How to Re-engage Donors with Workplace Giving and Other Smart Fundraising Ideas

Don’t want to watch the webinar? No problem! Keep scrolling to read our webinar recap. By the end, you’ll know how to keep your donors engaged and excited to support your cause.

Workplace Giving Opportunities

Before diving in, it’s important to understand and define workplace giving. Workplace giving is a company-sponsored program that provides employees with opportunities to support nonprofit organizations. 

There are many types of workplace giving programs, but the two most common are matching gifts and volunteer grants.

1. Matching Gifts

When it comes to matching gifts, companies agree to financially match donations that their employees make to nonprofits. This is the most popular form of workplace giving and has the possibility for many different structures.

Matching gift programs can benefit donors and the organization. Why? Because donors get to contribute to the causes they care about through their employers, while organizations get to secure more funding.

2. Volunteer Grants

Corporate giving programs are where employers provide monetary grants to organizations that employees regularly volunteer at. 

The volunteers’ commitment of time might be eligible to be coupled with a financial donation from their employer. This is especially powerful since there is a need for both volunteers and financial support. 

Essentially, there are two contributions for the price of one. Just like with matching gifts, no two volunteer grant programs are the same. 

Workplace Giving by the Numbers

According to Double the Donation, there is a large need to make employees aware of workplace giving opportunities. Here’s what they found:

• 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs.

• 80% of companies with volunteer grant programs provide between eight to $15 per hour volunteered.

• 26 million individuals qualify for matching gifts. 

• $2 – $3 billion is donated through these programs annually, but an additional $4 -$7 billion is left on the table. 

• 78% of match-eligible donors have no idea whether their company offers a matching gift program. 

• 16% know their company has a program, but are unsure if they are eligible or do not know how to submit a request. 

Overall, it’s important to increase donor awareness of workplace giving opportunities to fuel engagement. 

How to Engage Donors in Matching Gifts

Educating donors about matching gifts can help close the awareness gap. The key places to market matching gifts and provide information are:

• Websites

• Social media accounts

• Emails

The next piece of the puzzle is to be clear about where the match will go, and show the donor that their match will have an impact. Showing the donor that their gift will result in a greater outcome will make it that much more exciting to engage with the matching gift process. 

Once they are engaged, provide donors with details, knowledge about the donation process, and information about their employer’s guideline on matching gifts.

How to Engage Donors in Volunteer Grants

Just like with matching gifts, we recommend promoting volunteer grant appeals across multiple channels. You can do this by mentioning volunteer grants on social media, including information on your webpage, sending newsletters or emails that include this information, and more.

When asking supporters to engage with your organization, offer them very specific volunteer opportunities to take advantage of their grant eligibility. Being specific allows people to see a need for their volunteered time and helps them understand how it will be coupled with a financial amount. 

To keep the engagement going, collect employee information from volunteers on the sign-up form and help them log their hours. It is important to help donors along the process and make it as easy as possible for them. 

Getting Started

Here are five appeals and reasons to start promoting matching gifts and volunteer grants with your donors:

1. Many donors have renewed eligibility. A lot of matching gift programs and volunteer grant programs reset at the beginning of the calendar year. 

2. This is a differentiated appeal that holds donor attention. It’s not purely a financial ask, so it breaks through the clutter.
    

3. This is an opportunity to steward donors. As you’re looking for ways to help them get involved further, this is a great chance to show them all of the different avenues. 

4. Workplace giving allows donors to maximize their generosity, which will increase their satisfaction all year long. 

5. The sooner you promote these opportunities, the sooner your organization can benefit from them all year round. 

Has COVID-19 Impacted Event Fundraising?

COVID-19 forced fundraising events to look different. The beginning of the pandemic was abrupt. All of a sudden, in-person events were canceled.

Here is a chart from 2018 through 2021 with stats about giving over the few years. It compares pre-pandemic statistics of giving to online pandemic giving. 

Surprisingly, with a decrease in bidders during the pandemic, there were more bids overall — which leads to more income raised. The pandemic changed how things were done, but did not hurt online giving.

Online events help break down the “one night only” barriers from physical events. Instead of fundraising during a four-hour time period, online events have the freedom to extend over several days. 

7 Tips for Organizing a Successful Hybrid Fundraiser

There are benefits to both online and in-person events. While most people want to see in-person events come back, they also do not want to ruin the success and momentum of virtual events. 

A hybrid event is the best of both worlds. Here are a few tips about how to host hybrid events with success.

1. Being Ready

The events that stand out know how to handle the check-in phase all the way to the check-out phase in an efficient manner. Some examples might be sending an email 24 hours before the event officially starts for early mobile check-in and placing volunteers at check-in and check-out areas to answer questions and guide guests through the process.

2. Expand Beyond the Four Walls of Your Gala

Open your online event early so people have time to engage with the event and possibly start bidding early on auction items.

3. Create a “Kickoff” Experience

To continue expanding beyond the four walls of your gala, we recommend having a kickoff experience. This could be an email or a virtual message from the event director giving an introduction to key auction items.

4. Keep Donors Engaged During the Event Leadup

During the week prior to the event, it’s important to keep donors informed and engaged. Some ideas include introducing the director or keynote speaker, or providing a tour of the facilities through a recorded video. When people see the organization, it often generates excitement and interest. 

5. Create a Touchless Check-in

Going back to the first point, it is important to have a seamless transition from check-in to enter the event. This process should be as efficient as possible. An example of this is including a QR code to check in, which could be sent a day early for registration.

6. Broadcast the Event Program

There will always be people who cannot attend the event. A hybrid event option would allow people to attend virtually if necessary. It is important to welcome them and address them while speaking to the event. This will help avoid the loss of opportunity and engage more people.

7. Let Anyone Bid in the Live Auction

Since events can have live broadcast options available, there needs to be a way to allow donors to participate in bidding online. ClickBid’s EventStream tool is a great way to broadcast your auctioneer live and let your donors give from their phones.

Continue Learning

These are multiple ways to upgrade your fundraising events to help engage your donors throughout the year. Want to learn more? Click here to watch the rest of the webinar or reach out to us for more information.