Maximizing Impact With Corporate Volunteer Grant Programs
Make the most of workplace giving.
Monetize volunteerism for your organization.
Do more for your nonprofit mission.
Maximizing Impact With Corporate Volunteer Grant Programs
What are volunteer grants?
Volunteer grants are a specific type of corporate giving program that encourage volunteerism in communities where employees live and work.
Through these initiatives—which are also commonly referred to as Dollars for Doers, volunteer matches, or time match programs—companies provide monetary grants to organizations where employees regularly volunteer. This is typically done by offering a set dollar amount that’s dependant on the number of hours a team member spends volunteering.
While the specific criteria vary by company, many nonprofits and educational institutions are eligible to receive volunteer grants. In doing so, the programs effectively turn supporter time and effort into tangible funds for mission-related programming and more.
Why are volunteer grants important?
Volunteer grants essentially provide “free money” for nonprofits and schools, with companies using the programs to incentivize employee engagement and social good.
Already, your volunteers’ efforts are integral to your organization’s behind-the-scenes operations and mission programming alike. When dedicated volunteers also request volunteer grants from their employers, it allows your team to drastically scale up its volunteer program ROI (or return on investment).
If your nonprofit has a dedicated group of volunteers, it’s important that they (or your team) determine if their employers offer such grant opportunities. With effective volunteer management, such as smart time-tracking practices and volunteer grant promotional efforts, you can pinpoint these opportunities and be sure not to miss out on easy funding.
Why does volunteer grant funding go unclaimed?
Unfortunately, volunteer grants are a source of funding that tends to be easily overlooked by nonprofits, schools, and their supporters alike.
Why?
Organizations typically have limited information on the companies their volunteers work for. Not to mention, there’s often a lack of knowledge on specific companies’ volunteer grant availability and eligibility criteria.
If volunteers are never made aware of their employers’ giving programs, they won’t know to complete the grant request process. And if they don’t complete a request, volunteers’ employers are unable to supply the appropriate funding.
Where can I get a volunteer grant?
Volunteer grants (like matching gifts) fall into a category of corporate philanthropy known as workplace or employee giving. That means it’s up to individual volunteers to complete the volunteer grant request process and secure funds for your cause.
For your nonprofit’s part, simply promoting the opportunity to your volunteer base can go a long way. Increase awareness of volunteer grants by sharing information on social media, through personal outreach, at volunteer events, and more.
When possible, collect volunteer employment information (from donation pages, event registration forms, surveys, etc.) so your team can identify qualifying supporters, too.
From there, you can use a corporate giving database to supply employer-specific program insights and links to online request forms. This makes the submission process quick and easy for your volunteers.
Then, the company processes the application and makes a monetary donation to your organization.
Top 10 Companies With Standout Volunteer Grant Programs
Thousands of companies offer generous volunteer grant programs for their employees.
We’ve selected a few leading initiatives to highlight here.
Dell
Coinstar
Verizon
Grant Amount:
$750 every 50 hours an employee volunteers
Learn More:
Verizon’s volunteer grant program
Microsoft
Aetna
Grant Amount:
$300 for every 20 hours an employee volunteers
Learn More:
Aetna’s volunteer grant program
ConocoPhillips
Grant Amount:
$500 every 20 hours an employee volunteers
Learn More:
Conoco Phillips’ volunteer grant program
ExxonMobil
Grant Amount:
$500 for every 20 hours an employee volunteers
Learn More:
ExxonMobil’s volunteer grant program
RealNetworks
WarnerMedia
Understanding the Volunteer Grant Process
Most often, an individual can complete a volunteer grant request in less than five minutes with the help of a corporate giving database guiding their way. However, it’s important your organization is familiar with the process as well to better promote the opportunity and troubleshoot issues that may arise.
Here’s how the volunteer grant process works:
Step #1: An individual volunteers with a nonprofit or school.
The individual volunteers on a regular basis, donating their time and skills to support the organization’s activities and programs.
Step #2: The individual determines their volunteer grant eligibility.
The volunteer researches their company using a corporate giving database (or by reaching out to their employer directly) to determine their eligibility for a grant.
This generally means ensuring the individual’s employment type (full-time, part-time, retired) is included in the program and that they adhere to the minimum number of hours required to qualify for a volunteer grant.
Step #3: The individual completes and submits the appropriate forms to their employer.
Using direct links to forms provided in the corporate giving database, the volunteer submits their application for a grant request to their employer.
Nowadays, this process is primarily a digital one, often facilitated through the company’s CSR portal. Still, select companies continue to accept paper forms as well.
Step #4: The individual’s employer reviews the volunteer grant request.
The company assesses the volunteer grant application and confirms that the employee’s volunteerism meets program criteria.
Some companies will also substantiate the individual’s volunteer hours with the organization they worked with, so keep an eye out for any verification requests!
Step #5: The individual’s employer approves the request and grants funding to the organization.
The company sends a check to the nonprofit according to the number of hours the employee spent volunteering.
From there, the organization uses the unrestricted funds supplied by the volunteer grant to support its mission activities.
Marketing Volunteer Grants to Supporters
Corporate giving research estimates that about 77 million Americans (or approximately 30% of the nation’s adult population) volunteer their time and talents to nonprofits.
That can equate to a ton of additional revenue in the form of volunteer grants. However, many organizations don’t promote the opportunity to supporters, which results in a lack of program awareness and ultimately unclaimed revenue.
Luckily, it’s easy to close this gap and make your donors aware of volunteer grants! We recommend implementing a multichannel marketing strategy, powering your efforts with the platforms your team already uses on a regular basis.
Your Website
Your website is the hub of all things related to your nonprofit. That makes it the perfect place to promote volunteer grants!
Start by including a snippet on your volunteer page about these programs. That way, prospective volunteers know it’s an opportunity even before they sign up to help out. Include information about the basics of these programs, including how the process works and how to find their employers’ guidelines.
You might even create a separate corporate giving page where you can summarize different opportunities like matching gifts, payroll deductions, donation challenges, or other types of corporate matching grants, too.
Paid Advertising
Once you’ve created content on your website about volunteer grants, you can amplify it using paid advertising.
And don’t let the ‘paid’ in paid advertising turn you off to the idea! Fortunately, Google and Microsoft each offer programs that provide free access to their paid advertising platforms to help nonprofits boost their content across the web. These programs offer up to $10,000 per month (Google) and up to $3,000 per month (Microsoft), respectively, worth of ad credits.
However, a lot goes into understanding these platforms and creating winning ads. That’s why most nonprofits turn to professional paid advertising managers. We recommend Getting Attention, whose experts work full-time to understand the program’s requirements and optimize their efforts for the greatest results. This way, you can get set up and promote important content, like your volunteer grant page, in no time.
Social Media
Social media opens up the door to a world of prospects. Whenever you post about volunteer opportunities, include a snippet about volunteer grants. Link back to your corporate giving page on your website, encouraging followers to look there for more information.
Thanks to comment sections and direct messaging capabilities, you can also enable two-way conversations and answer followers’ questions about the process. Testimonials from volunteers who have participated in their employers’ corporate grant programs in the past can be particularly impactful, too. Plus, it’s a great way to inspire other supporters to get involved.
The result will be more volunteer grants for your cause!
According to fundraising research, email has the highest ROI of any marketing platform. As a result, you don’t want to leave it out of your volunteer grant promotional strategy.
To get started with email marketing, consider sending a dedicated newsletter entirely about volunteer grants. This should include what they are, what the process entails, and how to research availability. However, you can also do something as simple as including a short snippet in your monthly email blasts.
If your organization subscribes to Double the Donation, you can even direct recipients to your embedded volunteer grant search tool to make it quick, easy, and convenient for individuals to determine their eligibility.
Not a Double the Donation Client? Click here to request a demo and see how the platform can power your volunteer grant and matching gift fundraising efforts.
Understanding Common Volunteer Grant Criteria
Each company that offers a volunteer grant program establishes a set of eligibility criteria for the initiative. In order for a volunteer to qualify for a grant from their employer, they must adhere to the specified guidelines and submit a request for approval.
Although the criteria varies from one employer to the next, most companies consider the following elements.
top volunteer grant tip
A volunteer grant database is the easiest way to look up an employer and determine an individual’s eligibility.
Fortunately, an intuitive database like Double the Donation (more on that below) supplies direct links to companies’ guidelines and submission forms to further simplify the process.
Employee Eligibility
Each company that offers volunteer grants has the chance to determine which categories of employees are eligible to participate in its giving program.
While full-time employees are typically the primary focus for programs like these, many companies extend participation opportunities to part-time and retired staff members as well. Sometimes, even an employee’s spouse or domestic partner will qualify!
Mission Restrictions
Some corporations direct their volunteer grants specifically to organizations that share their values (sustainability, civil rights, etc.). However, most companies have little to no restrictions and state that nearly any 501(c)(3) nonprofit or school—K-12 and higher education alike—is eligible.
The most common exemptions from volunteer grant programs are organizations that are strictly political or strictly religious. Still, religiously affiliated nonprofits that also serve a secular function tend to qualify.
Volunteer Hour Minimums
In order to incentivize regular volunteerism among employees, companies often implement a minimum number of hours an individual must meet before they qualify for a grant.
While many employers require between 10 and 20 hours to unlock a volunteer grant, others’ thresholds may be significantly lower or higher.
Corporate Grant Amount
While some companies provide a fluctuating grant amount based on the hours an individual volunteers, others contribute a set amount once a certain threshold is reached.
However, companies implement funding caps per employee, too. For example, a threshold-based program might state that each team member can request four volunteer grants in a calendar year. Meanwhile, hourly programs institute limits on the amount of funding a single employee can request.
Fun fact: 80% of companies with volunteer grant programs offer between $8-$15 per hour volunteered with a nonprofit.
Volunteer Hour-Tracking
Because volunteer grant funding is typically based on the number of hours an employee devotes to a nonprofit cause, you don’t want to overlook any time-tracking or hour-logging requirements the company implements.
Encourage individuals to use your volunteer grant database to locate the correct forms (whether printed or electronic) to track their hours and activities and ultimately complete the request.
Submission Deadlines
In order to remain eligible for corporate funds, employees’ volunteer grant requests generally must be submitted by a deadline the company selects.
While this, too, will vary by employer, standard submission deadlines include a set number of days or months after the volunteer activity commences, the end of the calendar year in which the activity took place, and the last days of January, February, or March in the year following the one in which the individual volunteered.
The Value of a Volunteer Grant Database
[Top Pick: Double the Donation]
Double the Donation is the leading provider of corporate giving software for nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and their donors.
Fortunately, our comprehensive and up-to-date database provides a wealth of volunteer grant and matching gift information for thousands of companies across the US, Canada, and UK.
Each company profile provides the following information about its volunteer grant program:
top volunteer grant tip
For the best results, we recommend embedding the database widget on your nonprofit website, donation pages, volunteer forms, and more!
These insights, conveniently located within a centralized and easily accessible tool, inform volunteers of their program eligibility and instruct them on how to take the next steps.
The more they know about the volunteer grant opportunity, and the simpler the process is to complete, the more likely your supporters are to take part. That means more completed grants coming your way!
Wrapping Up & Additional Volunteer Grant Resources
It’s evident that volunteer grant programs offer invaluable opportunities for organizations. To amplify supporter impact and cultivate meaningful relationships—individual and corporate alike—it’s important for nonprofits and schools to harness the power of corporate philanthropy alongside volunteerism.
In doing so, your team can make the most of invaluable volunteer time, better meet your audience’s needs, and foster a culture of engagement and collaboration. As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of philanthropy, volunteer grant programs form an essential pillar for nonprofits seeking to unlock new avenues for growth, innovation, and impact.
Keep learning! Check out the following recommended resources volunteer grants, matching gifts, and more:
The Top 10 Volunteer Grant Companies
As a direct result of the increasing demand for corporate social responsibility (CSR), many companies provide generous grants to nonprofits where their employees volunteer.
Dive deeper into some of these leading companies’ programs and explore their guidelines for requesting a volunteer grant.
How to Market Corporate Volunteer Grants
Find out how your organization can promote these standout grant opportunities to your supporters. Read the complete marketing guide to learn more.
Boost your understanding of effective Dollars for Doers promotional efforts and more. Get supporters involved to make a greater impact!
Corporate Matching Gifts Guide
Matching gifts and volunteer grants go hand in hand. In this free downloadable guide, explore all things matching gifts and prepare your team to maximize the giving channel.
Uncover best practices, research, and more to grow your knowledge about the impact matching gift programs have on your cause.
