathon strategy, your campaign will see even greater success. If you can capitalize on that potential during your phonathon, you’ll see a massive increase in raised funds. In fact, our matching gift research found that 84% of donors are more likely to donate if a match is offered. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 donors actually indicate they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied to their donation.
If you play your cards right, you can raise a lot more during your phonathon with corporate giving. You’ll just need to let donors know how to check their eligibility and submit a match request to their employers. After all, who wouldn’t want to double their contributions without reaching back into their own wallet?
1. Focus on the larger mission.
The most successful fundraising campaigns are focused on more than raising a certain dollar amount. If you can help donors understand why your cause is a worthy one, then you are far more likely to succeed. By highlighting the larger purpose of the campaign, you can motivate both donors and callers to feel good about what they’re doing!
To illustrate our point, take a look at two possible phonathon script introductions:
Phonathon Script Introduction #1:“I’m calling on behalf of University X to raise money for our annual phonathon campaign. Would you consider making a donation of $100 to the university’s endowment fund?”
Phonathon Script Introduction #2: “I’m calling on behalf of University X to raise money for our annual phonathon campaign. Would you consider making a donation of $100 to the university’s endowment fund? Every dollar you donate will go to scholarships for students in financial need!”
See the difference? In both cases, the caller is asking for the same dollar amount. But in our second example, the donor understands how their donation will be helping someone in need.
2. Create a standardized script for your phonathon.
For many of your callers, this will be their first phonathon campaign. The idea of getting on the phone with prospective donors or school alumni to ask for donations can be extremely intimidating.
Creating a detailed and interactive script can help ease the nerves of new callers when requesting contributions and standardize the giving experience. Here are the key components to any phonathon script:
Introduction: Answer the most basic questions: Who are you? What is your relationship to the organization running the campaign? Why are you calling?
Statement of purpose: Why is your organization asking for donations? What will the contributions be used for?
First ask: Make the initial request for a donation. What is the suggested donation amount? If the donor has made a donation previously, how much should the caller suggest they donate this year?
Gift confirmation: Success! How do we close the deal? How do we accommodate different payment methods?
Answers to common objections: Not everyone wants to donate. How do we respond to common objectives such as a lack of interest, recent issues with the organization, or other giving priorities?
Non-pledge close: For those calls that don’t end in success, it’s important to help close the conversation gracefully to maintain the relationship with the donor.
A great script is arguably the most important component of a successful phonathon, as it’s a resource that every caller will use. Spend significant time working with your organization’s communication director to put this resource together.
3. Include matching gifts in your phonathon’s scripts.
With over 26 million individuals working for companies with matching gift programs, many of your phonathon donors are bound to be eligible for a corporate match. Your callers should always ask donors if their employer offers a matching gift program.
Here’s how (it’s as easy as A-B-C!):
A: Ask every time. Few donors are thinking about (or are even aware of) matching gifts. In fact, 78% of those 26 million match-eligible individuals don’t know whether their companies offer these programs. Introduce the concept to see if they have any information about their employers’ corporate giving opportunities off-hand.
B: Be persistent. Donors sometimes default to, “I don’t think so,” when asked if their company will match their donation. Have callers ask for their employer’s name and then quickly research that specific company using our database.
C: Come prepared. If a donor has submitted a matching gift in the past, come to the call prepared with the company’s matching gift information. Make the process simple and easy for your donors.
Being well-versed in matching gifts and anticipating donors’ questions can go a long way in driving more matches to completion! You’ll be impressed by how much you raise in matching gifts during your phonathon.
An Example of This Strategy in Action
Let’s walk through an example of how to properly incorporate matching gifts into your script. A normal phonathon call will consist of the following steps:
The caller introduces themself and the organization that’s fundraising.
The caller asks the potential donor if they are willing to donate.
The potential donor says yes/no.
If the answer is no, the caller politely thanks the prospect for their time and ends the call.
If the answer is yes, the caller begins the donation process with the new donor and helps guide them through the experience.
Once the donation is secured, have your caller make the matching gift ask. Use a template similar to this:
Many companies actually match donations made by their employees to schools and other nonprofits. Do you know if you or your spouse works for a company that offers a matching gift program? I’m happy to do a quick check to see if your company will double or possibly triple your donation.
Scripts take the guesswork and pressure out of calls. Plus, if you standardize your request process, you’re in a better position to evaluate and adjust it according to the results.
4. Practice for your phonathon with mock calls.
Having a team of well-trained callers is the secret to any successful phonathon campaign.
Prepare callers by organizing mock calls. During this time, they’ll read through the provided script and respond to a variety of different “donor personas.” See how they respond when a donor has questions about the campaign, voices objections, or wants to complete their transaction. Include some matching gift-related questions to ensure volunteers are prepared, too.
Proper preparation will help callers feel more at ease when it comes time to dial a real donor’s phone number. Plus, it can help get some of the roadblocks and uncertainties out of the way early!
5. Schedule calls when donors are home.
One of the most common challenges for phonathon callers is simply reaching donors in the first place.
To improve the chances that your donors pick up the phone, consider calling during the hours when they are most likely to be home and available. These are some of our recommended times to do so:
Monday – Thursday, 6-9 p.m. If you call within this time window, most donors will be home from work. Yet, it’s early enough that you reduce the risk of waking anyone up. After all, cranky donors rarely give donations.
Sunday, 4-9 p.m. At this time on a Sunday, most donors will be finished with their weekend errands and are likely available for a conversation.
Make sure that you’re planning to reach donors when they’re ready and able to chat for the greatest fundraising success.
6. Set nightly/weekly fundraising goals for your phonathon.
Setting goals greatly increases your chances of fundraising success. Encourage your callers to set nightly or weekly donation goals to instill a sense of accomplishment when they reach and exceed their objectives.
Then, there are plenty of opportunities to use these metrics to improve your fundraising results. We suggest that you:
Identify any knowledge gaps and situations where additional training is needed.
Communicate the concrete donation impact of your callers’ fundraising goals.
Setting detailed objectives helps your organization keep track of how many donations you bring in within a certain timeframe. You can even leverage some friendly competition among callers this way!
7. Use phonathon management software.
Consider purchasing phonathon software from a well-established vendor, such as industry leader Wilson-Bennett Technology’s DonorConnect. This type of tool can save you time, money, and many of the technical headaches that would ordinarily get in the way of a successful campaign.
Common tasks that phonathon software handles include:
Managing and updating your donor database.
Automating pledge verification via email.
Tracking call results.
Issuing reports on campaign progress.
By automating these time-consuming tactical steps, you can spend your time managing callers, increasing donations, and engaging in deeper relationships with supporters.
8. Train phonathon callers on matching gifts.
Using matching gifts to boost phonathon funds starts and ends with your callers. These individuals are the voice of your campaign, working hard to help you fulfill your mission. They need to be prepared to explain matching gifts and answer any questions a prospect may have.
While you may understand the value of capturing employer data and pursuing a matching gift from your donors, your caller and digital engagement teams may not. Make sure the people who will engage in those real-time conversations understand the what, why, and how of matching gifts.
Invest in a matching gift database to make researching donors’ eligibility a breeze. Then, consider these four components of effective matching gift phonathon training:
Materials: Document how callers should ask about matching gifts and the process by which they should share company rules, guidelines, and instructions.
Speakers: Who at your organization is responsible for matching gifts? Invite this team member to speak with your callers.
Practice: Have your callers pair up and do trial runs on a few matching gift companies. Provide feedback as needed.
Coaching: Like with anything, there’s always room for improvement. Listen for matching gift asks during calls and provide guidance to improve techniques.
Ensuring your team is on the same page about matching gift goals will make the ask that much easier when the opportunity arises. Check out this video for ideas to integrate matching gifts into your phonathons and everyday fundraising efforts:
You’ll need to teach them about the latest technology, such as matching gift auto-submission, too. This feature cuts out a few steps in the request process when donors fill out your online donation form. They’ll click a checkbox to opt into auto-submission. If their employer uses CSR software that integrates with our tools, our software will automatically fill out their match request to their employer.
Overall, being a caller for a phonathon is no easy task. But with proper training, you’ll situate your callers in the best possible position to make matching gift asks.
9. Implement screening and segmentation.
Make the most of your callers’ (and your donors!) time by pre-screening and segmenting your calling list beforehand in terms of matching gift prospects.
Think of it this way: would you rather call 10 people and have one person respond positively, or call five and have three people respond positively? By segmenting your contacts prior to reaching out, you ensure that each call is a valuable use of your team’s time and resources.
For matching-gift-related segmentation, you’ll enact a three-point process:
Pre-screen your file for matching gift eligibility. It is likely that a sizable percentage of your existing prospects are matching gift-eligible. Know who they are in advance by researching local matching gift businesses and determining donors’ eligibility.
Segment your calling list accordingly. Assign your best callers to high-value match-eligible prospects. Not only are those candidates’ donations likely to get matched, but they are likely to have higher average donation amounts. If they don’t respond the first time, this group might even be worth a second call!
Increasing matching gift eligibility awareness is only going to help your campaign. Give your callers the information they need to have the biggest impact.
Of course, call volume is always going to be crucial for successful phonathons. But if your organization can be even 10% more deliberate about who you’re calling, you can significantly increase your call conversion rate.
10. Prepare for donor questions.
Some donors will be hesitant to give, especially if they’ve never contributed to your organization before. If they have questions about your mission, your particular fundraising need, or anything else that might be holding them back, you’ll want to have the answers prepped and ready.
Additionally, your donors might have questions about matching gift opportunities. Be sure your callers are able to provide basic information on company gift-matching by answering questions such as these:
What is a matching gift?
How do I figure out if my company will match my gift?
What’s the submission process, and how does auto-submission work?
Making sure that everyone is on the same page with regard to these questions ensures that your callers give supporters the most thorough, accurate information and drive as many donations as possible.
11. Equip callers with matching gift resources.
Do your callers have the information they need to help donors? You can’t expect them to memorize the program guidelines for all the thousands of companies that offer matching gifts—so where can they find that information to pass along?
That’s where your matching gift company database comes in! This type of tool allows users to conduct a quick search of an employer’s name and receive detailed guideline information in seconds. Equip callers with access to this comprehensive database to uncover the following:
Employee eligibility
Types of qualifying nonprofits
Match ratios
Match minimums and maximums
Forms and guidelines
Submission deadlines and instructions
Providing callers with ample information will help them quickly and easily answer common questions from donors. Once a donor has expressed interest in requesting a matching gift, you want your caller to be able to help in any way they can. Don’t miss out on a matching gift due to a technical or otherwise avoidable issue!
12. Follow up with match-eligible donors.
If a donor has expressed interest in matching gifts on the phone, your organization should follow up afterward to increase the likelihood of turning that interest into action.
Immediately after the conversation, send an email with matching gift request instructions for the individual’s employer. You’ll also want to include matching gift reminders across various donor communications, including:
Pledge acknowledgments: When confirming a donor completed their pledge, encourage them to check their eligibility, or if you know they’re eligible, direct them to their employer’s form.
End-of-year reminders: Many companies set deadlines for match requests at the end of the calendar year. Remind donors to submit their requests before time runs out!
Telling donors their gift is eligible for a match is only one component of boosting matching gifts. It’s far more valuable if you pair that information with actionable next steps.
We also recommend embedding matching gift information into your website. Give your alumni and supporters a trusted place to find their matching gift information and next steps on an easy-to-find webpage, so they can take action after speaking with your ambassadors. This helps interested supporters discover gift matching and double their own donations!
13. Track and incentivize successful conversations.
Are your callers held accountable and rewarded for their overall fundraising and matching gift performance? One of the best ways to ensure that callers know how important matching gifts are to your phonathon is by implementing incentives.
Giving your callers something to work towards will only help your fundraising efforts. Then, once they reach and surpass their goal, provide them with a small token of appreciation, such as a t-shirt, hat, mug, or even public recognition!
Tracking and incentivizing fundraising results also gives you a positive metric for tracking caller proficiency and efficiency. This enables you to define where your phonathon is doing well and where it has room for improvement. Once you’ve isolated those areas, you’ll be in a great position to adjust your efforts as needed.
14. Keep an eye on trends in employer information.
As you start to collect employer information from your alumni and supporters, you may notice trends in company data. Be sure to ask questions like these:
Do a lot of your donors work for the same companies?
Is there a concentrated area of match-eligible donors you could target for your next campaign?
These are all characteristics you can determine with greater accuracy the more donors you collect employer data from. While these are nice-to-know facts for general fundraising initiatives, they can also have a more significant impact on your greater matching gifts strategy.
Therefore, make sure you’re considering matching gifts when analyzing those trends for future initiatives. You never know when that information could come in handy for future events, digital outreach, or even a future phonathon!
15. Integrate your fundraising and matching gift tools.
Phonathons and other digital engagement events can be huge operations, and a lot can get lost in the shuffle if you don’t have the right tools. Luckily, providing a scalable system for your fundraising ambassadors and callers is an easy and effective way to organize your donor data. With matching gifts added to the mix, you’ll want an automated system to take care of all the nitty-gritty details for you.
Phonathon Software Integration
We recommend using a phonathon system to manage all your digital engagement needs—particularly one that integrates with powerful gift-matching tools! Donor Connect by Wilson-Bennett Technology and Double the Donation offer an integrated solution that allows callers to retrieve and communicate valuable matching gift information when speaking to donors in real time.
It takes virtually no effort from your team to set up the integration, and you’ll be able to start using it right away in your next digital engagement event. Automate the best practices listed above by incorporating the autocomplete search tool within Donor Connect scripts, automated email outreach, and regularly updated donor data.
Matching Gift Auto-Submission Integrations
A big part of driving greater matching gift revenue is simplifying the process for donors and their employers. That’s where matching gift auto-submission comes in handy.
Many companies leverage CSR software to manage employee giving programs. When these companies use platforms that integrate with our tools, this is how streamlined the match request process is:
A donor gives using your organization’s online donation page.
They enter their corporate email address and click a checkbox to opt into auto-submission.
If eligible, our tools will automatically complete their match request.
It’s that simple! Otherwise, they’d need to fill out the form themselves. Leading CSR software like Givinga, Millie, POINT, and Selflessly enable auto-submission, so be aware of donors who work for companies that use these platforms. From here, make sure your phonathon volunteers know the basics of how this software works, too!
Bonus! Fundraising advice from phonathon experts
Hear from the phonathon fundraising experts at Wilson-Bennett Technology: a phonathon management services and software company serving nonprofits since 1998.
Todd Smith
Founder and CEO – Wilson-Bennett
Ensure training is ongoing throughout the campaign and each caller receives assistance, along with reminders, before calling begins each session.
We always encourage callers to excel while teaching methods to overcome negative comments.
During training, be sure to explain campaign policies and procedures, ensuring callers make the highest quality call on behalf of your institution.
Rob Schlitts
Former President – Wilson-Bennett
“Play chess with your phonathon.”
Matching the right prospects up with the right caller makes for a great connection, conversation, and ultimately a gift. Your alumni and student callers will both enjoy the ability to connect with prospects who share similar traits and experiences.
A well-trained student caller will always be the engine of a successful phonathon.
Wrapping Up
In an age of social media, texting, and online transactions, the human element of fundraising can get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully, phonathons offer a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between technology and personal connection.
Many organizations recognize that traditional phonathons remain a smart fundraising strategy. However, most don’t think about the potential of incorporating matching gift promotions into those invaluable donor conversations.
By following these tried-and-true phonathon fundraising tips, you can set up your team—and your mission—for long-term success. Looks like it’s time to get calling!
For more information, be sure to check out our other educational fundraising resources below:
What Is Phone Number Appending? How the Process Works. Make sure you arm your volunteers with accurate phone numbers. Learn how data appending can help verify existing numbers and find missing ones for supporters, so you can maximize your phonathon results.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Phonathons_Feature.png3751000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-07 18:19:532025-02-21 15:39:17The Ultimate Phonathon Playbook for Nonprofits: 16 Pro Tips
Picture this: you’re the owner of a mid-size technology company that employs around 100 staff members. You’ve been brainstorming ways to boost employee morale and show your target customers that you run a value-driven business making its mark on the world.
You stumble across the idea of corporate philanthropy and, more specifically, employee giving. Quickly, you realize that this one concept can help you meet your previously stated goals—and the tax break would be an added bonus!
You decide to take the plunge and invest in developing a workplace giving initiative that will simultaneously benefit your company, your employees, and a wide range of charitable organizations.
But how can you ensure your staff will actually want to participate? By offering them an employee giving experience that prioritizes their wants and needs and is as simple a process as possible!
In this guide, we’ll dive into these valuable tips for employers like yourself looking to make the most of their workplace giving programs.
Ready to get started with our first step? Let’s begin!
1. Inform employees of available workplace giving opportunities.
Before you can expect employees to participate in your workplace giving initiatives, you’ll need to ensure your staff is made aware of these programs in the first place. Prior to that, you’ll need to determine which types of giving programs you’ll be offering:
Here are a few of the most common examples:
Matching gifts: Your company matches employee donations to qualifying nonprofits, often dollar for dollar.
Custom matching gifts: Your company selects a particular nonprofit and commits to matching employee donations to that cause.
Volunteer grants: Your company provides nonprofits where employees regularly volunteer with monetary grants.
Employee stipends: Your company allocates a dollar amount to each employee annually, which they donate to the nonprofit of their choice.
Regardless of the combination of giving programs you choose, informing your staff about the new offerings and how to get involved is of utmost importance.
According to matching gift research, 78% of individuals eligible for corporate giving programs are completely unaware. As a result, they’re not able to make the most of these philanthropic initiatives.
We recommend providing informational materials that outline your corporate giving programs to all existing staff to get started. For example, you might hold a meeting, send a company-wide email, share a pamphlet, and add an explainer to your employee handbook. Then, be sure your staff knows where to go to seek additional details on the program!
Going forward, you’ll want to educate all new team members about workplace giving opportunities as well.
2. Provide employees with ample ways to give.
There are tons of ways that individual donors can support nonprofit causes. So when you create your workplace giving program, your offerings must be inclusive of all types of employee giving.
Top donation channels might include (but are not limited to):
Nonprofit websites
Online giving tools
Peer-to-peer campaigns
Text-to-give
Direct mail
Recurring gifts
Phonathons
Paycheck deductions
Event pledges
Workplace giving or CSR platforms
The opportunities are endless—and each staff member at your business might have a different favorite way to give.
According to the same matching gift studies above, “96% of employees at companies with matching gift programs have a strong or very strong preference for their company to match donations made directly to a nonprofit (such as through the nonprofit’s website, peer-to-peer fundraising platform, or mail) rather than only matching donations through a workplace giving software platforms. The more options an employee has to give and to get their gift matched, the more likely they are to utilize available company matching opportunities.”
This means that, in order to provide a positive employee giving experience for everyone, be sure to keep your giving (and matching) channels open.
3. Make it simple for employees to determine eligibility guidelines.
As you work to ensure your company is well-informed about the existence of your employee giving programs, it’s equally critical that your programs’ eligibility guidelines are readily apparent as well. But what are these so-called guidelines?
Let’s take matching gifts (i.e., one of the most-used forms of workplace giving) as an example. In order for employees to participate in your company gift-matching initiative, you’ll need to provide your staff with the following information:
Donation minimums and maximums: This is the range within which you’ll match employee donations (e.g., $50-1,000).
Match ratios: This determines the rate at which you match employee donations. This is typically dollar for dollar (1:1) but can go up to 2:1 or 3:1 as well.
Qualifying types of nonprofits: You might choose a particular type of mission (e.g., environmental organizations) or exclude categories of recipients (such as houses of worship).
Qualifying types of employees: Most companies match gifts made by all full-time employees, while others may open the programs up to part-time workers, retirees, and even employee spouses
Submission deadlines: Your submission deadline is the date by which employees must submit a matching gift request to your company in order to be eligible to receive a match. This may be a certain number of months or align with your calendar or fiscal year.
Because these criteria are necessary for employees to determine their eligibility for a company match, it’s important that you communicate this information effectively. Ensure your guidelines are provided in any previously mentioned explainer materials and even on your business’ website. Even interested employees won’t likely be willing to search high and low for this information. If it is hard to find, you’re likely creating an unnecessary obstacle to program success.
Here’s an example of what these criteria can look like:
Plus, as a general rule, keeping your guidelines as open as possible will provide an optimal employee giving experience for your staff. For example, when you set low minimums, high maximums, and generous deadlines, more individuals’ gifts will qualify for your programming. The more employees who qualify, the more will participate. And you know that higher your levels of participation, the more advantages brought to your company.
4. Ensure your company is listed in corporate giving databases.
One of the easiest ways employees can uncover your aforementioned program guidelines is by accessing a corporate giving database. This is essentially a compilation of information on thousands of businesses and their available corporate giving programs.
For organizations that leverage Double the Donation’s embeddable search widget, donors are typically prompted within the donation experience to enter their employer information in search of matching gift eligibility.
If your employees follow this process, you don’t want them to search your company name, only to be met with “no results found.” This can cause discouragement in the process, even if they know how to locate your program guidelines elsewhere. Plus, many well-intentioned donors simply forget to follow up after losing their initial giving inertia.
So what can you do to avoid this scenario? Make sure your business is listed in corporate giving databases, complete with your programs’ eligibility criteria and links to submission forms.
Luckily, Double the Donation accepts submissions for new companies to add to their most comprehensive database, making it as easy as possible for your business to increase its program reach. As a result, you provide the simplest, most optimal employee giving experience while actively supporting their favorite charities.
And if you go the custom program route with a nonprofit partner that uses Double the Donation’s matching gift database, the organization can ensure the program is added correctly using the platform’s one-off match program management feature!
*While Double the Donation offers custom matching gift program management functionality, this feature is designed specifically for fundraisers looking to manage custom matching gift initiatives—Double the Donation does not work directly with corporations. If you’re a company interested in creating a matching gift program, contact us, and we’ll share information about our corporate vendor partners.
That way, your nonprofit-specific program will populate in that organization’s company search tool but won’t appear as an option for other nonprofit causes in order to avoid confusion.
5. Incentivize participation in employee giving programs.
By now, your employees should be aware of your employee giving initiatives in place and understand how they can participate. But what if your staff requires a little extra push to get involved with your philanthropic efforts?
That’s where strategic incentivization comes in!
If you want to encourage individuals to partake in new employee giving experiences, consider motivating the team with giving goals—either in terms of percentage of overall participation or in total fundraising goals.
Once your team reaches the predetermined objectives, you might treat the company to rewards like these:
Catered lunches
Additional PTO
Casual dress days
In-house masseuse services
Gift card rewards
Professional development opportunities
Company apparel and/or swag
Be sure to remind your employees that the ultimate benefit of a well-run workplace giving program revolves around providing mission-based organizations the funds they need to change the world. But some extra motivation never hurts, either!
6. Simplify requests with auto-submission functionality.
Want to increase employee participation in (and satisfaction with) your workplace giving programs? Make it as easy as possible to get involved. And it’s never been easier than with auto-submission!
Here’s what you need to know:
The Historic Submission Process
Once an employee determines that they qualify for a workplace giving program—such as matching gifts—they’ve traditionally been required to complete a request process put in place by the company they work for. Typically, the individual will be asked to provide basic information about their donation (e.g., amount, method of giving, date the gift was made, etc.) and the organization to which they contributed (such as its mission, mailing address, tax ID number, and more).
New Auto-Submission Functionality
Matching gift auto-submission functionality recently came out of beta. Now some programs can offer the new functionality, which substantially streamlines the process for donors and increases the likelihood that matches will be submitted. Instead of asking for all of the above-listed information, companies taking part in auto-submission simply request the individual’s corporate email address. The software ecosystem will take it from there to process, approve, and disburse funding for the match.
Leveraging Auto-Submission Providers
If you’re interested in getting started with auto-submission capabilities, the easiest way is to partner with a CSR management platform that already offers the functionality through a seamless integration with Double the Donation’s innovative technology. These currently include the following providers:
If you already work with a CSR platform that doesn’t yet offer this functionality, consider reaching out to your provider to advocate for the technology. After all, auto-submission is available with no added cost—it’s free for both the matching gift company and the software vendor they use—so you can offer the ultimate employee giving experience to your team.
Keep in mind—the more employees who take part in your company’s matching program, the better the results you can expect to see in terms of team member engagement, brand reputation, and more. And auto-submission abilities set your team up for continued success on all accounts!
There’s little to no purpose in investing in an employee giving program if nobody at your workplace will participate. To drive participation, you need to look at your employee giving experience from a staff member’s perspective and determine whether it’s a positive one.
So provide ample opportunities and avenues for giving, make available programs known, simplify the processes involved, and incentivize participation. This can make a world of difference—to your workforce, your community, and even your company’s bottom line.
Interested in learning more about employee giving? Check out our other educational resources:
Increase Employee Engagement with Corporate Giving. High levels of employee engagement mean increased retention and productivity. Corporate giving opportunities can play a part in boosting engagement, so find out how with this article.
Corporate Social Responsibility: The Definitive Guide. Employee giving and other philanthropic efforts play a big role in CSR. Uncover what else you need to know to be a socially responsible business in this resource.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DTD_How-to-Offer-the-Ultimate-Employee-Giving-Experience_Feature.png275725Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-01 21:59:212025-02-21 14:51:13How to Offer the Ultimate Employee Giving Experience
Employee engagement has become an increasingly important part of organizational success. After all, businesses with engaged employees are 23% more profitable than companies whose employees are not engaged.
However, if you’re just starting to prioritize employee engagement, it can be difficult to determine where to begin. It can be helpful to take a look at what other companies are doing to engage their employees to gain actionable insights into how your organization can handle your new priority.
To show you how you can center employee engagement in your organization, we’ll cover the following topics in this guide:
Before we dive into the companies leading by example with their employee engagement programs, you need to understand what exactly employee engagement is and why it’s important. Let’s get started!
What is employee engagement?
Simply put, employee engagement refers to the level of emotional and mental connection an employee has to their team, general workplace, and employer. This translates to the employee’s commitment to the organization and dedication to achieving its goals. There are four different levels of employee engagement:
Highly engaged. Highly engaged employees have very favorable opinions of their team, workplace, and employer as a whole. They’re extremely committed to their organization and willing to go above and beyond to help achieve its goals. Plus, they’re likely to motivate other employees around them with their positive attitude.
Engaged. These employees like their work but might feel less satisfied about certain aspects of the organization. While they’re still committed to their organization’s success, they’re less likely to go above and beyond their call of duty than highly engaged employees.
Unengaged. Unengaged employees feel unattached to their team, workplace, and employer. They’re not committed to their organization and not dedicated to helping achieve its goals. While they’re not unhappy with their work, they aren’t happy either. These employees usually fulfill the bare minimum of their responsibilities and little more. They’ll put time into their work but not their energy or passion.
Disengaged. These employees are actively unhappy with their work and may even be resentful that their employer isn’t meeting their needs. This discontent may result in them acting out on their unhappiness, underperforming in their responsibilities, and even undermining the work of their more engaged coworkers.
As you begin evaluating the general engagement levels at your organization, keep in mind that engagement does not equal enthusiasm. It’s easy to look at a happy employee and assume that they’re engaged with their work. However, employee engagement is tied to your organization. Ask yourself: Is this employee connected to their work alongside being a happy person?
What are the benefits of employee engagement?
We’ve lightly touched on a few benefits of employee engagement. The main one is profitability—employees who are determined to help your organization meet its goals are more likely to do their best to increase your cash flow.
Aside from profitability, here are a few other benefits for companies with engaged employees:
Increased productivity. Businesses with highly engaged employees are 18% more productive than those with unengaged employees. These employees believe that the work they’re doing is important and therefore are more likely to work harder.
Reduced absenteeism. According to Gallup’s employee engagement survey, companies that scored in the lower quartile of engagement were also 81% more likely to experience employee absenteeism. If your employees aren’t showing up for work, it will make it much more difficult for your organization to be successful.
Higher retention rates. If your employees are engaged with their work, their team, and your organization, they’re less likely to seek other employment opportunities. Higher retention rates reduce employee turnover, lowering costs related to re-hiring, onboarding, and training.
Improved recruitment. Happy employees will likely speak about your company in a positive light and be more open about their satisfaction with their work. Your organization’s reputation as an employer will improve through word-of-mouth, which will help you attract top talent and improve the quality of potential employees you recruit.
Positive workplace culture. Overall, the more engaged your employees are, the more positive they’ll be in the workplace. These individuals are excited to work and will raise the spirits of their coworkers, leading to a more positive workplace culture.
Employee engagement is important for all organizations, even those that work in the nonprofit sphere. Plus, it’s especially important for companies that have remote or hybrid employees, as those individuals are more likely to feel emotionally disconnected from their employer due to physical distance.
By prioritizing employee engagement, you’ll be able to leverage these benefits to your organization’s advantage. It’s a win-win—your company will see greater success and your employees will be happier to contribute to that.
The Top 8 Employee Engagement Companies
Now that you know more about what employee engagement is and how it’s helpful for your organization, let’s take a look at the top employee engagement companies that are leading by example.
1. Checkr
Checkr’s employee engagement program emphasizes corporate giving and philanthropy, fostering a culture of generosity and social responsibility among its workforce. This initiative encourages employees to participate in various charitable activities, including matching gift programs, volunteer opportunities, and fundraising events.
By implementing a generous matching gift initiative, Checkr amplifies the impact of its employees’ donations, doubling their contributions to eligible nonprofits. This not only supports the causes employees care about but also enhances their engagement and satisfaction within the company.
Plus, Checkr is recognized as a Certified Leader in Matching Automation (CLMA), which represents its dedication to philanthropy with a streamlined engagement process and more. This makes it easier than ever for its staff to get involved!
2. Adobe
If you’ve worked with or created visual media before, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Adobe. This company offers a product suite for photographers, videographers, graphic designers, and more. Founded on the idea of creating innovative products that change the world, Adobe also prioritizes employee engagement alongside offering technology that empowers people to create.
Here are a few ways the company handles employee engagement:
Work and life integration. Adobe promotes work-life balance by offering a company winter and summer break. Plus, it offers a wellness fund for each employee up to $600 and sabbaticals starting at four weeks off after five years of working at the company.
Learning fund and reimbursement. This company supports employees on their learning journey by offering funds and reimbursements for educational material. It provides a learning fund of up to $1,000 every year and educational reimbursement of up to $10,000 a year.
Frequent employee engagement dialogue. Aside from these benefits, Adobe discusses how leadership can better improve the workplace. It keeps employee engagement dialogue going year-round by conducting regular surveys to understand their workers’ everyday experiences.
Additionally, Adobe has a special focus on helping employees from underrepresented groups gain visibility and grow in their careers. To that end, it provides programs that help employees build leadership skills and connect with other employees across the company.
3. Cisco
Cisco provides innovative cloud-based networking and security solutions to businesses. Its mission is to power an inclusive future for all with technology that connects the world.
Additionally, Cisco believes in creating a workplace where employees can find more than just a job. Ranked by Fortune as one of the best companies to work for, Cisco uses the following strategies to center employee engagement:
Company-wide shut downs. Throughout the year, Cisco will occasionally choose to shut down to let employees recharge. Plus, there’s a company-wide shut down at the end of the year, giving employees time off to spend with families over the holidays.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR). Cisco follows through on its mission of powering an inclusive future for all by giving back to the global community through CSR. It features a reporting hub and is environmentally and socially conscious throughout its entire supply chain, engaging its employees with these practices.
Employee recognition. High performers are motivated to stay connected and work hard with Cisco’s employee recognition initiative. This initiative singles out exceptional employees who deserve kudos for their achievements from colleagues and peer organizations outside the company.
Cisco recognizes that it’s important for workforce leaders to understand employee needs and provide an ideal work experience without sacrificing performance. And its efforts are working, as they are one of PEOPLE magazine’s top companies that care.
4. ExxonMobil
This oil and gas company pioneers new research and technologies dedicated to reducing emissions while creating more efficient fuels. It’s also committed to engaging its employees in meaningful ways—and it’s paying off. In a survey conducted by resume.io, ExxonMobil ranked 15th in employee retention in the United States with a median employee tenure of seven years.
A few of the ways this company focuses on employee engagement include:
Training opportunities. ExxonMobil is committed to enabling its employees to reach their full potential. It invests in talent by delivering educational training courses to employees so that they can develop new skills and initiates a leadership program alongside career advocacy and mentoring programs. Plus, it performs more than 10,000 internal job rotations to support development plans.
Emphasizing thriving. To ensure that employees are thriving in the workplace, ExxonMobile releases company-wide surveys to strengthen its culture framework. Additionally, it supports flexibility, health, and long-term security through its PTO policies, wellness programs, financial planning initiatives, and more.
Centering inclusivity and diversity. ExxonMobil strives to create an inclusive and diverse work environment starting from the top down. Since 2016, women and U.S. minority representation has improved by over 50%, and its employees come from over 160 nationalities. It also fosters inclusive behaviors through annual skills assessments and their culture framework.
This company’s employee engagement strategies have resulted in visible benefits. For example, it was awarded the top most attractive U.S. energy company for engineering students for 10 consecutive years and the second most attractive company globally. It also has strong global acceptance rates from potential employees, about 10-15% higher than other large companies.
Plus, ExxonMobil boasts corporate giving initiatives that keep its employees engaged with philanthropy. If you’d like to learn more about their programs, click on the button below!
5. Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is a healthcare organization that operates hospitals and medical offices and provides health insurance. Aside from caring for the well-being of employees at other organizations, it also focuses on engaging its own employees.
Here are three reasons why Kaiser Permanente is an example of a great employee engagement company:
Investing in employee well-being. Aside from investing in wellness research, this company has implemented various wellness initiatives, including healthy eating and resilience training programs. It offers employees various health insurance packages in addition to plenty of holidays, sick leave, and time off to recharge.
Giving back to the community. Corporate citizenship is one of Kaiser Permanente’s core values and it’s reflected in its employee engagement programs. In addition to weekly community outreach programs, employees have access to quarterly outreach programs to give back outside of the office environment.
Support for veteran employees. Kaiser Permanente is recognized as a top Military-Friendly Employer, offering military transition programs to prepare junior military officers for successful leadership roles within the organization. It actively tries to provide better employment opportunities for veterans and their spouses.
As a health-related company, Kaiser Permanente leadership understands the importance of creating a positive and healthy workplace environment to engage its employees.
6. Microsoft
This technology corporation doesn’t measure employee engagement—it measures employee thriving. It defines thriving as “to be energized and empowered to do meaningful work.” As one of its core aspirations, employee thriving is meant to help employees find their sense of purpose within the company.
A few ways Microsoft focuses on employee engagement and thriving include:
Prioritizing communication. Through its internal employee engagement program, AskHR, Microsoft prioritizes communication between human resources and employees to ensure that employee inquiries are properly addressed. Employees can use the AskHR app to submit a variety of requests that the HR team fulfills promptly. Additionally, Microsoft uses a pulse survey tool to review if employees are thriving and obtain feedback regularly.
Creating a growth culture. This company doesn’t just offer professional development opportunities; it promotes a growth culture and mindset. Rather than being “know-it-alls,” employees should be “learn-it-alls.” Microsoft supports employees seeking professional development by recognizing those who show a growth mindset.
Team-building and networking opportunities. Microsoft acknowledges that forming bonds with coworkers is part of a healthy, thriving workplace culture. It empowers its workers to do that by arranging team-building events to rally employees behind solid company values. For example, it bolsters its commitment to CSR through community volunteering activities.
From Microsoft’s perspective, thriving is different from work-life balance—the former is about being motivated to do meaningful work, and the latter involves an employee’s personal life, too. While it’s possible for an individual to thrive but lack work-life balance or vice versa, Microsoft is dedicated to creating a positive experience in both aspects for its employees.
7. NVIDIA
Multinational tech company NVIDIA designs top-of-the-line graphics processing units, cutting-edge computer chips, and effective employee engagement programs. This organization is dedicated to creating an empowering environment where employees have the support and inspiration to take on the world’s greatest challenges together.
Here are a few elements of their employee engagement strategy:
Physical and mental health. NVIDIA prioritizes physical and mental health by providing a variety of health plans for its employees. It offers a choice between five different medical plans, allowing employees to select the plan that works best for them. It also provides dental and vision plans, flexible spending accounts, and health savings accounts. Plus, it has resources for virtual care, so workers feel empowered to seek the care they need.
Programs for parents. This company has one of the nation’s best parental policies. It includes 22 weeks of fully paid parental leave, unlimited reimbursements for adoption and surrogacy expenses, and plans that cover in vitro fertilization and egg freezing. Additionally, for employees with older children, NVIDIA partners with Collegewise to offer complimentary college preparation resources.
Support for life changes. NVIDIA leadership understands that extenuating circumstances can impact an employee’s ability to work and engagement with their work. From marriage and divorce to moving to losing a loved one, this company offers resources and programs to help employees navigate their life changes.
Although NVIDIA lives in the technology industry, it understands that its employees are not robots or data points and deserve compassion and empathy. It’s committed to supporting its team members holistically, not just as employees, but as humans.
8. Spotify
Spotify is one of the world’s largest music streaming service providers, with over 550 million active users. It offers over 100 million songs and five million podcasts to listeners. Aside from that, it’s also one of the leading employee engagement companies.
A few ways that Spotify keeps its employees motivated and engaged in their work are:
Embracing self-leadership. Spotify leadership encourages all employees to drive their own development. This practice empowers employees to take ownership of their career trajectories and seek out what they need to grow.
Inspiring innovation. Innovation is one of Spotify’s core values, and it acknowledges that to innovate, you must disrupt the status quo. It encourages its employees to find new ways to be disruptive by making it safe to fail. This value creates a culture where employees are not afraid of being bold or taking risks and making mistakes.
Centering sincerity and collaboration. Sincerity and collaboration are two other core values at Spotify. This company puts these values into practice by leading with transparency, engaging with open minds, and delivering honest feedback. Employees recognize that they are all one big team, which means that they share ideas and best practices across business units and despite traditional hierarchies.
When it comes to its employees, Spotify’s approach is that they are all a band—dependent on each other to create the best audio experience. This employee engagement company focuses on creating an environment where employees are energized and excited to inspire those around them and drive innovation.
Additional Resources
Business magnate Richard Branson once said that businesses should “train people well enough so they can leave [and] treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” And these companies do—in some shape or form, they’ve mastered the art of employee engagement to create a great environment where employees are happy and even proud to work. As you begin forming or improving your organization’s employee engagement initiatives, consider taking a leaf out of their book to create a great experience for your team members.
If you’d like to learn more about employee engagement, consider the following resources:
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Employee-Engagement-Companies_Feature.jpg7401680Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2023-11-01 14:11:252024-09-30 20:55:26Top 8 Employee Engagement Companies Leading By Example
Company Spotlight: Maximizing Matching Gift Innovation with Innovative Discovery
/in Learning Center, Corporate Consulting, Company Spotlights, Matching Gift Companies, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerThe list of matching gift companies is endless—and not exclusive to one region, business size, or corporate sector. Instead, employers all over the world opt to match their employees’ charitable donations. Doing so results in elevated corporate philanthropy, team-wide engagement, and even positive brand image.
So what makes one company’s program stand out over another? There are a lot of factors that go into a top matching gift company, including donation (low) minimums and (high) maximums, open eligibility, seamless donor experiences, and more.
One that stands out in all areas is legal services company Innovative Discovery. And we’ll tell you why!
Read on to learn more about:
Ready to get started? Dive in and see what makes Innovative Discovery’s matching gift program top-tier.
What to Know About Innovative Discovery
Founded in 2005 in Arlington, Virginia, Innovative Discovery is a strategic consulting firm and legal services provider to a wide range of corporations and groups. The company partners with government agencies, construction and manufacturing businesses, energy and utility companies, financial services, healthcare and life sciences providers, and more.
Innovative Discovery employees—a combination of technologists, lawyers, and cybersecurity experts—work as strategic consultants to provide authoritative guidance throughout the litigation processes and information lifecycles. Specifically, the consulting group aims to offer unique insights into cybersecurity, data breaches, digital forensics, and high-stakes litigations to set their clients up for maximal success.
This corporation also places a significant emphasis on giving back to the communities in which they operate, including offering community service, nonprofit sponsorships, and more. Plus, they support nonprofit organizations of all shapes and sizes through their generous matching program.
Current Matching Gift Program Guidelines
Innovative Discovery employees have the opportunity to double their charitable giving impact by participating in the company’s matching initiative. Personal gifts made by Innovative Discovery team members of between $25 and $2,500 are eligible to be matched at a 1:1 rate.
Even better, nearly all nonprofits qualify for the program. This includes K-12 and higher education institutions, arts and cultural institutions, environmental nonprofits, and other registered 501(c)(3) organizations.
And the company makes it as easy as possible for employees to take part, driving participation and overall program usage with auto-submission, a new solution from Double the Donation.
Here’s a quick overview of the Innovative Discovery corporate matching gift program eligibility requirements:
Learn more about Innovative Discovery’s matching gift program guidelines here.
Standing Out With Matching Gift Auto-Submission Through Selflessly and Double the Donation
The #1 thing that makes Innovative Discovery’s matching gift program so innovative is its participation in newly developed matching gift auto-submission. By partnering with Double the Donation and corporate giving platform Selflessly, ID is streamlining the process for employees getting involved.
Enabling the solution, which recently came out of beta, significantly reduces the time and effort involved in completing a matching gift request. And it can all be done directly from a nonprofit’s website—driving more ID employees to participate. With increased program participation, more funding goes to the nonprofit causes their employees care about. Not to mention, the company itself receives elevated benefits from its corporate giving offerings. It’s a win-win-win—and it’s easier than ever before!
Here’s how the matching process works for Innovative Discovery team members using auto-submission:
Learn more about matching gift auto-submission with Double the Donation here.
Innovative Discovery’s CSR Software Partner, Selflessly
Innovative Discovery facilitates its matching gifts and other corporate giving initiatives by leveraging a CSR management software company, Selflessly. Selflessly is framed as an “all-in-one giving platform for CSR,” offering both corporate giving and volunteerism features.
Through this software solution, companies like Innovative Discovery are able to:
Recently, Selflessly was also one of the first providers to participate in the beta program for auto-submission functionality with Double the Donation, making corporate matching gifts easier than ever before.
Other Innovative Giving Initiatives
Innovative Discovery’s website shares that “the primary focus of ID’s corporate philanthropic efforts are nonprofit organizations valued by our employees.” This idea is reflected in the company’s matching gift program as well as additional team-wide efforts for various charitable causes.
This includes:
Innovative Discovery leadership has made it a point time and time again to invest in giving back to their communities. We’re excited to see what they roll out next!
Wrapping Up
Companies like Innovative Discovery are paving the way for more businesses—and the nonprofits, donors, and communities they support—to benefit from groundbreaking matching gift programs with ease. As more and more corporations roll out innovative auto-submission functionality by leveraging partnerships between corporate giving and matching gift-specific technology, the results will continue growing to new heights.
Ready to learn more about standout matching gift companies and practices? Explore other Double the Donation resources here:
What are Challenge Gifts? A Guide to High-Speed Fundraising
/in Learning Center, Fundraising Ideas, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerA thoughtful and robust fundraising strategy is key to any nonprofit’s success. As a nonprofit professional, you’re probably always on the lookout for new ideas and strategies to spice up your organization’s fundraising efforts. That’s where challenge gifts come in—when done correctly, this fundraising idea can supercharge your mission with increased gifts.
In this guide, we’ll go over the basics of challenge gifts and empower you to leverage them by covering the following topics:
To maximize the fundraising impact of your challenge gifts, consider investing in fundraising software that will streamline your fundraising processes and efforts. Matching gift software, in particular, will greatly increase the effectiveness of donations made during your challenge gift campaign.
What is a challenge gift?
A challenge gift is a donation that is contingent on another goal, usually another donation. Usually, the donor will commit to donating a certain amount to a nonprofit if the organization or its other donors fulfill a certain goal or take an action within a certain amount of time. Only then is the donation made.
Common challenge gift goals include:
Challenge gifts are a great way for a major donor to inspire and encourage other donors to give, resulting in greater fundraising success for the nonprofit. When handled properly, these challenges can be used to secure future support and improve the sustainability of your organization.
What are the benefits of challenge gifts?
At this point, you may be thinking: Aren’t challenge gifts just donations with strings attached? Why would I want those instead of straightforward donations?
Although you might feel that way, challenge gifts bring your nonprofit a variety of game-changing benefits. Some of these include:
When it comes to boosting your fundraising and securing support, challenge gifts are a valuable opportunity for nonprofits to reliably meet their goals. While the donor dictates the terms of the challenge, the concept itself has a lot of flexibility, as it accommodates multiple types of challenges.
What are the drawbacks of challenge gifts?
We’ve already touched on the main drawback of challenge gifts—the inability to fulfill the challenge, and therefore the loss of the challenge gift funds. The most common restrictions on a challenge gift include:
Although challenge gifts have their drawbacks, with proper planning and consideration, you can mitigate their disadvantages. While they might put your nonprofit’s fundraising and donor acquisition strategies to the test, the result will be well worth it—a large amount of funds that you can leverage to support your beneficiaries.
Acquiring Support for Challenge Gifts: 5 Tips
To help you make the most of any challenge gifts your nonprofit receives, we’ll go over five tips for acquiring support to fulfill your challenges. Let’s dive in!
1. Create a challenge gift proposal.
While some donors may make a challenge gift unprompted, it’s more likely that your nonprofit will need to specifically seek out challenge donors, much like you seek out sponsorships. To do so, you’ll want to draft a challenge gift proposal to pitch to potential donors.
As you create your proposal, be sure to:
Keep in mind that your challenge gift proposal should look different depending on which potential donor you’re trying to connect with. Just as you would segment your regular donors based on their interests and preferences, make sure to tailor your proposal based on the donor’s gift capacity and previous engagement with your nonprofit.
2. Strategically connect with challenge gift donors.
There are different types of potential donors that you can connect with to pitch challenge gifts to. When first starting, we recommend reaching out to similar types of potential donors to get a better feel of interacting with them and minimize the number of proposals you need to customize.
In general, most challenge gift donors fall into one of the following groups:
To help you narrow down the potential donors you should connect with, focus on those who have already indicated a philanthropic interest in some way. For example, businesses with existing corporate citizenship or CSR initiatives that align with your cause will be more open to aiding your nonprofit.
3. Thoroughly promote your challenge gifts.
Ensure that your challenge gifts drive the impact you desire by thoughtfully promoting them to all of your nonprofit’s supporters. Use the following marketing channels to do so:
Send communications before and during the challenge to drum up excitement and secure support. Provide all relevant details to supporters so they know how they can help. For example, if your goal is to acquire 100 first-time donors, ask your supporters to reach out to their friends and family to appeal for first-time donations. Provide templates for social media posts and emails that they can use to make their appeals easier.
Additionally, be sure to focus your messaging on urgency and speed. Emphasize the approaching deadline and don’t be afraid to send multiple messages during the challenge as reminders. To make this process more efficient, consider using a marketing tool to streamline your promotional efforts.
4. Maximize your gift impact.
When properly planned and marketed, one of the great benefits of challenge gifts is a boost in the number of donations made during the challenge. Maximize the impact of gifts by diving into matching gifts.
If you’re new to matching gifts, they are a form of corporate philanthropy where employers match their employees’ donations to nonprofits. Although most match at a 1:1 ratio, particularly generous companies may match at a higher ratio, such as 2:1 or even 3:1.
This is how it works:
As around $4-7 billion of matching gift funds is estimated to go unclaimed every year, it’s clear that one of the biggest obstacles to obtaining matching gift funds is awareness.
During a donation challenge period, you’ll be sending out many communications to supporters to urge them to donate. Maximize the impact of those donations by also reminding supporters to look into their employers’ matching gift programs. With a small amount of effort from them, they’ll be able to greatly increase the funds that you raise. Plus, it won’t require them to gift more of their money!
5. Celebrate achievements and goals.
When the period set by your challenge gift has ended, be sure to celebrate all achievements and goals met with your supporters. Recognize all the donors that have given during this time and thank them for participating in the challenge. Even if you didn’t meet your goals, saying a simple thank you goes a long way toward facilitating long-lasting and fruitful relationships.
If you did meet your goals, then consider hosting a celebration! This can take the form of a donor appreciation event, where you invite all those who gave to come and have fun. Or, if your donors are spread all over the country or the globe, send gifts to them instead. These don’t have to break your budget, as they can be small trinkets or merchandise branded to your nonprofit.
The most important thing here is to let your donors know that your success would not be possible without them. Show your genuine gratitude so that donors are incentivized to continue supporting your mission.
Additional Resources
Challenge gifts are an incredible opportunity for your nonprofit to buckle down and meet its goals. They also incentivize increased giving from your supporters through gamification, making them a worthwhile gift to receive.
If you’re interested in learning more about nonprofit fundraising opportunities, check out the following resources:
Nonprofit Basics: Planned Giving
/in Nonprofit Basics /by Adam WeingerPlanned giving is an important part of a robust nonprofit fundraising strategy. This diverse category of gifts can unlock growth for your organization, help you reach new prospects, and deepen your ties with donors.
Getting started with planned giving is challenging for many organizations since this form of fundraising is unlike typical campaign-based and annual fundraising. However, the benefits of launching even a small-scale preliminary planned giving program are worth the effort and will scale over time to drive even greater results for your nonprofit.
To get started, you must understand the basics. This quick guide will cover the essentials by answering the following key questions:
What is planned giving?
Planned giving consists of donations to nonprofits made through donors’ estates or financial plans. Organizations that pursue these gifts consistently do so through dedicated planned giving programs, which are often managed as part of or alongside their other development efforts like major gift fundraising.
Most planned gifts are bequests established in donors’ wills and disbursed after their passing. But planned giving is much more than bequests—it’s an extremely diverse category of gifts.
What are the common types of planned gifts?
In addition to bequests, planned giving includes donations like:
Each type of planned gift brings different requirements and benefits, so the gift that a donor ultimately decides to make will hinge on several factors including their financial situation and giving motivations. Some gifts will also work best for only certain types of high-impact donors.
Many nonprofits also pursue a variety of non-cash gifts alongside their planned giving programs since the processes of identifying these donors and setting up their gifts can be fairly similar. Popular non-cash gift options include:
Explore the additional resources at the end of this article to start learning more about these types of donations.
What is the state of planned giving today?
How much opportunity is there for nonprofits in planned giving today? Who creates planned gifts? Understanding the context and trends of this type of giving will empower your organization to create the best possible strategy.
Consider these 2023 statistics from FreeWill, a will creation and planned giving platform for nonprofits:
(Source: FreeWill’s 2023 Planned Giving Report)
These trends are occurring within the larger phenomenon of the “Great Wealth Transfer,” an unprecedented transfer of assets from the aging Baby Boomer population to their heirs and charitable organizations—estimated to be around $68 trillion over the next 25 years.
Key takeaways: Donors are making wills and estate plans, especially as they age. If you’re not asking them to consider creating a planned gift, you’re missing out. Considering the giving patterns of older donors, the Great Wealth Transfer, and younger generations enjoying or entering their prime working years, a robust planned giving strategy can generate significant revenue for your organization. You’ll just need to know how to talk about planned giving effectively, starting with its benefits.
What are the benefits of planned giving?
Planned giving can help both the donor and the nonprofit in significant ways. Let’s take a closer look.
Benefits for Donors
Benefits for Nonprofits
How do you get started with planned giving?
Your organization should spend time creating a strategy for its planned giving program before getting started asking for these gifts. Follow these steps to successfully execute your program:
Don’t be afraid of starting small—your planned giving program can grow over time. By beginning with a targeted focus on simpler gifts like bequests, you can lay out an effective framework for eventually asking for more complex planned gifts or different types of non-cash gifts over time.
The key is to keep learning more and refining your approach as you go. Your development team already likely follows best practices for conducting prospect research, qualifying donors, building relationships, and stewarding donors. Use and adapt these strategies to your new planned giving goals.
Additional Planned Giving Resources
Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring our other introductory guides and glossary entries.
Planned Giving Marketing – Here are seven strategies to get your donor base on board with planned giving.
Donor-Advised Funds — Check out this complete introduction to DAFs, a type of philanthropic fund that’s skyrocketed in popularity in recent years.
Moves Management — Learn the basics of how to keep track of donor interactions as you work towards a specific goal like creating a planned gift.
Double the Donation and CrowdChange Partner to Debut Innovative Matching Gift Integration
/in About Double the Donation /by Adam WeingerDouble the Donation and CrowdChange is excited to announce their new partnership and unveil a technical integration between Double the Donation and the CrowdChange fundraising platform. This collaboration equips nonprofit organizations to take advantage of the underutilized fundraising avenue that is corporate matching gifts.
Leveraging Double the Donation and CrowdChange, organizations will be able to identify more match-eligible donors during the donation process and drive those matches to completion with Double the Donation’s customizable, automated workflows. This technology simplifies the matching gift process for donors and nonprofits alike, making it that much easier to bring in revenue from corporate matching programs.
“Double the Donation is excited to launch this partnership and add Double the Donationto CrowdChange’s powerful fundraising suite,” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “Nonprofit organizations often miss out on valuable matching gift funds, but with this technical integration CrowdChange users are equipped to make the most of matching gifts and raise more for their mission.”
The seamless integration between Double the Donation and CrowdChange equips fundraisers with the industry-leading matching gift software, effortlessly connecting donors to the next steps and raising more for the causes that matter most.
Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Matching Gifts!
With this seamless integration and streamlined activation process, you can connect your CrowdChange and Double the Donation instances in minutes.
Once you’ve connected your CrowdChange and Double the Donation accounts, all that is left to do is add the Double the Donation search tool to your donation forms! Donors can identify their employer on the donation form and be met with actionable next steps on the thank you page.
Double the Donation also sends automated email notifications to donors following the donation to reconnect donors to their matching gift application form based on their employer information, making it even easier to drive revenue with matching gifts.
Looking to learn more? Check out our in-depth integration guide to get started!
Drive More Matching Gifts to Completion with Double the Donation!
Double the Donation ensures your matching gift opportunities don’t fall through the cracks.
Take advantage of this solution to:
Identify more matching gift revenue opportunities: Double the Donation enables you to automatically collect matching gift eligibility from donors using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more matching gift opportunities Double the Donation discovers and shares with donors, the more matching gift requests your donors will successfully submit.
Drive more matches to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct donors immediately to their matching gift forms after the donation process is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right donors at the right time with custom emails based on match eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more matching gift checks from companies through your door.
Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing small dollar-value matching gifts? Let Double the Donation automate your matching gift outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable match-eligible donations. Rest easy knowing that Double the Donation can handle the rest.
Ready to get started with matching gifts automation using CrowdChange? Request a demo today.
About CrowdChange: CrowdChange is a comprehensive events and fundraising software platform in the market. With an easy-to-use, no-coding design and features to cater to all your fundraising needs. Whether you’re planning signature events, DIY, or peer-to-peer campaigns, their platform provides the perfect tools for seamless execution. Ideal for non-profits, hospital foundations, universities, schools, and other impactful organizations, CrowdChange empowers you to take charge of your fundraising. To learn more visit https://www.crowdchange.co/home-og#Talktous
About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The Double the Donation platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. Double the Donation integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts. To learn more, visit https://doublethedonation.com/get-a-demo/
25+ Top Corporate Volunteering Ideas to Inspire Employees
/in Corporate Consulting, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerExpectations of the modern company have changed. To many people, a successful, noteworthy company is not just one that earns profits or offers enticing employee benefits. To win the support of employees, consumers, and other stakeholders, you must also stand as an advocate for social change. That’s where corporate volunteering comes in.
77% of consumers are more motivated to purchase from companies with CSR initiatives. By facilitating corporate volunteering, your company can power social good while engaging your employees in meaningful, rewarding activities. Whether you already have an established philanthropy program, or you’re just looking to launch one, you’ll need to build a repertoire of compelling volunteer ideas to inspire employees to participate.
We’ve compiled over 25 inspiring in-person and virtual ideas, along with tips on making the most of each corporate volunteer experience, in the following sections:
Chances are, many of your employees enter their roles expecting more than just responsibilities and a paycheck. Through corporate volunteering, you can help them find a larger purpose in their roles and encourage them to stay with your company for the long term.
Corporate Volunteer Activities: FAQs
Before we explore corporate volunteer ideas to engage your employees, let’s answer some frequently asked questions to get you started on the right foot.
What is corporate volunteering?
Corporate volunteering, or employee volunteering, refers to the time and skills that a company’s employees dedicate to charitable causes as part of their combined corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.
Since the estimated national value of every volunteer hour is $31.80, corporate volunteering allows companies to make a substantial difference in supporting nonprofit missions worldwide and leave a lasting impact on society. The most common types of corporate volunteering programs are volunteer time off (VTO) and volunteer grants.
VTO is a form of paid time off that employees must use to volunteer, thus allowing them to volunteer for their favorite causes during standard work hours. Volunteer grants are financial contributions awarded to the organizations that employees volunteer with the most (most companies have a minimum hours threshold to determine eligibility). To learn more about corporate volunteer programs and see how solutions like Double the Donation Volunteering can help your nonprofit take advantage of them, check out this video:
What are the benefits of corporate volunteering?
While it’s clear that volunteering brings significant benefits to nonprofits, it can be very rewarding to your company as well. By incorporating corporate volunteering ideas into your philanthropic initiatives, you can:
While other corporate giving initiatives, such as community grants, can lead to similar benefits, corporate volunteering is one of the most popular and effective ways to directly engage employees in your social impact.
15 In-Person Corporate Volunteering Ideas
In-person corporate volunteer activities allow your employees to get directly involved in their local neighborhoods. Consider the following ideas to start engaging employees and strengthening connections with your community:
1. Organize a community cleanup.
Keep America Beautiful estimates that there are nearly 50 billion pieces of litter along U.S. roadways and waterways. Gather your employees to clean up a local park, beach, or other public space in your local area. This will not only create a more beautiful place for everyone to appreciate, but it will also reduce pollution and protect wildlife in the area.
Furthermore, this corporate volunteering idea can inspire local residents to pay more attention to their carbon footprint and how they can take better care of the community in which they live.
2. Spend a day at an animal shelter.
Enlist your employees to help out at an animal shelter for a win-win corporate volunteer activity. They’ll improve the lives of animals in need of homes, and at the same time, experience a boost to their mental health. Studies indicate that spending time with dogs can raise oxytocin and dopamine levels in people, which promote happiness and reduce anxiety.
There are a variety of volunteer roles that your corporate employees can fill at an animal shelter, such as walking dogs, taking pictures of adoptable animals, and cleaning up the shelter.
3. Build homes for people in need.
If your employees spend much of their time sitting in front of a desk, this corporate volunteering idea provides a wonderful opportunity for them to get active for a worthy cause. To organize this activity, you’ll typically partner with a nonprofit, such as Habitat for Humanity, that can oversee your employees’ efforts and guide them through the construction process.
Bank of America is one standout company that champions affordable housing, with a 30+ year partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Their employees spend about 35,000 a year supporting the nonprofit’s initiatives and making a difference in the lives of people facing housing insecurity.
4. Visit a senior center.
There are numerous roles that corporate volunteers can fill at a senior center. Depending on your employees’ skills and interests, they can:
Beyond lending a hand with daily activities, your employees can even plan and host a holiday party or another type of special event to brighten up residents’ lives.
5. Partner with a homeless shelter.
Last year, homelessness in the United States reached record highs. Support your local homeless shelter and assist an increasingly vulnerable population by:
Planning a corporate volunteer event at a homeless shelter is an opportunity for your employees to make a direct impact on the lives of other people in their community. They can not only help raise awareness about homelessness, but also build meaningful relationships with people in need of compassion and support.
6. Help out at a food bank.
Visiting a food bank is a popular volunteering activity for companies and individuals alike. Employees can work together to sort food at the facility, and then transport and distribute these supplies to support hunger relief in the community.
Disney is another company that has a particularly impactful corporate volunteering program. Employee participants in Disney’s VoluntEARS program often team up with food backs to address the needs of thousands of food-insecure community members. Beyond that, they get involved in initiatives ranging from making blankets to recording bedtime stories for children living in rural areas.
7. Support a school improvement project.
Engage your employees in enhancing the education of local students by participating in a school improvement project. These projects might involve:
This corporate volunteering idea is a stellar way to invest in the future generations of your community. To get started, reach out to local schools and identify those in need of support. With a thoughtful approach, your company can build lasting partnerships and set up more corporate volunteering opportunities in the future.
8. Donate blood.
According to the American Red Cross, someone in the United States needs blood and/or platelets every two seconds. Your company can either host its own blood donation drive or encourage employees to attend one that another organization is holding in the local area.
Before the event itself, be sure to provide educational materials to employees to highlight the importance of donating blood and include basic details on how the process works. This ensures that more employees feel comfortable participating when the day rolls around.
9. Run a donation drive.
Beyond donating blood, your employees can arrange and run a donation drive for a range of essential supplies and resources. For instance, your company could collect:
In addition to encouraging employees to give their new and gently used items, you can invite everyone in your community to get involved. This can help your company cultivate new relationships with potential customers and job seekers while furthering your CSR goals.
10. Start or maintain a community garden.
Establishing or maintaining a community garden allows your company to leave a lasting impact on its community. If there isn’t currently one in your local area, consider renting out a vacant lot and creating a plan for how the garden will benefit everyone in the neighborhood.
If there is an existing community garden nearby, assemble a team of corporate volunteers to help with weeding, planting, and harvesting.
11. Plant trees as a team.
80% of consumers are more likely to buy from and 84% of employees are more likely to work for a company that stands up for the environment. Demonstrate your company’s commitment to the environment and engage your employees in a team-building exercise with tree planting.
One of the easiest ways to organize a tree-planting activity is to partner with a nonprofit or local conservation group dedicated to the environment and reforestation. They’ll have the expertise to guide your employees on how and where to plant saplings.
12. Offer a mentorship program.
Consider launching a mentorship program to facilitate connections between your employees and community members. Employees can volunteer their time to support mentees in areas such as:
Your company can choose to offer a virtual mentorship program as well. This would enable more people outside of your local area to participate, including remote employees.
13. Participate in a literacy program.
Literacy programs are essential resources that empower people of all ages to improve their communication skills and set a foundation for their future success. There are numerous ways your employees can support a literacy program, from serving as a reading buddy to creating educational resources for participants. Or, your company can even create its own.
Costco has its own Volunteer Reading Program that allows employees to support students in schools, community centers, and after-school programs. The company engages over 2,600 volunteers and even provides all the reading materials for the program.
14. Prepare and distribute care packages.
Throughout the year, or following a specific incident such as a natural disaster, your employees can assemble and distribute care packages to people in need. These can include anything from hygiene supplies to first aid kits.
Last year, for example, Delta volunteers delivered grocery boxes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and care packages for service members during USO Fleet Week events.
15. Host a sports clinic.
By hosting a sports clinic, your company can encourage both its employees and community members to engage in physical activity to promote well-being. The process is simple:
With this corporate volunteering idea, your company can demonstrate its dedication to health and wellness in society.
11 Engaging Virtual Corporate Volunteer Ideas
For companies with remote or hybrid employees, putting together in-person corporate volunteer events may not be as practical or effective. Plus, some employees may want to participate in social change beyond just their local communities. In these cases, consider incorporating some of the following virtual corporate volunteer activities into your program:
1. Tutor students online.
About one-third of school leaders indicate that they don’t have the capacity to provide frequent, one-on-one tutoring to all students who need it, and nearly 20% report that they can’t even provide regular tutoring. By engaging your employees in online tutoring, your company can alleviate staff and resource shortages at educational institutions.
With video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, your corporate volunteers can offer one-on-one tutoring sessions with students. In doing so, they’ll be able to support academic excellence and make a tangible difference in the lives of individual students.
2. Provide translation services.
This virtual corporate volunteering idea is ideal for multilingual employees. Many nonprofits serve diverse populations, which means they may interact with people who prefer communicating in another language. In fact, nearly 66 million people, or around 21.6% of the U.S. population, speak a language other than English in their homes.
To help nonprofits make their services more accessible to everyone, your employees can translate documents, website content, and more.
3. Teach language classes.
Encourage your company’s multilingual employees to teach language classes as part of your corporate volunteering activities. They can conduct these classes over Zoom and facilitate practice discussions among online participants.
To make it easy for your employees to get involved, consider creating language learning materials that they can use in their classes. This way, they can dedicate their time to teaching without having to worry about creating a comprehensive curriculum or worksheets.
4. Plan skills-based workshops.
Your employees are a diverse group of individuals with their own interests, skills, and hobbies. Empower them to share their expertise by hosting workshops for people who are interested in learning a new skill. As a form of skills-based volunteerism, these workshops could focus on topics such as:
If these workshops are related to employees’ roles, they can have the added benefit of reinforcing their skills and knowledge to boost their performance in the workplace.
5. Create content for nonprofits.
To secure enough support for their missions, nonprofits need to produce content to spread awareness and solicit donations. Your employees can assist nonprofits with their marketing efforts in various ways. For instance, they can:
This corporate volunteering idea leaves employees with a finished product that they can look back on with pride.
6. Pitch in with graphic design.
If your employees have an eye for graphic design, consider having them offer their services to nonprofits. There are many areas where having well-designed images and graphics can come in handy, including:
Whether a nonprofit is looking to redesign its logo or revamp its website, having graphic design services can go a long way toward reaching and engaging new supporters.
7. Help with social media management.
According to Nonprofit Tech for Good, 87% of nonprofits regularly use social media for digital marketing and fundraising. However, with so much activity on social media, it can be a challenge for them to stand out among all the noise. Enlist your social media-savvy employees to help nonprofits by:
Doing so will free up more time and energy for nonprofits to focus on other mission-critical activities, such as delivering services to their beneficiaries.
8. Assist with grant writing.
Nonprofits need to seek funding from a variety of sources to continue fulfilling their missions. Many foundations and corporations offer grants to cover program or project expenses—however, a nonprofit must submit a compelling application before they can access those funds.
Since effective grant writing takes time and effort, this is an excellent opportunity for your company to pitch in, especially if you have employees with strong writing and communication backgrounds. They can research grantmakers, help write proposals, and proofread everything before submission.
9. Coordinate remote volunteers.
A nonprofit organization may have plenty of volunteers willing to dedicate their time and skills. Without proper volunteer management, however, they won’t be able to make the most of the resources at their disposal.
Recruit your employees to take over some key remote volunteer coordination responsibilities by onboarding, communicating with, and organizing volunteers in other areas of the world. This creates impactful, satisfying experiences that encourage volunteers to continue supporting a nonprofit time after time.
10. Offer coding support.
If your employees have coding experience, bring them together to offer coding assistance to nonprofits. They can lend a hand with:
Additionally, consider opening up support beyond nonprofits and planning workshops for those interested in developing their programming skills.
11. Host virtual fundraising events.
Encourage your employees to take the lead in fundraising for nonprofits by hosting online fundraising events. Doing so allows them to tap into their personal networks and cultivate new supporters for a nonprofit’s mission. Get creative as you determine which types of fundraisers will appeal most to your employees and be sure to poll them on which organization or cause should receive the funds raised.
For instance, you could plan a virtual walk- or run-a-thon that employees can participate in by using their treadmills at home. Additionally, consider hosting silent auctions, raffles, and other contests such as a trivia night.
How to Put Your Corporate Volunteering Ideas into Action
Now that your company has some engaging corporate volunteer ideas up its sleeve, it’s time to start planning an experience that employees will be excited to take part in. Follow these steps to set your next event up for success:
If you haven’t already, consider investing in workplace giving software to make planning and participating in corporate volunteer activities easier for everyone. A high-quality solution will streamline processes such as promoting volunteer opportunities and tracking employee hours.
Maintaining Momentum After a Corporate Volunteer Activity
For your corporate volunteer program to be successful in the long term, it’s important to understand that each event is not a one-and-done activity. Consider these tips to maintain momentum and keep your employees engaged after volunteering:
Practice recognition
Show employees that you value their participation by recognizing them for volunteering. There are several effective ways to do so, including:
Furthermore, invite employees to give feedback on their experiences to demonstrate your commitment to providing them with more enticing volunteer opportunities in the future.
Share impact
Don’t leave your employees wondering whether their volunteer efforts actually left a meaningful impact on the world. According to VolunteerMatch, 66% of volunteers are motivated by making a difference in their community. Use multiple channels to celebrate the results of each volunteer event, including:
Doing so will both maintain employee engagement within your company and boost your reputation among customers and other stakeholders in the community.
Promote other corporate giving opportunities
Beyond taking part in your corporate volunteer activities, there are many ways employees can contribute to your philanthropic goals. For instance, consider offering volunteer grants to nonprofits after employees volunteer a certain number of hours with them.
Matching gifts are another popular program among many businesses, offered by 65% of Fortune 500 companies. Whether your company already has one in place or is considering starting one of these programs, check to see whether your corporate giving software integrates with the latest matching gift tools. Innovative features such as auto-submission, for example, make it easier than ever for employees to submit matching gift requests.
Wrapping Up: Enhancing Your Company’s Social Impact
As with any company initiative, remember to adopt an improvement mindset from the get-go. Identify and track relevant metrics to unearth insights for improving your corporate volunteer program over time. This ensures that you engage more employees and power more impact year after year.
To learn more about corporate philanthropy and employee engagement best practices, take a look at these additional resources:
Donor Recognition: When & How to Acknowledge Supporters
/in Nonprofit Basics, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerWhat would you do if your organization hit a record number of new donors within a year?
Celebrate! But what about after the initial excitement wears off? Discovering that donors share the same passion for your cause is exhilarating. However, many organizations fail to communicate their appreciation adequately, which can have negative retention effects.
In fact, lack of recognition is one of the top five reasons why donors choose to stop giving. That said, donor recognition is a key part of donor stewardship, which can usher first-time donors into long-term supporters.
In this guide, we’ll explore the ins and outs of donor recognition and discover how your organization can create an effective acknowledgment strategy. Let’s dive in!
What is donor recognition?
Donor recognition describes the practice of thanking your organization’s donors for their gifts to your nonprofit. It’s a way for nonprofits to express gratitude and reinforce supporters’ commitment to the cause.
Many nonprofits separate recognition into tiers based on the type of gift and amount given by a donor. We’ll explore this concept more later, but for now, know that nonprofits refer to this tier system to ensure their recognition level matches a donor’s generosity.
There are several methods for recognizing donors. Everything from a simple phone call to a fancy outdoor display falls under this category. At the most basic level, you should send a prompt donor thank-you letter or email acknowledging them for responding to your fundraising appeal and supporting your mission. As with any nonprofit fundraising letter, this thank-you should:
Despite the various methods, the purpose of every donor recognition strategy is always the same: to acknowledge a donor’s generosity.
Why does donor recognition matter?
Donor recognition is a vital component of nonprofit fundraising and relationship-building. It’s what inspires donors to stick around and continue supporting your cause, so you can pursue your mission and build a community behind your cause. Let’s explore how meaningful donor recognition impacts both nonprofits and their donors.
Benefits for Nonprofits
Acknowledgment plays a fundamental role in acquiring, retaining, and inspiring greater support. For nonprofits, meaningful donor recognition helps:
Nonprofits rely on their donors to power their missions, making proactive recognition a vital part of their fundraising efforts. From retaining donors to expanding your community of supporters, showing gratitude goes a long way.
Benefits for Donors
On the other side of things, proper acknowledgment can impact donors in several ways, too. Here’s a quick rundown of how you can influence supporters by recognizing them:
As you can see, consistent donor recognition accomplishes both nonprofit-related and donor-related objectives. That’s why creating a robust recognition program now can cause positive ripple effects for your organization for years to come.
When should you recognize donors?
The short answer: as soon as the gift is received. Expressing acknowledgment and gratitude promptly is what makes donor recognition matter. After all, saying thank you a few weeks or even a few days later does not carry the same meaning. Instead, aim to recognize a donor within 48 hours of receiving their gift. Many nonprofits document their official gift recognition and substantiation procedures in their gift acceptance policies.
Of course, more involved recognition strategies like a naming opportunity will take longer to complete. However, all donors should receive a prompt and personalized acknowledgment. More specifically, plan to thank donors at every touch point. For example, capital campaigns should use donor recognition strategies that actively support the larger campaign purpose and complement each stage of the project.
Who should your nonprofit recognize?
Your goal should be to make all supporters feel recognized and valued for their contributions, regardless of the size of their gift.
But, it’s important to choose recognition strategies that adequately address the level of a donor’s generosity. Responding with an unexpected abundance or limited amount of recognition can throw your donor relationships off-kilter, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction.
To avoid this, you’ll need to create donor recognition levels based on donation type, donation amount, engagement level, and donor type. Let’s explore each in more detail below!
Donation Type
There are several different donation types, from matching gifts to in-kind donations. Generally, donors give through one of the following donation methods:
Depending on the type of donation, you can organize your recognition program to acknowledge donors’ specific gifts. For instance, if a donor opts to give through a matching gift program, your recognition should acknowledge their thoughtfulness in doubling their donation.
Donation Amount
Many nonprofits segment their donor tiers by donation amount. How you determine the tiers will depend on your organization’s average donation size. A smaller nonprofit’s average donation size might be $200 while a more established nonprofit’s average donation size might be closer to $2,000.
For example, a community-based nonprofit’s donation recognition levels might look something like this:
You can also organize these levels based on impact. For instance, a food pantry might categorize amounts by their ability to feed five families, 50 families, or 250 families. Adjust the amounts and the recognition titles to best suit your organization’s average donation size and mission impact.
Engagement Level
You can also categorize donors by their engagement level with your organization. This identifier will significantly impact how you decide to recognize them. Here are the various engagement levels to consider:
You can categorize this donor data within a dedicated CRM so that your team can reference and update it throughout your relationship. That way, you’ll never miss a beat when recognizing new or long-time donors.
Donor Type
When you think of donor recognition, you might primarily think of individual contributors. However, there are a few different types of donors, and you should adjust your recognition strategies for each type. Donor types differ across three major categories:
As mentioned, you’ll need to adapt your recognition efforts for each donor type. For example, personalized acknowledgments and donor spotlights are suitable for individual donors, while corporations might benefit from specialized CSR employee engagement programs. Foundation recognition, on the other hand, would take the form of grant acknowledgments.
Top Donor Recognition Ideas
Depending on the above considerations for each donor, there are several ways you can recognize them. As always, you’ll need to match the strategy to your relationship with the donor for maximum impact. Here are some top recognition ideas based on engagement levels and donation amounts:
Digital eCards
To make your recognition both prompt and personalized, use digital eCards. This approach allows you to send a branded thank you to donors. These digital tools make it easy to honor donors and spread the word about your cause. It’s as simple as logging in, customizing your design, drafting a thank-you, and sending it to your donor’s social media account or inbox.
Not to mention, eCards are a great source of revenue when you sell them to supporters, too. Check out this video for an in-depth review of how this technology works:
From thanking donors to raising funds, digital greeting cards can add a special touch to your fundraising techniques. Greeting cards are perfect for any occasion, including saying thank you to your valued supporters!
Phone Calls
Simple and straightforward, a phone call from your nonprofit’s Executive Director is a meaningful way to recognize a donor. This strategy will make donors feel seen by your nonprofit’s efforts. Be sure to have the donor’s donation type and amount handy so you can express gratitude for their specific gift.
Branded Gifts
Send your donor nonprofit branded merchandise as a thank-you! Blankets, t-shirts, hats, and hoodies all make for fabulous donor recognition gifts that will make your donor feel welcomed into your organization. If your nonprofit has an online gift shop, consider sending a donor a discount to choose a branded gift that best suits them.
Thank-You Notes from Beneficiaries
Your donors likely expect a thank-you message from your nonprofit’s team, but you can pleasantly surprise them with a handwritten appreciation letter from your beneficiaries. All you need to do is:
Take the following example from Youth For Understanding. The nonprofit offers study abroad opportunities, helping young adults learn about the world via semester and year-long exchange programs. They had previous program participants craft thank-you notes to send to their host families or anyone else who made their experience memorable.
This idea is a fun twist on traditional approaches to nonprofit thank-you cards, allowing your beneficiaries to build personal connections with donors and secure their future support.
Social Media Spotlights
Looking for a way to make an individual donor feel special? Social media spotlights are an effective option for highlighting your donor’s generosity. First, make sure your donor follows you online and regularly engages on the platform you choose. Then, with their permission, feature an image of them with a caption describing the impact of their generosity and why your team is grateful for their support. Or, host a livestream during a big campaign to thank donors.
Appreciation Videos
Appreciation videos are great for social media posts and blog posts on your website. These do not need to be long. However, be sure to include your executive staff thanking individuals for their support. You can also include, with their permission, a thank-you from the beneficiaries who your donors have helped. Doing this will help your donors understand the importance of their gifts.
Donor Lunch
Invite your donors to a dedicated lunch to celebrate their generosity. Send an invitation in advance and keep the invite list small to focus on a couple of key individuals. This option is great for donors who would appreciate more than a thank-you note but are uncomfortable attending a large dedicated event.
Donor of the Month Program
While your donors don’t give for the attention, you can still provide public shoutouts to your mid-tier contributors. Unlike social media spotlights, Donor of the Month is a time-bound award that’s given to the donor who’s made a big impact during that calendar month.
For instance, some good candidates for this award include a volunteer who decides to donate for the first time or an existing donor who smashes their peer-to-peer fundraising goal. You can highlight their dedication to your mission by:
Ensure your donor consents to being publicly recognized and notify them in advance so you can get your appreciation materials out on time.
Outdoor Displays
Take your recognition outside with a vibrant outdoor display to honor your donors. A nonprofit-specific monument or statue outside your facility can be a valuable addition to your headquarters. Consider partnering with design and construction partners to ensure that your display can withstand weathering and is designed to inspire. Include donor names in a plaque beneath the display.
Donor Plaques or Walls
Probably the most well-known recognition practices, donor plaques and donor walls are popular strategies. Donor plaques honoring the sole donors of a nonprofit project are often posted outside of buildings that the donors funded, for example. Donor walls can display several names and are best unveiled following a capital campaign.
Appreciation Events
Host a virtual happy hour or in-person dinner as a way to say thank you to donors. This can provide a valuable opportunity for donors to network with other supporters and discuss your cause. You could even run an online cooking class or informal craft tutorial. Or, you can make your event larger scale and host a fancy gala; just be sure to keep the focus on donor appreciation.
Donor Hall of Fame
Donor social media shoutouts and Donor of the Month are great ways to publicly appreciate your donors, but you can take this idea to the next level for major donors by starting a Donor Hall of Fame. This honor should be reserved for your most engaged and influential donors and awarded sparingly (e.g. once or twice a year). You can inaugurate donors by:
Unlike Donor of the Month and one-off shoutouts, this idea immortalizes your most impactful contributors. By going the extra mile with this idea, you can demonstrate how donations fuel your mission and that donors forever mark your nonprofit.
Board or Committee Invitations
Invite mid-sized and major donors to serve on advisory boards or committees. This form of recognition engages them more deeply in the organization’s work by showing you value their input and expertise.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering might not seem like an appreciation idea at first glance. However, many donors will appreciate engaging with your cause in new ways. By encouraging donors to volunteer, you’ll deepen their involvement in your mission. This will help them form a more personal connection to the work your organization does and see the impact of donations.
Private Tour
With this donor recognition idea, you’ll show donors where the magic happens! Even though they contribute to your mission substantially, many of your mid-sized and major donors may not have seen your office space and work sites before. Give donors an inside look into your organization by showing them around.
A great chance to use this type of recognition is when someone contributes to fund a specific project or initiative. For example, let’s say a major donor gave to your capital campaign to relocate to a bigger office. You might host an in-person tour or record a virtual one to show them around the new space.
Tips to Level Up Your Donor Recognition
Now that you have some creative donor recognition ideas, it’s time to brainstorm how you’ll cater each one to your unique donor community. Here are some ways to take these donor recognition ideas up a notch:
Creating a thoughtful donor recognition strategy can go a long way in showing that you genuinely care about their support. Pay attention to what resonates with donors, and you’ll learn how to show appreciation in more meaningful ways.
Final Thoughts and Additional Resources
Your donors are the reason you can continue pursuing your mission. By properly recognizing them, you’ll increase donor acquisition and retention. Remember, acknowledge your donors often and authentically to convey your nonprofit’s appreciation for them. Be sure to always ask for their permission for public recognition and mention how their specific gift impacted your mission. In turn, thoughtful recognition will pave the way for stronger donor relations.
Did you enjoy this guide to donor recognition? Check out these resources to learn more:
14 Types of Corporate Philanthropy You Should Know About
/in Corporate Consulting, Fundraising Ideas /by Adam WeingerDid you know that corporations give an average of $20-$26 billion to nonprofit causes each year?
More than ever before, companies are committed to giving back to their communities and improving the welfare of others—they’re embracing corporate philanthropy.
But what exactly does corporate philanthropy look like when it’s put into action? We’ve put together this guide to explore different types of corporate philanthropy you should know about and how you can embrace them, whether you’re a company looking to start your own program or a nonprofit strategizing to increase giving to your cause. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Corporate philanthropy holds the potential to benefit both companies and nonprofits. In order to get the most out of these programs, it’s important to gain an understanding of the different forms they can take and how they work. Let’s get started.
Corporate Philanthropy: A Quick Overview
First, let’s create a strong foundation for understanding the different types of corporate philanthropy by covering some basics.
What is corporate philanthropy?
Corporate philanthropy is a term that refers to the ways in which a company gives back to its community or promotes the welfare of others. Most commonly, corporations donate money or time to nonprofits to accomplish these goals. However, each company’s program will look a little different, as they’re often built around the company’s unique values and the needs of the community it aims to serve.
As you research corporate philanthropy, you’ll likely come across the term corporate social responsibility (CSR). Though related, CSR should not be confused with corporate philanthropy. CSR refers to the general attitude a company takes toward society and the role it plays in it. You can think of corporate philanthropy as a specific way that companies put their CSR into action.
Eye-Opening Corporate Philanthropy Statistics
Corporate philanthropy may sound good in theory, but you’re probably wondering if corporate philanthropy is successful in the real world. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
The Prevalence of Corporate Philanthropy Programs
The Effects on Nonprofits
The Effects on Companies
Clearly, companies that are leaning into corporate philanthropy are making a difference in their communities and even strengthening their workplaces. But wait—there are even more benefits!
The Benefits of Embracing Corporate Philanthropy
Corporate philanthropy is a win-win-win for the companies that embrace it, the employees who participate in it, and the nonprofits that are able to move their missions forward because of it.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits each party experiences when they participate in corporate philanthropy.
Benefits for Companies
Benefits for Employees
Benefits for Nonprofits
Corporate Philanthropy Challenges To Be Aware Of
While companies, employees, and nonprofits can experience countless benefits from corporate philanthropy initiatives, there are also challenges that come with these programs.
For instance, the initial setup of a corporate philanthropy program can divert resources from a company’s business activities and require careful and consistent monitoring of employee engagement in the program. Or, a nonprofit may face difficult questions from its supporters regarding how it allocates funds from its corporate partner.
Whether your organization is a company or a nonprofit, be aware that you will face challenges as you work to lean into corporate philanthropy. However, don’t let the challenges you face deter you from getting involved with corporate philanthropy programs. With careful planning, open communication, and a commitment to making a positive difference in the community, nonprofits and their corporate partners can overcome the challenges of corporate philanthropy and share in the benefits.
14 Types of Corporate Philanthropy To Know
Now that you know what corporate philanthropy is and why it’s important for companies, employees, and nonprofits, you’re likely ready to start participating. Knowing what to look for in a corporate partner or what your company’s program can offer will be critical to your success. So, let’s explore 14 types of corporate philanthropy you should know!
1. Matching Gifts
The most popular type of corporate philanthropy program that companies offer is matching gifts.
Through these programs, companies financially match the donations their employees make to charitable organizations, usually organizations deemed eligible by the company beforehand (e.g., educational institutions or youth-focused nonprofits).
The company will typically donate the same amount of money to the nonprofit, effectively doubling the donor’s gift. Sometimes the company will donate double or even triple the amount of the initial donation.
The beauty of a matching gift program is that it allows a donor to boost their donation’s impact without reaching back into their wallet!
Here’s how the process works:
This process is made even easier when a donor uses a CSR platform that offers auto-submission (more on this below). Instead of filling out multiple forms, all they have to do is provide their corporate email address. The rest is taken care of for them!
Each company’s matching gift program will look a little different, depending on the nonprofits they deem eligible for gift matching, the types of employees they deem eligible for the program (e.g., full-time, part-time, retired), the ratio at which they match gifts, the minimum and maximum gift amounts they will match, and the submission deadlines for the program.
If this type of corporate philanthropy sounds too good to pass up, learn more about matching gifts with these resources!
For Companies: How to Start a Matching Gift Program
For Nonprofits: Get to Know the Basics of Corporate Matching Gift Programs
2. Volunteer Grants
Sometimes referred to as Dollars for Doers, volunteer grants are another incredibly popular type of corporate philanthropy.
Through these programs, employers match the hours their employees have volunteered with a nonprofit with a donation to that nonprofit.
Volunteer grants are a way to turn time into money—and another way for your nonprofit’s supporters to drive more impact without spending a cent.
The volunteer grant process works like this:
Like matching gift programs, volunteer grant programs can differ. For instance, one company may give nonprofits a certain amount of money per hour volunteered, while another may donate a flat amount once a certain threshold of volunteer hours is met. Some companies may also offer team volunteer grants, where a grant is provided when a group of employees volunteers together!
Whether you’re a nonprofit or a company, it will be important to have volunteers log their hours. Verifying those hours will be essential to giving and collecting a volunteer grant.
3. Corporate Grants
When awarding a corporate grant, a company gives money to a nonprofit for a specific program or project. Typically, large companies will offer a grant program, as it can be a lot to manage. But this doesn’t mean smaller companies should shy away from the opportunity to award grants!
The process of getting a grant is a little more complex than something like matching gifts or volunteer grants. But the process for uncovering grant opportunities can be largely the same, especially using Double the Donation’s corporate giving database! Once identified, the nonprofit will have to apply for the grant with a compelling written grant proposal that clearly outlines its needs for the grant and what it will do with the money.
After reviewing the grant proposals, the company decides which nonprofit will receive the funding. The nonprofit must then use the money specifically for the purposes outlined in the proposal and approved by the granting corporation. To maintain a strong relationship with the company (and to lay the groundwork for future grant success), the nonprofit must report back to the company on how it used the funds and impacted its beneficiaries.
4. Employee Grant Stipends
Also known as employee grants or annual grant stipends, employee grant stipends are given on top of an employee’s normal compensation package each year to allow that employee to give to the nonprofit of their choice.
Grant stipends may not yield as much funding for nonprofits as something like a matching gift program, but they do put the power in an employee’s hands, allowing them to choose where their donations go. This allows a company’s employees to choose to give to an organization that aligns with their personal values or interests. Plus, employee grant stipends can be an attractive part of a well-rounded compensation package!
5. Automatic Payroll Deductions
With this kind of corporate philanthropy, employers make giving extremely easy for their employees.
To participate, employees simply arrange to have part of their paycheck deducted and given to a nonprofit of their choice. However, companies may dictate which types of organizations are eligible to receive donations. To offer this type of corporate philanthropy, companies will need to check that their payroll system enables this functionality.
6. Corporate Volunteer Programs
With a corporate volunteer program, a company coordinates with a nonprofit to set up times when the company’s employees can volunteer.
These volunteering outings may take the form of optional standing times for employees to volunteer with a nonprofit after work or on the weekends. Alternatively, businesses might host full-blown corporate volunteering days, where the entire company engages in a day of volunteer work.
Whatever they look like, corporate volunteer programs can be a lot of fun for the people involved. Employees can enjoy working alongside each other and nonprofits can get to know a new large group of enthusiastic potential supporters.
Plus, these programs allow nonprofits to tap into the company’s skill sets or specialties. For example, a graphic design company might volunteer with a nonprofit and spend time helping a nonprofit revamp the branding on its social media content. Or, a team of bakers might come together to bake and serve treats at a nonprofit event.
The possibilities are endless! And employees will love using the skills they’ve developed at work to do good in the community.
7. Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
Volunteer Time Off (VTO) is paid time off for employees to do volunteer work for nonprofits in their community.
According to the Academy to Innovative HR (AIHR), VTO is a relatively new form of corporate philanthropy. (Remember, 28% of employers currently offer VTO, with the number increasing each year.)
AIHR also notes that the amount of VTO usually ranges from eight to 40 hours per employee per year. While that may not sound like a lot of time, a day or two of VTO can be an attractive part of a benefits package and do a lot to nurture a culture of giving within a workplace. Plus, the collective VTO hours donated by just one company can translate into a huge amount of progress for a nonprofit’s cause.
8. In-Kind Donations
When you think of a donation to a nonprofit, you probably picture a check or credit card. However, donations of items or services, also known as in-kind donations, can also be extremely valuable for a nonprofit.
The great thing about in-kind donations is they cut out a step for nonprofits. Instead of having to purchase items or invest in services, they get access to them with less footwork, saving them time and money.
Here are some examples of how a company might provide a nonprofit with in-kind donations:
In-kind donations are a flexible form of corporate philanthropy. Nonprofits should be specific in what they’re looking for—we suggest nonprofits post a wishlist on their websites. Meanwhile, companies should think of out-of-the-box ways they can give items or services.
9. Scholarships
You may be familiar with some private scholarship programs, like the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation or the Dell Scholars Program. You or someone you know may have even applied to these programs!
Giving scholarships to deserving students is an excellent way for companies to invest in the potential of the rising generation and show how much they value education. A company may decide to offer scholarships directly to high school students headed for college or students who are already studying at the undergraduate or graduate levels. Or, a company may partner with a nonprofit to fund an existing scholarship program.
10. Sponsorships
Setting up a sponsorship between a nonprofit and a company is an effective way to create a long-lasting partnership.
Through a sponsorship, a nonprofit provides frequent financial support to its nonprofit partner. In return, the nonprofit acknowledges its sponsors’ contributions through methods such as:
The months and weeks ahead of an event is an especially good time for nonprofits to seek out sponsors. Companies can not only provide funding for the event but also critical equipment or even venue space.
11. Cause-Related Marketing
Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) is a type of corporate philanthropy in which a company partners with a nonprofit organization to support a specific cause. The nonprofit then develops marketing campaigns that promote its products or services while raising awareness for the chosen cause or issue at the same time.
The key to a successful CRM initiative is to call the company’s audience to action. When they see the marketing materials promoting both the nonprofit cause and the company’s product, they should be inspired to do something on behalf of the nonprofit cause. This could be donating, sharing a social media message, or registering for an event.
12. Annual Giving
For this type of corporate philanthropy, companies encourage their employees to donate to nonprofits at certain times of the year. This is most common at the end of the calendar year. Donating is popular at the end of the year for personal tax purposes and because of the autumn and winter holidays that focus on giving and generosity!
This can be a fun way for companies to engage their teams around holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, and more. Companies can even get involved in their local communities’ GivingTuesday campaigns, which take place on the Tuesday after American Thanksgiving.
13. Employee Product Donation Programs (EPDP)
Some companies may encourage charitable giving among their employees by offering discounts on the products they sell, which can then be donated to nonprofits.
This is an especially popular form of corporate philanthropy for tech companies. And what nonprofit wouldn’t love new computers, tablets, or smartphones to streamline its operations?
14. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Fundraising
Companies may also partner with a nonprofit and transform their employees into volunteer fundraisers for the nonprofit’s cause.
This is done through peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising campaigns. For these fundraisers, participants (like a company’s employees) are given their own personal online fundraising pages. Then, the volunteer fundraisers solicit donations from their personal networks of family and friends, usually through social media.
This can be a powerful way to engage a company’s workforce, tap into employees’ competitive spirits, and even expand a nonprofit’s audience to volunteer fundraisers’ family and friends.
For Companies: How to Create Your Own Corporate Philanthropy Program
If your organization is a company, you might be interested in starting a corporate philanthropy program of your own after learning about the different options out there.
Here are some steps your company can take to set yourself up for success and engage employees in your efforts:
Starting a corporate philanthropy program takes a lot of work and ongoing maintenance, but it’s worth the effort! You’ll positively impact your community and drive employee participation when you take a thoughtful and thorough approach from the very beginning.
The Winning Element of A Corporate Philanthropy Program: Matching Gift Auto-Submission
Starting a matching gifts program is the easiest way for your company to dive into corporate philanthropy. But sometimes, the process of getting a gift match can be long and drawn out, meaning that employees may disengage with the process and your nonprofit partners may lose out on critical funding.
You can solve this problem by leveraging a CSR platform that offers Double the Donation’s auto-submission functionality. Check out this video to get an overview of auto-submission:
With auto-submission, you’ll:
To tap into the power of auto-submission and level up your matching gifts program, you’ll need to work with the right CSR platform. Double the Donation is not a CSR platform, but we partner with plenty of great vendors that leverage our auto-submission technology. Click the button below to learn more!
For Nonprofits: How to Tap Into Corporate Philanthropy Programs
If your organization is a nonprofit, you’re probably eager to benefit from one or more of the types of corporate philanthropy discussed above! To do so, you need to have a strategic approach. Here’s what we recommend:
Being thoughtful in how you approach corporate giving will allow you to tap into as many opportunities as possible. You’ll develop more impactful relationships with companies and ultimately drive greater outcomes for your mission.
The Key to Maximizing Corporate Support: A Corporate Philanthropy Database
The most important tool for tapping into corporate philanthropy is a corporate philanthropy database, like Double the Donation’s industry leading database.
Our database is the largest and most up-to-date collection of information about companies’ matching gift and volunteer grant programs. Here are a few fun facts about our platform:
So, when you invest in our database and embed it on your donation form or your website, you’re empowering your donors (and your team members) to check their volunteer grants and matching gift eligibility and start the process.
Click the button below to take Double the Donation for a test drive!
Wrapping Up: Don’t Miss Out on Corporate Philanthropy!
Remember, although there are many different types of corporate philanthropy out there, the benefits for companies, employees, and nonprofits are universal. Now that you know your options (if you’re a company looking to build its own program) or what to look for in a corporate partner (if you’re a nonprofit), you’re ready to experience those benefits for yourself!
Want to continue exploring the world of corporate philanthropy and CSR? Check out these resources:
The Ultimate Phonathon Playbook for Nonprofits: 16 Pro Tips
/in Learning Center, Fundraising Ideas, Marketing Strategies /by Adam WeingerIn the world of nonprofit fundraising, few strategies have stood the test of time as effectively as the phonathon. While technology has transformed the fundraising landscape, the power of a well-placed phone call can still work wonders.
Phonathons may seem like a relic of the past, but they remain a tried-and-true resource for all sorts of nonprofits and higher education institutions to engage donors and raise money. While the benefits of a phonathon campaign are straightforward, running a successful campaign isn’t easy. A lot of hard work goes into powering these campaigns, but they can generate incredible results for your cause — especially when you know how to identify donors eligible for matching gifts from their employers.
So, how do you optimize your phonathons and drive even greater results with matching gifts? We’ve compiled a number of tips and tricks to effectively communicate with your donors about matching gifts and raise more in phonathon revenue overall. By the end of this guide, you’ll be a phonathon pro and ready to start dialing!
Want to find out how to optimize your organization’s upcoming phonathon to raise more? Let’s cover the basics before diving into tips that will transform your next campaign.
The Fundamentals of Phonathons
Making the most of any type of campaign requires you to understand the basics of how they work. Let’s make sure you have the background knowledge you need before crafting your phonathon plans.
What is a phonathon?
A phonathon is a fundraising campaign in which organizations call supporters to solicit donations and engage with them. During a phonathon, trained staff or volunteers make outbound calls to donors to encourage contributions, share mission updates, and strengthen relationships via personalized conversations.
Often hosted by nonprofits and educational institutions, phonathons are a valuable tool for connecting with supporters, increasing donor retention, and boosting fundraising revenue. Successful phonathons require effective training, well-prepared scripts, and donor management systems to track and manage interactions.
What role do matching gifts play in phonathons?
Corporate matching gifts have the power to double (or sometimes even triple) the contributions your donors make. Through these CSR programs, companies offer to match their employees’ donations to charitable organizations. However, they often implement eligibility criteria alongside minimum and maximum donation amounts they’re willing to match.
By adding matching gifts to your phonathon strategy, your campaign will see even greater success. If you can capitalize on that potential during your phonathon, you’ll see a massive increase in raised funds. In fact, our matching gift research found that 84% of donors are more likely to donate if a match is offered. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 donors actually indicate they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied to their donation.
If you play your cards right, you can raise a lot more during your phonathon with corporate giving. You’ll just need to let donors know how to check their eligibility and submit a match request to their employers. After all, who wouldn’t want to double their contributions without reaching back into their own wallet?
1. Focus on the larger mission.
The most successful fundraising campaigns are focused on more than raising a certain dollar amount. If you can help donors understand why your cause is a worthy one, then you are far more likely to succeed. By highlighting the larger purpose of the campaign, you can motivate both donors and callers to feel good about what they’re doing!
To illustrate our point, take a look at two possible phonathon script introductions:
See the difference? In both cases, the caller is asking for the same dollar amount. But in our second example, the donor understands how their donation will be helping someone in need.
2. Create a standardized script for your phonathon.
For many of your callers, this will be their first phonathon campaign. The idea of getting on the phone with prospective donors or school alumni to ask for donations can be extremely intimidating.
Creating a detailed and interactive script can help ease the nerves of new callers when requesting contributions and standardize the giving experience. Here are the key components to any phonathon script:
A great script is arguably the most important component of a successful phonathon, as it’s a resource that every caller will use. Spend significant time working with your organization’s communication director to put this resource together.
3. Include matching gifts in your phonathon’s scripts.
With over 26 million individuals working for companies with matching gift programs, many of your phonathon donors are bound to be eligible for a corporate match. Your callers should always ask donors if their employer offers a matching gift program.
Here’s how (it’s as easy as A-B-C!):
Being well-versed in matching gifts and anticipating donors’ questions can go a long way in driving more matches to completion! You’ll be impressed by how much you raise in matching gifts during your phonathon.
An Example of This Strategy in Action
Let’s walk through an example of how to properly incorporate matching gifts into your script. A normal phonathon call will consist of the following steps:
Once the donation is secured, have your caller make the matching gift ask. Use a template similar to this:
Many companies actually match donations made by their employees to schools and other nonprofits. Do you know if you or your spouse works for a company that offers a matching gift program? I’m happy to do a quick check to see if your company will double or possibly triple your donation.
Scripts take the guesswork and pressure out of calls. Plus, if you standardize your request process, you’re in a better position to evaluate and adjust it according to the results.
4. Practice for your phonathon with mock calls.
Having a team of well-trained callers is the secret to any successful phonathon campaign.
Prepare callers by organizing mock calls. During this time, they’ll read through the provided script and respond to a variety of different “donor personas.” See how they respond when a donor has questions about the campaign, voices objections, or wants to complete their transaction. Include some matching gift-related questions to ensure volunteers are prepared, too.
Proper preparation will help callers feel more at ease when it comes time to dial a real donor’s phone number. Plus, it can help get some of the roadblocks and uncertainties out of the way early!
5. Schedule calls when donors are home.
One of the most common challenges for phonathon callers is simply reaching donors in the first place.
To improve the chances that your donors pick up the phone, consider calling during the hours when they are most likely to be home and available. These are some of our recommended times to do so:
Make sure that you’re planning to reach donors when they’re ready and able to chat for the greatest fundraising success.
6. Set nightly/weekly fundraising goals for your phonathon.
Setting goals greatly increases your chances of fundraising success. Encourage your callers to set nightly or weekly donation goals to instill a sense of accomplishment when they reach and exceed their objectives.
Then, there are plenty of opportunities to use these metrics to improve your fundraising results. We suggest that you:
Setting detailed objectives helps your organization keep track of how many donations you bring in within a certain timeframe. You can even leverage some friendly competition among callers this way!
7. Use phonathon management software.
Consider purchasing phonathon software from a well-established vendor, such as industry leader Wilson-Bennett Technology’s DonorConnect. This type of tool can save you time, money, and many of the technical headaches that would ordinarily get in the way of a successful campaign.
Common tasks that phonathon software handles include:
By automating these time-consuming tactical steps, you can spend your time managing callers, increasing donations, and engaging in deeper relationships with supporters.
8. Train phonathon callers on matching gifts.
Using matching gifts to boost phonathon funds starts and ends with your callers. These individuals are the voice of your campaign, working hard to help you fulfill your mission. They need to be prepared to explain matching gifts and answer any questions a prospect may have.
While you may understand the value of capturing employer data and pursuing a matching gift from your donors, your caller and digital engagement teams may not. Make sure the people who will engage in those real-time conversations understand the what, why, and how of matching gifts.
Invest in a matching gift database to make researching donors’ eligibility a breeze. Then, consider these four components of effective matching gift phonathon training:
Ensuring your team is on the same page about matching gift goals will make the ask that much easier when the opportunity arises. Check out this video for ideas to integrate matching gifts into your phonathons and everyday fundraising efforts:
You’ll need to teach them about the latest technology, such as matching gift auto-submission, too. This feature cuts out a few steps in the request process when donors fill out your online donation form. They’ll click a checkbox to opt into auto-submission. If their employer uses CSR software that integrates with our tools, our software will automatically fill out their match request to their employer.
Overall, being a caller for a phonathon is no easy task. But with proper training, you’ll situate your callers in the best possible position to make matching gift asks.
9. Implement screening and segmentation.
Make the most of your callers’ (and your donors!) time by pre-screening and segmenting your calling list beforehand in terms of matching gift prospects.
Think of it this way: would you rather call 10 people and have one person respond positively, or call five and have three people respond positively? By segmenting your contacts prior to reaching out, you ensure that each call is a valuable use of your team’s time and resources.
For matching-gift-related segmentation, you’ll enact a three-point process:
Increasing matching gift eligibility awareness is only going to help your campaign. Give your callers the information they need to have the biggest impact.
Of course, call volume is always going to be crucial for successful phonathons. But if your organization can be even 10% more deliberate about who you’re calling, you can significantly increase your call conversion rate.
10. Prepare for donor questions.
Some donors will be hesitant to give, especially if they’ve never contributed to your organization before. If they have questions about your mission, your particular fundraising need, or anything else that might be holding them back, you’ll want to have the answers prepped and ready.
Additionally, your donors might have questions about matching gift opportunities. Be sure your callers are able to provide basic information on company gift-matching by answering questions such as these:
Making sure that everyone is on the same page with regard to these questions ensures that your callers give supporters the most thorough, accurate information and drive as many donations as possible.
11. Equip callers with matching gift resources.
Do your callers have the information they need to help donors? You can’t expect them to memorize the program guidelines for all the thousands of companies that offer matching gifts—so where can they find that information to pass along?
That’s where your matching gift company database comes in! This type of tool allows users to conduct a quick search of an employer’s name and receive detailed guideline information in seconds. Equip callers with access to this comprehensive database to uncover the following:
Providing callers with ample information will help them quickly and easily answer common questions from donors. Once a donor has expressed interest in requesting a matching gift, you want your caller to be able to help in any way they can. Don’t miss out on a matching gift due to a technical or otherwise avoidable issue!
12. Follow up with match-eligible donors.
If a donor has expressed interest in matching gifts on the phone, your organization should follow up afterward to increase the likelihood of turning that interest into action.
Immediately after the conversation, send an email with matching gift request instructions for the individual’s employer. You’ll also want to include matching gift reminders across various donor communications, including:
Telling donors their gift is eligible for a match is only one component of boosting matching gifts. It’s far more valuable if you pair that information with actionable next steps.
We also recommend embedding matching gift information into your website. Give your alumni and supporters a trusted place to find their matching gift information and next steps on an easy-to-find webpage, so they can take action after speaking with your ambassadors. This helps interested supporters discover gift matching and double their own donations!
13. Track and incentivize successful conversations.
Are your callers held accountable and rewarded for their overall fundraising and matching gift performance? One of the best ways to ensure that callers know how important matching gifts are to your phonathon is by implementing incentives.
Giving your callers something to work towards will only help your fundraising efforts. Then, once they reach and surpass their goal, provide them with a small token of appreciation, such as a t-shirt, hat, mug, or even public recognition!
Tracking and incentivizing fundraising results also gives you a positive metric for tracking caller proficiency and efficiency. This enables you to define where your phonathon is doing well and where it has room for improvement. Once you’ve isolated those areas, you’ll be in a great position to adjust your efforts as needed.
14. Keep an eye on trends in employer information.
As you start to collect employer information from your alumni and supporters, you may notice trends in company data. Be sure to ask questions like these:
These are all characteristics you can determine with greater accuracy the more donors you collect employer data from. While these are nice-to-know facts for general fundraising initiatives, they can also have a more significant impact on your greater matching gifts strategy.
Therefore, make sure you’re considering matching gifts when analyzing those trends for future initiatives. You never know when that information could come in handy for future events, digital outreach, or even a future phonathon!
15. Integrate your fundraising and matching gift tools.
Phonathons and other digital engagement events can be huge operations, and a lot can get lost in the shuffle if you don’t have the right tools. Luckily, providing a scalable system for your fundraising ambassadors and callers is an easy and effective way to organize your donor data. With matching gifts added to the mix, you’ll want an automated system to take care of all the nitty-gritty details for you.
Phonathon Software Integration
We recommend using a phonathon system to manage all your digital engagement needs—particularly one that integrates with powerful gift-matching tools! Donor Connect by Wilson-Bennett Technology and Double the Donation offer an integrated solution that allows callers to retrieve and communicate valuable matching gift information when speaking to donors in real time.
It takes virtually no effort from your team to set up the integration, and you’ll be able to start using it right away in your next digital engagement event. Automate the best practices listed above by incorporating the autocomplete search tool within Donor Connect scripts, automated email outreach, and regularly updated donor data.
Matching Gift Auto-Submission Integrations
A big part of driving greater matching gift revenue is simplifying the process for donors and their employers. That’s where matching gift auto-submission comes in handy.
Many companies leverage CSR software to manage employee giving programs. When these companies use platforms that integrate with our tools, this is how streamlined the match request process is:
It’s that simple! Otherwise, they’d need to fill out the form themselves. Leading CSR software like Givinga, Millie, POINT, and Selflessly enable auto-submission, so be aware of donors who work for companies that use these platforms. From here, make sure your phonathon volunteers know the basics of how this software works, too!
Bonus! Fundraising advice from phonathon experts
Hear from the phonathon fundraising experts at Wilson-Bennett Technology: a phonathon management services and software company serving nonprofits since 1998.
Todd Smith
Founder and CEO – Wilson-Bennett
Ensure training is ongoing throughout the campaign and each caller receives assistance, along with reminders, before calling begins each session.
We always encourage callers to excel while teaching methods to overcome negative comments.
During training, be sure to explain campaign policies and procedures, ensuring callers make the highest quality call on behalf of your institution.
Rob Schlitts
Former President – Wilson-Bennett
“Play chess with your phonathon.”
Matching the right prospects up with the right caller makes for a great connection, conversation, and ultimately a gift. Your alumni and student callers will both enjoy the ability to connect with prospects who share similar traits and experiences.
A well-trained student caller will always be the engine of a successful phonathon.
Wrapping Up
In an age of social media, texting, and online transactions, the human element of fundraising can get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully, phonathons offer a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between technology and personal connection.
Many organizations recognize that traditional phonathons remain a smart fundraising strategy. However, most don’t think about the potential of incorporating matching gift promotions into those invaluable donor conversations.
By following these tried-and-true phonathon fundraising tips, you can set up your team—and your mission—for long-term success. Looks like it’s time to get calling!
For more information, be sure to check out our other educational fundraising resources below:
How to Offer the Ultimate Employee Giving Experience
/in Corporate Consulting, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerPicture this: you’re the owner of a mid-size technology company that employs around 100 staff members. You’ve been brainstorming ways to boost employee morale and show your target customers that you run a value-driven business making its mark on the world.
You stumble across the idea of corporate philanthropy and, more specifically, employee giving. Quickly, you realize that this one concept can help you meet your previously stated goals—and the tax break would be an added bonus!
You decide to take the plunge and invest in developing a workplace giving initiative that will simultaneously benefit your company, your employees, and a wide range of charitable organizations.
But how can you ensure your staff will actually want to participate? By offering them an employee giving experience that prioritizes their wants and needs and is as simple a process as possible!
Here’s how you can do that:
In this guide, we’ll dive into these valuable tips for employers like yourself looking to make the most of their workplace giving programs.
Ready to get started with our first step? Let’s begin!
1. Inform employees of available workplace giving opportunities.
Before you can expect employees to participate in your workplace giving initiatives, you’ll need to ensure your staff is made aware of these programs in the first place. Prior to that, you’ll need to determine which types of giving programs you’ll be offering:
Here are a few of the most common examples:
Regardless of the combination of giving programs you choose, informing your staff about the new offerings and how to get involved is of utmost importance.
According to matching gift research, 78% of individuals eligible for corporate giving programs are completely unaware. As a result, they’re not able to make the most of these philanthropic initiatives.
We recommend providing informational materials that outline your corporate giving programs to all existing staff to get started. For example, you might hold a meeting, send a company-wide email, share a pamphlet, and add an explainer to your employee handbook. Then, be sure your staff knows where to go to seek additional details on the program!
Going forward, you’ll want to educate all new team members about workplace giving opportunities as well.
2. Provide employees with ample ways to give.
There are tons of ways that individual donors can support nonprofit causes. So when you create your workplace giving program, your offerings must be inclusive of all types of employee giving.
Top donation channels might include (but are not limited to):
The opportunities are endless—and each staff member at your business might have a different favorite way to give.
According to the same matching gift studies above, “96% of employees at companies with matching gift programs have a strong or very strong preference for their company to match donations made directly to a nonprofit (such as through the nonprofit’s website, peer-to-peer fundraising platform, or mail) rather than only matching donations through a workplace giving software platforms. The more options an employee has to give and to get their gift matched, the more likely they are to utilize available company matching opportunities.”
3. Make it simple for employees to determine eligibility guidelines.
As you work to ensure your company is well-informed about the existence of your employee giving programs, it’s equally critical that your programs’ eligibility guidelines are readily apparent as well. But what are these so-called guidelines?
Let’s take matching gifts (i.e., one of the most-used forms of workplace giving) as an example. In order for employees to participate in your company gift-matching initiative, you’ll need to provide your staff with the following information:
Because these criteria are necessary for employees to determine their eligibility for a company match, it’s important that you communicate this information effectively. Ensure your guidelines are provided in any previously mentioned explainer materials and even on your business’ website. Even interested employees won’t likely be willing to search high and low for this information. If it is hard to find, you’re likely creating an unnecessary obstacle to program success.
Here’s an example of what these criteria can look like:
Plus, as a general rule, keeping your guidelines as open as possible will provide an optimal employee giving experience for your staff. For example, when you set low minimums, high maximums, and generous deadlines, more individuals’ gifts will qualify for your programming. The more employees who qualify, the more will participate. And you know that higher your levels of participation, the more advantages brought to your company.
4. Ensure your company is listed in corporate giving databases.
One of the easiest ways employees can uncover your aforementioned program guidelines is by accessing a corporate giving database. This is essentially a compilation of information on thousands of businesses and their available corporate giving programs.
For example, Double the Donation offers the industry-leading database for matching gifts and volunteer grants. Thousands of nonprofits utilize this comprehensive tool—likely many of the same ones your employees will support.
For organizations that leverage Double the Donation’s embeddable search widget, donors are typically prompted within the donation experience to enter their employer information in search of matching gift eligibility.
If your employees follow this process, you don’t want them to search your company name, only to be met with “no results found.” This can cause discouragement in the process, even if they know how to locate your program guidelines elsewhere. Plus, many well-intentioned donors simply forget to follow up after losing their initial giving inertia.
So what can you do to avoid this scenario? Make sure your business is listed in corporate giving databases, complete with your programs’ eligibility criteria and links to submission forms.
Luckily, Double the Donation accepts submissions for new companies to add to their most comprehensive database, making it as easy as possible for your business to increase its program reach. As a result, you provide the simplest, most optimal employee giving experience while actively supporting their favorite charities.
And if you go the custom program route with a nonprofit partner that uses Double the Donation’s matching gift database, the organization can ensure the program is added correctly using the platform’s one-off match program management feature!
*While Double the Donation offers custom matching gift program management functionality, this feature is designed specifically for fundraisers looking to manage custom matching gift initiatives—Double the Donation does not work directly with corporations. If you’re a company interested in creating a matching gift program, contact us, and we’ll share information about our corporate vendor partners.
That way, your nonprofit-specific program will populate in that organization’s company search tool but won’t appear as an option for other nonprofit causes in order to avoid confusion.
5. Incentivize participation in employee giving programs.
By now, your employees should be aware of your employee giving initiatives in place and understand how they can participate. But what if your staff requires a little extra push to get involved with your philanthropic efforts?
That’s where strategic incentivization comes in!
If you want to encourage individuals to partake in new employee giving experiences, consider motivating the team with giving goals—either in terms of percentage of overall participation or in total fundraising goals.
Once your team reaches the predetermined objectives, you might treat the company to rewards like these:
Be sure to remind your employees that the ultimate benefit of a well-run workplace giving program revolves around providing mission-based organizations the funds they need to change the world. But some extra motivation never hurts, either!
6. Simplify requests with auto-submission functionality.
Want to increase employee participation in (and satisfaction with) your workplace giving programs? Make it as easy as possible to get involved. And it’s never been easier than with auto-submission!
Here’s what you need to know:
The Historic Submission Process
Once an employee determines that they qualify for a workplace giving program—such as matching gifts—they’ve traditionally been required to complete a request process put in place by the company they work for. Typically, the individual will be asked to provide basic information about their donation (e.g., amount, method of giving, date the gift was made, etc.) and the organization to which they contributed (such as its mission, mailing address, tax ID number, and more).
New Auto-Submission Functionality
Matching gift auto-submission functionality recently came out of beta. Now some programs can offer the new functionality, which substantially streamlines the process for donors and increases the likelihood that matches will be submitted. Instead of asking for all of the above-listed information, companies taking part in auto-submission simply request the individual’s corporate email address. The software ecosystem will take it from there to process, approve, and disburse funding for the match.
Leveraging Auto-Submission Providers
If you’re interested in getting started with auto-submission capabilities, the easiest way is to partner with a CSR management platform that already offers the functionality through a seamless integration with Double the Donation’s innovative technology. These currently include the following providers:
If you already work with a CSR platform that doesn’t yet offer this functionality, consider reaching out to your provider to advocate for the technology. After all, auto-submission is available with no added cost—it’s free for both the matching gift company and the software vendor they use—so you can offer the ultimate employee giving experience to your team.
Keep in mind—the more employees who take part in your company’s matching program, the better the results you can expect to see in terms of team member engagement, brand reputation, and more. And auto-submission abilities set your team up for continued success on all accounts!
There’s little to no purpose in investing in an employee giving program if nobody at your workplace will participate. To drive participation, you need to look at your employee giving experience from a staff member’s perspective and determine whether it’s a positive one.
So provide ample opportunities and avenues for giving, make available programs known, simplify the processes involved, and incentivize participation. This can make a world of difference—to your workforce, your community, and even your company’s bottom line.
Interested in learning more about employee giving? Check out our other educational resources:
Top 8 Employee Engagement Companies Leading By Example
/in Corporate Consulting, Learning Center /by Adam WeingerEmployee engagement has become an increasingly important part of organizational success. After all, businesses with engaged employees are 23% more profitable than companies whose employees are not engaged.
However, if you’re just starting to prioritize employee engagement, it can be difficult to determine where to begin. It can be helpful to take a look at what other companies are doing to engage their employees to gain actionable insights into how your organization can handle your new priority.
To show you how you can center employee engagement in your organization, we’ll cover the following topics in this guide:
Before we dive into the companies leading by example with their employee engagement programs, you need to understand what exactly employee engagement is and why it’s important. Let’s get started!
What is employee engagement?
Simply put, employee engagement refers to the level of emotional and mental connection an employee has to their team, general workplace, and employer. This translates to the employee’s commitment to the organization and dedication to achieving its goals. There are four different levels of employee engagement:
As you begin evaluating the general engagement levels at your organization, keep in mind that engagement does not equal enthusiasm. It’s easy to look at a happy employee and assume that they’re engaged with their work. However, employee engagement is tied to your organization. Ask yourself: Is this employee connected to their work alongside being a happy person?
What are the benefits of employee engagement?
We’ve lightly touched on a few benefits of employee engagement. The main one is profitability—employees who are determined to help your organization meet its goals are more likely to do their best to increase your cash flow.
Aside from profitability, here are a few other benefits for companies with engaged employees:
Employee engagement is important for all organizations, even those that work in the nonprofit sphere. Plus, it’s especially important for companies that have remote or hybrid employees, as those individuals are more likely to feel emotionally disconnected from their employer due to physical distance.
By prioritizing employee engagement, you’ll be able to leverage these benefits to your organization’s advantage. It’s a win-win—your company will see greater success and your employees will be happier to contribute to that.
The Top 8 Employee Engagement Companies
Now that you know more about what employee engagement is and how it’s helpful for your organization, let’s take a look at the top employee engagement companies that are leading by example.
1. Checkr
By implementing a generous matching gift initiative, Checkr amplifies the impact of its employees’ donations, doubling their contributions to eligible nonprofits. This not only supports the causes employees care about but also enhances their engagement and satisfaction within the company.
Plus, Checkr is recognized as a Certified Leader in Matching Automation (CLMA), which represents its dedication to philanthropy with a streamlined engagement process and more. This makes it easier than ever for its staff to get involved!
2. Adobe
If you’ve worked with or created visual media before, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Adobe. This company offers a product suite for photographers, videographers, graphic designers, and more. Founded on the idea of creating innovative products that change the world, Adobe also prioritizes employee engagement alongside offering technology that empowers people to create.
Here are a few ways the company handles employee engagement:
Additionally, Adobe has a special focus on helping employees from underrepresented groups gain visibility and grow in their careers. To that end, it provides programs that help employees build leadership skills and connect with other employees across the company.
3. Cisco
Cisco provides innovative cloud-based networking and security solutions to businesses. Its mission is to power an inclusive future for all with technology that connects the world.
Additionally, Cisco believes in creating a workplace where employees can find more than just a job. Ranked by Fortune as one of the best companies to work for, Cisco uses the following strategies to center employee engagement:
Cisco recognizes that it’s important for workforce leaders to understand employee needs and provide an ideal work experience without sacrificing performance. And its efforts are working, as they are one of PEOPLE magazine’s top companies that care.
4. ExxonMobil
This oil and gas company pioneers new research and technologies dedicated to reducing emissions while creating more efficient fuels. It’s also committed to engaging its employees in meaningful ways—and it’s paying off. In a survey conducted by resume.io, ExxonMobil ranked 15th in employee retention in the United States with a median employee tenure of seven years.
A few of the ways this company focuses on employee engagement include:
This company’s employee engagement strategies have resulted in visible benefits. For example, it was awarded the top most attractive U.S. energy company for engineering students for 10 consecutive years and the second most attractive company globally. It also has strong global acceptance rates from potential employees, about 10-15% higher than other large companies.
Plus, ExxonMobil boasts corporate giving initiatives that keep its employees engaged with philanthropy. If you’d like to learn more about their programs, click on the button below!
5. Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is a healthcare organization that operates hospitals and medical offices and provides health insurance. Aside from caring for the well-being of employees at other organizations, it also focuses on engaging its own employees.
Here are three reasons why Kaiser Permanente is an example of a great employee engagement company:
As a health-related company, Kaiser Permanente leadership understands the importance of creating a positive and healthy workplace environment to engage its employees.
6. Microsoft
This technology corporation doesn’t measure employee engagement—it measures employee thriving. It defines thriving as “to be energized and empowered to do meaningful work.” As one of its core aspirations, employee thriving is meant to help employees find their sense of purpose within the company.
A few ways Microsoft focuses on employee engagement and thriving include:
From Microsoft’s perspective, thriving is different from work-life balance—the former is about being motivated to do meaningful work, and the latter involves an employee’s personal life, too. While it’s possible for an individual to thrive but lack work-life balance or vice versa, Microsoft is dedicated to creating a positive experience in both aspects for its employees.
7. NVIDIA
Multinational tech company NVIDIA designs top-of-the-line graphics processing units, cutting-edge computer chips, and effective employee engagement programs. This organization is dedicated to creating an empowering environment where employees have the support and inspiration to take on the world’s greatest challenges together.
Here are a few elements of their employee engagement strategy:
Although NVIDIA lives in the technology industry, it understands that its employees are not robots or data points and deserve compassion and empathy. It’s committed to supporting its team members holistically, not just as employees, but as humans.
8. Spotify
Spotify is one of the world’s largest music streaming service providers, with over 550 million active users. It offers over 100 million songs and five million podcasts to listeners. Aside from that, it’s also one of the leading employee engagement companies.
A few ways that Spotify keeps its employees motivated and engaged in their work are:
When it comes to its employees, Spotify’s approach is that they are all a band—dependent on each other to create the best audio experience. This employee engagement company focuses on creating an environment where employees are energized and excited to inspire those around them and drive innovation.
Additional Resources
Business magnate Richard Branson once said that businesses should “train people well enough so they can leave [and] treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” And these companies do—in some shape or form, they’ve mastered the art of employee engagement to create a great environment where employees are happy and even proud to work. As you begin forming or improving your organization’s employee engagement initiatives, consider taking a leaf out of their book to create a great experience for your team members.
If you’d like to learn more about employee engagement, consider the following resources: