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Corporate Giving Definition
Corporate giving is a form of corporate philanthropy in which corporations contribute to nonprofit causes. This can be in the form of both monetary and non-monetary contributions.
Having a strong relationship with corporations is beneficial for both the nonprofit and the company. Your organization will benefit from the company’s contributions, while the company’s public image will benefit from serving the greater good.
Corporate Giving Statistics
Corporate giving makes a huge impact on the community at large. Understanding this impact is essential if you want to raise more for your organization. According to recent statistics:
The top 10 corporations donate more than $2 billion annually in cash to nonprofits, and a large portion of this is through employee matching gift programs.
Higher matching gift caps yield higher employee engagement. Caps set at $1,000 yield a 12% employee engagement rate, whereas a cap of more than $10,000 results in a large increase in employee engagement up to 40%.
Tip: If you’re a large organization, how can you successfully leverage corporate giving as part of your fundraising strategy? Try a corporate giving software solution like 360MatchPro by Double the Donation!
Top Two Corporate Giving Programs
#1: Matching Gifts
Matching Gifts Overview
Matching gifts are a top corporate giving program wherein a company will match donations made by their employees to a nonprofit organization. Many companies will match at a 1:1 ratio, though some match at a 2:1 or even 3:1 ratio!
How the Matching Gift Process Works
Here’s how the matching gift process works:
- A donor makes a donation to a nonprofit.
- The donor uses a matching gift database to determine whether their donation is eligible for a company match.
- If eligible, the donor can access the forms via the database to submit a match request.
- The donor’s company will review the forms and confirm the donation with the nonprofit.
- The company will match the donation.
Why Matching Gifts are Important
An estimated $4-7 billion goes unclaimed in matching gift revenue each year, even though more than 18 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs. This is generally due to donors simply being unaware that their company offers such a program.
However, matching gifts are essentially free money that, with the right tools and resources, your organization can leverage as part of your fundraising strategy. If you’re a large nonprofit that wants to maximize your matching gift revenue, consider investing in a matching gift automation platform. This will streamline much of your promotional efforts and help you identify donors who are match eligible.
#2: Volunteer Grants
Volunteer Grants Overview
Volunteer grants are another top corporate giving program through which companies provide monetary grants to organizations where their employees volunteer. This is an excellent fundraising area to pursue if your nonprofit has any number of volunteers!
How the Volunteer Grant Process Works
Here’s how the volunteer grant process works:
- A supporter volunteers with a nonprofit.
- The supporter uses a volunteer grant database to determine if they’re eligible for a volunteer grant.
- If their eligibility is confirmed, the supporter can use the database to find and submit the grant request forms.
- The supporter’s company will review the forms and confirm they volunteered with the nonprofit.
- The company will send the nonprofit a monetary grant.
Why Volunteer Grants are Important
About 63 million Americans volunteer each year, totaling 7.7 billion hours, which is worth approximately $175 billion annually. Tapping into this network of volunteers within your own organization can help catapult your revenue.
Even more, if you leverage corporate giving software that comes with a company search tool, you’ll make it easier for your volunteers to determine whether their employers offer a volunteer grant program.
Other Corporate Giving Programs
Fundraising Matches
Donations to nonprofits are provided via fundraising events, such as walkathons or runs. The company will match the money raised through sponsorships or other donations.
Dollars for Doers
For dedicated volunteers, Dollars for Doers will reward employees who meet a certain threshold of volunteer hours. For example, they might receive $150 for every 10 hours they volunteer.
Team Volunteer Grants
Groups of employees who volunteer together are eligible for team volunteer grants, and this also serves as a great team-building opportunity.
Community Grants
Nonprofits can request community grants themselves from companies, rather than their supporters doing it on their behalf. This includes disaster relief grants.
Volunteer Support Programs
Companies can donate their products and services to organizations and those in need, such as computers, food, or other services and supplies.
Automatic Payroll Deductions
Employees can arrange to have a portion of their paycheck taken out and automatically contributed to a nonprofit organization.
Annual Grant Stipends
Though less common, annual grant stipends are an allocated amount of money that employees are given with the purpose of donating it to a nonprofit of their choice.
Annual Giving
Employers encourage donations at certain times of the year, typically at the end of the year, so it’s important for nonprofits to track companies that take part in annual giving.
Internal Employee Fundraising
By looking inward at their own team, nonprofits can encourage their own employees to volunteer, resulting in even more donations and volunteer hours.
Employee Product Donation Programs
Many companies offer discounts on their products so they can be donated to nonprofits. This is common at technology companies, for example.
Top Corporate Giving Companies
Several corporations offer top corporate giving programs. For that reason, understanding your donor base and their connections to these companies is crucial so your organization can raise more.
Check out these top 10 companies for corporate giving:
| Apple | $10,000 | Visit Apple’s corporate giving page. |
| $10,000 | Visit Google’s corporate giving page. | |
| The Home Depot | $3,000 | Visit The Home Depot’s corporate giving page. |
| Disney | $25,000 | Visit Disney’s corporate giving page. |
| Coca-Cola | $20,000 | Visit Coca-Cola’s corporate giving page. |
| General Electric | $5,000 | Visit GE’s corporate giving page. |
| BP | $5,000 | Visit BP’s corporate giving page. |
| Microsoft | $15,000 | Visit Microsoft’s corporate giving page. |
| JPMorgan | $1,000 | Visit JPMorgan’s corporate giving page. |
| Verizon | $5,000 | Visit Verizon’s corporate giving page. |
Corporate Giving Trends
Corporate Giving Trend #1:
Expanded Nonprofit Eligibility
Many companies are expanding their matching gift programs to include any type of 501(c)(3) nonprofit or educational institution, rather than focusing on specific categories of nonprofits. This is an excellent advancement that makes employees happy and helps even more organizations serve their missions.
Examples of Expanded Nonprofit Eligibility
Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s largest construction equipment manufacturer. The company previously only matched donations to higher education institutions. However, this year they have expanded to match donations to all 501(c)(3) organizations.
The Caterpillar Foundation offers a year-round matching gift program at a 1:1 ratio, and each employee can request an annual combined total maximum match of $2,000 per calendar year.
Learn more about Caterpillar Inc.’s matching gift program!
Pioneer Natural Resources is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. The company previously only matched donations to higher education institutions, but in recent years, they have expanded to also match donations to all 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
Pioneer Natural Resources will match a maximum of $5,000 at a 1:1 ratio per year for active employees.
Learn more about Pioneer Natural Resources’ matching gift program!
Corporate Giving Trend #2:
Increased Monthly Giving
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in recurring monthly gifts from corporations and individual employees. Monthly giving has proven to be a great way for large corporations to engage their employees and encourage participation in corporate giving.
Recurring monthly giving also leads to more giving overall. It’s a steady source of revenue for nonprofits and results in employees donating more overall, as they can spread their donations over time.
Examples of Increased Monthly Giving
Many companies are taking advantage of automatic payroll deductions so employees can automatically donate directly from their paycheck every month and receive tax benefits.
Companies are also leveraging matching gift programs to further incentivize their employees to participate in monthly giving.
Corporate Giving Trend #3:
Higher Employee Participation
Today, more employees want to take part in corporate giving and are actively supporting and choosing to work for companies that share their values. This means more companies are measuring their impact as a way to further engage their employees and keep up their corporate giving programs.
Examples of Higher Employee Participation
Companies are using software to track the results of their campaigns analytics, which they can then share with stakeholders. This software also allows companies to keep track of and monitor donations and/or volunteer hours, set yearly goals that everyone can work toward, and demonstrate to employees the impact they’re making. Friendly competition and activity feeds help increase the level of engagement and participation, as well!
For example, Microsoft has adapted its corporate giving and volunteer programs to further engage its employees. They have done this by making the programs more accessible to everyone, which has resulted in higher employee participation and rewards.
Corporate Giving Trend #4:
More Consumer Influence
In recent years, consumers have been demanding that companies address social issues, which has resulted in the heads of corporations speaking out about positive social change and motivating other companies and their employees to work with organizations to make these changes.
Examples of More Consumer Influence
Consumers are more inclined to purchase from companies that share their values and work to improve society. For that reason, companies have been adapting their corporate giving and volunteer programs in response to recent events and consumers so they can allow employees to support any charity they want.
Companies are also using data and analytics to determine which causes their employees care about. Using this information, they can further support their employees with grants, volunteering events, and matching gifts.
Corporate Giving Software:
Grow Your Revenue with 360MatchPro
If you’re a large nonprofit or university that generates more than $25,000 annually in matching gift revenue, you may still be missing out on even more room for growth.
Investing in corporate giving software helps to automate your entire process. This means you can more easily identify opportunities to receive company contributions.
How 360MatchPro Works
When it comes to matching gifts and volunteer grants, you may be low on staff members dedicated to driving in revenue from these areas. For that reason, 360MatchPro by Double the Donation can serve as your own corporate giving team, making outreach and tracking metrics easier than ever. This gives your team more time to focus on what’s most important: your mission.
Here’s how 360MatchPro by Double the Donation works:
- Once a supporter makes a donation, the platform identifies their employer information, whether that’s through email domains or other supplied details. Donors can also search for their employer in a company name search tool widget on your site.
- If the donor is eligible for a matching gift through their employer (or might be eligible), the platform will trigger customized follow-up emails explaining the next steps they can take.
- The platform also tracks the progress of the match from start to finish, which allows you to better leverage the information from your matching gifts outreach.
Benefits of 360MatchPro
Benefits of using 360MatchPro include:
- More matching gift revenue opportunities. 360MatchPro automatically collects matching gift eligibility from donors in multiple ways, which means more donors will learn about their eligibility and successfully submit a match request.
- More matches driven to completion. Because the right information is provided to the right donor at the right time, these targeted follow ups will drive more completed submissions than ever before.
- More time for top opportunities. Rather than spending time on smaller-value matching gifts, 360MatchPro will automate this process and flag highest-value opportunities, all so your team can personalize the follow ups to the most valuable match-eligible donations.
360MatchPro can help streamline your identification process and marketing outreach, as well as track the matching gift process through to completion. Leverage several metrics, such as email open rates and click-through rates, so you can track how your matching gift revenue is performing. Additionally, you can customize your email outreach using your organization’s branding and email domain, which means your donors will know the outreach came from you.
Whether you’re searching for ways to maximize your matching gift revenue or secure more volunteer grants, automating your process is an investment worth considering.
Additional Corporate Giving Resources
Matching Gifts: Your Guide to Automation
Want to learn more about matching gifts and automation in particular?
Check out our expert guide to matching gifts!
Top Matching Gift Companies: Find Your Match
Your donors may be linked to some of the top matching gift companies.
Identify some key giving opportunities!
Corporate Philanthropy: The Ultimate Guide to Giving
Corporate philanthropy makes a huge impact on all kinds of nonprofits.
Learn the basics with Double the Donation!
