Corporate Giving Programs: The Ultimate Fundraising Guide
Corporate Giving Programs: The Ultimate Fundraising Guide
What is a corporate giving program?
Corporate giving programs allow companies large and small to make investments in social good. These programs are a form of corporate philanthropy that facilities charitable giving to nonprofit causes. These programs are often driven by employee giving: the more employees contribute to philanthropic organizations, the more their company will donate.
Types of Corporate Giving Programs
The top types of corporate giving programs are Matching Gifts and Volunteer Grants.
Matching Gifts
Matching gifts occur when a company contributes to a nonprofit that an employee donates to, usually matching their donation at a 1:1 ratio. However, some companies will match gifts up to a 4:1 ratio!
Volunteer Grants
Volunteer grants are corporate giving programs that encourage employees to volunteer their time and efforts in their communities. Companies will provide monetary grants to organizations where their employees regularly volunteer.
Learn more about volunteer grants below.
In addition to these types of corporate giving programs, there are many others that can also benefit nonprofits. Check out the complete list below:
| Types of Corporate Giving Programs | Fundraising Potential | Learn More |
|---|---|---|
| Matching Gifts | ✔✔✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Volunteer Grants | ✔✔✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Fundraising Matches | ✔✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Dollars for Doers | ✔✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Team Volunteer Grants | ✔✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Community Grants | ✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Volunteer Support Programs | ✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Automatic Payroll Deductions | ✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Annual Grant Stipends | ✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Internal Employee Fundraising | ✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Annual Giving | ✔✔ | Jump to this section. |
| Employee Product Donations | ✔ | Jump to this section. |
Top Companies for Corporate Giving Programs
Corporate social responsibility is on the rise and, as a result, many companies now offer corporate giving programs. These programs range from matching gifts and/or volunteer grants to a variety of other program models. Check out the top 10 companies for corporate giving:
| COMPANY | MAXIMUM MATCH AMOUNT | LEARN MORE |
| Disney | $25,000 | Disney’s corporate giving program |
| Apple | $10,000 | Apple’s corporate giving program |
| The Home Depot | $3,000 | The Home Depot’s corporate giving program |
| IBM | $5,000 | IBM’s corporate giving program |
| $12,000 | Google’s corporate giving program | |
| General Electric | $5,000 | General Electric’s corporate giving program |
| Bank of America | $5,000 | Bank of America’s corporate giving program |
| BP | $5,000 | BP’s corporate giving program |
| Microsoft | $15,000 | Microsoft’s corporate giving program |
| Intuit | $5,000 | Intuit’s corporate giving program |
Our Top Corporate Giving Program for Donors: Matching Gifts
As mentioned earlier, matching gifts are a type of corporate philanthropy where companies match donations that their employees make to nonprofits. These are a great way for nonprofits to maximize their donation revenue and for donors to maximize their impact.
How do matching gifts work?
The matching gift process generally follows these steps:
- The donor makes a donation to a nonprofit.
- The donor determines if their donation is eligible for a company match using a matching gift database.
- If it’s determined their employer will match their donation, the donor can click on the link to the online forms provided by the database and submit the forms.
- The donor’s employer reviews the forms and follows up with the nonprofit to confirm the donation.
- The employer makes a matching donation.
Nonprofits can receive twice as many donations as they normally would as a result of matching gift programs. It takes little effort on the employees’ end and companies can contribute to a cause their employees care about. As a result, it’s important to actively promote matching gifts.
STEP 1:
Access the matching gift database.
STEP 2:
Search for your employer.
STEP 3:
View the results.
Our Top Corporate Giving Program for Volunteers: Volunteer Grants
As touched on before, volunteer grants are corporate giving programs through which companies provide monetary grants to nonprofits where their employees regularly volunteer.
How do volunteer grants work?
Volunteer grants come in two forms:
- A set monetary donation for every hour an employee volunteers
- A set grant amount once employees have volunteered a certain amount of time
The volunteer grant process generally follows these steps:
- The volunteer gives their time to a nonprofit.
- The volunteer determines if their time spent is eligible for a volunteer grant using a volunteer grant database.
- If it’s determined that their employer does offer volunteer grants, the volunteer can use the database to find and submit their company’s forms.
- The volunteer’s employer will review the forms and verify with the nonprofit that they volunteered.
- The employer will send the nonprofit a monetary grant.
Volunteer grants are important corporate giving programs because they provide extra support to nonprofits as a result of their established volunteers. If your organization has a regular cohort of volunteers, it’s worthwhile to have them check and determine if their companies offer volunteer grant programs.
Companies typically provide grants to one nonprofit per employee per year. However, this can still be maximized by taking full advantage of the program.
STEP 1:
Access the volunteer grant database.
STEP 2:
Search for your employer.
STEP 3:
View the results.
Other Types of Corporate Philanthropy Programs
Fundraising Matches
Fundraising matches, like matching gifts, provide nonprofits with donations after an employee has donated time or effort to the nonprofit. Examples include walkathons, runs, or bicycle events. The participant’s employer will match the money they raise through sponsorships or other donations.
Dollars for Doers
Dollars for Doers is one of the most common corporate philanthropy programs that are offered by employers. Also called “individual volunteer grants,” Dollars for Doers rewards employees who donate their efforts to a nonprofit.
In order to make this happen, there are usually thresholds that must be met. For instance, a company might offer $250 to a nonprofit for every 15 hours that an employee volunteers there.
Dollars for Doers is a great corporate giving program to take advantage of when you have a dedicated group of volunteers!
Team Volunteer Grants
Team volunteer grants are a type of corporate philanthropy program where companies reward groups of employees who volunteer at a nonprofit together. Employees fill out a volunteer grant request form to have the funds donated to the organization at which they volunteer.
This is a great team building activity that can benefit all parties involved. Nonprofits receive both volunteered time and money, employees feel accomplished by volunteering for a great cause, and companies get to demonstrate their philanthropy and interest in bettering the community.
Community Grants
Community grants are a slightly different corporate giving program in that the nonprofit must pursue the grant itself. Nonprofits can request community grants from companies who want to see a positive impact in their communities, though there are specific deadlines.
Community grants can include disaster relief grants, as well.
Volunteer Support Programs
Volunteer support programs are great corporate giving programs that allow companies to offer their products and services to those in need. For instance, companies may donate computers, consulting services, food, or marketing strategies.
These corporate philanthropy programs allow nonprofit organizations to benefit from free products and services, and companies also can feel pride in knowing they’ve helped a worthy cause.
Automatic Payroll Deductions
Automatic payroll deductions are one of the easiest corporate giving programs to take part in. As the phrase implies, employees can arrange to have a portion of their paycheck regularly contributed to a nonprofit.
One thing to note is that companies typically limit the type of nonprofit their employees can contribute to. For example, a company that has an interest in the environment might restrict donations only to nonprofits whose missions are targeted toward the environment. That said, once a nonprofit is on the company’s list of approved organizations, this is a great way for the nonprofit to receive ongoing donations.
Annual Grant Stipends
Annual grant stipends, though not as common, are a great way for nonprofits to benefit from companies and their employees and are impactful corporate philanthropy programs.
An annual grant stipend is essentially an allocated amount of money that is given each year to employees, who then donate the money to the nonprofit of their choice. Volunteer hours are not required, and the company donates for them.
The stipends are not incredibly large, but nonprofits can still benefit from these annual corporate giving programs.
Internal Employee Fundraising
It’s easier to cultivate a relationship with people you know, rather than start a new one. Through internal employee fundraising, nonprofits can encourage their own employees to volunteer to support the cause, increasing their chances that others will follow suit.
By looking internally, nonprofits can receive even more donations and volunteer efforts without needing to put in too much extra effort.
Annual Giving
As part of this corporate giving program, employers will encourage donations at certain times of the year, so nonprofits should track the companies who run similar donation promotions. Every company varies, so it’s important to reach out to donors at those specified times.
The most common time for companies to promote employee giving is at the end of the year. This is because employees have a better idea of how much they can donate to charitable causes. Keep track of these corporate giving programs to maximize donation revenue.
Employee Product Donation Programs (EPDP)
As part of their corporate philanthropy programs, many companies encourage employees to give by offering discounts on their products, which can then be donated to nonprofits.
While mostly popular at technology companies, these corporate giving programs are also found in several other industries. Companies may have restrictions on who can receive these products, but this is still a program that can benefit the greater community.
Grow Your Corporate Giving Dollars: Learn More About Double the Donation
Too many charitable donations go unmatched each year. So how can your organization change this?
Nonprofits can grow their corporate giving dollars by promoting matching gifts and volunteer grant programs to their supporters. Through these corporate giving programs, donors can at least double their contribution and volunteers can make an even greater impact with their time.
Double the Donation provides several ways for organizations to integrate matching gifts and volunteer grants into their fundraising strategies.
Double the Donation offers the #1 matching gifts database, with more than 8,500 organizations using it. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date database, you can gain access to thousands of profiles that can help you connect with companies that offer matching gift and volunteer grant programs.
Additional Corporate Philanthropy Resources
Corporate Giving and Matching Gift Statistics
Few organizations know about matching gifts, much less how to begin tapping into corporate philanthropy.
Explore these matching gift statistics to learn more about its potential impact.
Corporate Philanthropy: The Ultimate Guide
Corporate philanthropy is growing, and it takes on many different facets that can benefit your nonprofit.
Learn what corporate philanthropy is, how much corporations donate, and why it’s important.
Matching Gift Programs: The Complete Guide
Matching gifts are a type of corporate giving in which companies match donations that their employees make to nonprofits.
Learn why matching gifts are valuable and how donors can take charge of the process.