Sample Blog Articles Provided by Double the Donation

Sample Article: Employee Giving Programs

Sample Blog

Articles Provided by

Double the Donation

Purpose:

Blog articles are an effective advertising medium for promoting matching gifts and volunteer grants to your

donors and volunteers. These articles provide a platform for more in-depth explanations of these corporate

philanthropy programs. Commitment to this creative way of boosting revenue shows donors that your

organization is focused on maximizing fundraising from every source.

We recommend publishing these articles (or something similar) on your organization’s website or blog. From

there, you can send a link to these articles in your newsletters and campaigns to ensure that your donors

know about this opportunity to increase their impact.

Your organization’s articles should:

y Provide an overview of employee matching gift and/or volunteer grant programs

y Share a few examples of companies that offer employee giving programs

y Explain the positive impact these additional funds will have on your organization’s work

y Request that donors and volunteers search for their employer’s matching gift information

We anticipate that your organization will want to modify these posts to meet the standard structure of your

articles and blog posts. Your organization is free to leverage and modify this content.

Note: These articles do mention the matching gift search tool offered by Double the Donation.

If you are interested in learning more about Double the Donation’s product offerings, click here.

Sample Articles:

Corporate Employee Matching Gift Programs:............................. 03

The Secret to Boosting Revenue

Corporate Employee Volunteer Grant Programs: ....................... 06

The Added Bonus to Volunteering

Employee Giving Programs: ......................................................................... 09

The Key to Unlocking Extra Revenue

Sample Article: Matching Gifts

CORPORATE EMPLOYEE

MATCHING GIFT PROGRAMS:

THE SECRET TO BOOSTING REVENUE

For nonproﬁt organizations, every dollar counts. Corporate employee matching gifts offer the

opportunity to turn one dollar donated by a match-eligible employee into two, three, four, or even

ﬁve dollars!

In this article, we’re going to explore exactly what to expect when working with matching gifts and

how to make the most of this incredible fundraising opportunity.

What are corporate matching gift programs?

Employee matching gift programs are a type of corporate philanthropy set up to encourage

employees to give back to their communities. These companies encourage community outreach by

making donations to the same nonproﬁts that their employees have donated to.

These programs have become quite widespread, but many donors have not heard of them or aren’t

aware of their own match-eligibility. $4-7 billion in matching gift revenue is left on the table each

year, and we want to work with our donors to claim some of it.

The speciﬁcs of these programs vary from company to company, but the elements that shape these

guidelines are always the same:

y Match ratio: This deﬁnes what kind of donation the company will make in relation to the

employee’s initial contribution. A 1:1 ratio indicates that the company will donate the exact

same amount, doubling the contribution to the employee’s chosen nonproﬁt.

y Minimum and maximum: The minimum refers to the amount an employee must donate to

qualify for a matching gift. The maximum is the total amount that a company will donate in

matching contributions per employee annually.

Sample Article: Matching Gifts

y Employee status: Sometimes, the employee’s role at the company can affect the match that

they qualify for. For example, Gap Inc. offers a $1,000 maximum to part-time employees and

a $10,000 maximum to Senior VP’s.

y Nonproﬁt eligibility: Some programs offer different matches based on the nonproﬁt being

donated to. ExxonMobil offers a higher match for donations made to educational institutions

than for donations made to cultural organizations.

y Deadline: Every program identiﬁes a deadline when the matching gift request must be

submitted by the employee. This deadline can be either a ﬁrm date (December 31st is

common) or a threshold based on the date of the initial donation (90 days after donation

is made).

Thousands of companies offer matching gift programs. A few examples include:

y Johnson & Johnson — Triples donations with a 2:1 match for current employees while also

doubling donations (a 1:1 match) for retirees.

y Bank of America — Matches donations 1:1 up to $5,000 annually per employee.

y Home Depot — Matches donations 1:1 up to $3,000 annually per employee.

The impact of these programs can be substantial! Microsoft has been known to match over $48

million worth of employee donations to schools and 501(c)(3) nonproﬁts in a single year. Did you

know that more than 18 million employees work for companies with matching gift programs? You

might be one of them.

Want to help [your organization’s name]?

Increasing revenue with matching gifts isn’t too tricky, but we need our donors’ help. Last year we

received

[insert number]

matching gifts, which helped us raise

[insert dollar amount]

. We’ve set

a goal of raising [insert dollar amount] from these programs. If we meet our goal, we’ll be able to

better

[insert organization’s mission and how the organization would use the additional funding]

You can help us reach these goals by searching for your own match-eligibility. Immediately assess

your eligibility and gain access to detailed information about your employer’s corporate giving

program by searching our database of companies with matching gift programs

[link to your

dedicated matching gifts page or Double the Donation hosted URL]

Sample Article: Matching Gifts

y We’ll provide you with as much of the following as possible:

y Up-to-date, company-speciﬁc program guidelines

y Links to the online matching gift request forms or downloadable PDFs offered by your

employer

Our contact information (Tax ID, address, fundraising contact), which you may need for your

matching gift request

If your company isn’t listed, make sure to check with your company’s HR department. It’s possible

that your employer offers matching gifts.

We wish we could submit the required form for you, but unfortunately the employee must submit

the matching gift request to their employer directly. We appreciate you taking a few minutes to

double your donation!

Sample Article: Volunteer Grants

CORPORATE EMPLOYEE

VOLUNTEER GRANT PROGRAMS:

THE ADDED BONUS TO VOLUNTEERING

What do Verizon, CarMax, and State Farm all have in common? They all offer volunteer grant

programs.

Volunteer grant programs, also known as “Dollars for Doers” programs, are charitable giving

programs set up by companies to reward employees for giving back to their communities.

Companies provide monetary donations to eligible nonproﬁts like ours as a way to recognize

employees who volunteer. These grants enable corporations to give back to their communities and

support organizations that employees are already passionate about.

Although volunteer grants are a relatively new form of corporate giving, they’re widely offered

among Fortune 500 companies and are catching on at smaller companies, too. For instance:

y Verizon’s Volunteer Program provides $750 grants for 50 volunteer hours.

y State Farm’s Good Neighbor Grant Program recognizes employees with a $500 grant for 40

volunteer hours.

y CarMax’s volunteer grant program awards $10 for every hour volunteered up to $10,000.

In fact, hundreds of companies offer volunteer grant programs with donations generally ranging

from $10-15 per hour volunteered. Basically, this means that our organization will not only receive

the help provided by our amazing volunteers, but we’ll be given monetary support from their

employers as well!

Sample Article: Volunteer Grants

How do volunteer grant

programs work?

Volunteer grant programs are an easy way for volunteers to secure an additional monetary

contribution for our organization without having to take out their checkbooks.

Volunteer grant programs consist of ﬁve steps:

1. Employee volunteers with nonproﬁt organization

2. Employee volunteer determines if their company offers volunteer grants — you can search for

your employer’s volunteer grant guidelines at [link to your Double the Donation URL] to ﬁnd

company-speciﬁc program guidelines, requirements, and forms.

3. Employee volunteer submits the grant request, either electronically or using a paper form.

4. Nonproﬁt validates the grant request — we conﬁrm for the individual’s employer that the

individual is in fact a volunteer with our organization.

5. Company cuts a check!

If you’re already volunteering with us, please take a few minutes to check if your employer (or your

spouse’s employer) offers volunteer grants [link to your organization’s Double the Donation hosted

matching gifts page] — grants that could equal hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for us to put

toward furthering our mission.

Want to help?

Last year, we received

[insert number]

volunteer grants which helped us raise

[insert dollar

amount]

. We’ve set a goal of raising [insert dollar amount] from these programs. If we meet our

goal, we’ll be able to better

[insert organization’s mission and how the organization would use the

additional funding]

You can immediately gain access to detailed program guidelines offered by your employer and

assess your eligibility by searching our database of companies that offer volunteer grant programs

[link to your Double the Donation URL]

We’ll provide you with as much of the following as possible:

y Up-to-date, company-speciﬁc program guidelines

y Minimum volunteer hours required to qualify for a matching donation

Sample Article: Volunteer Grants

y Links to the online matching gift request forms or downloadable PDFs offered by your

employer

y Our contact information (Tax ID, address, fundraising contact), which you may need for your

matching gift request

If your company isn’t listed, make sure to check with HR as there are many additional companies

out there who offer volunteer grant programs.

We wish we could submit the required form for you, but unfortunately the employee must submit

the volunteer grant request to their employer directly. We appreciate you taking a few minutes to

double your impact!

Sample Article: Employee Giving Programs

EMPLOYEE GIVING PROGRAMS:

THE KEY TO UNLOCKING EXTRA REVENUE

Employee giving programs offer an exciting opportunity to nonproﬁt organizations and educational

institutions. Each donation could be doubled, tripled, or more, and every hour volunteered could

come with a monetary contribution as well.

In this article, we’re going to explore two of the most popular forms of corporate philanthropy:

y Employee matching gifts: Donations offered by companies to nonproﬁts that their

employees have already supported.

y Volunteer grants: Monetary contributions made by a company to a nonproﬁt that their

employees have volunteered for.

Let’s dive in!

What are corporate matching gift and employee

volunteer grant programs?

Corporate matching gift programs are charitable giving programs created by corporations in which

the company matches donations made by employees to nonproﬁt organizations or educational

institutions. Donors can double their impact by utilizing the matching gift programs that are in

place at thousands of companies.

Employee giving programs have been around since 1954, when the GE Foundation created the

Corporate Alumni Program, the ﬁrst corporate matching gift program. Today, the GE Foundation

matches over $35 million annually to 501(c)(3) organizations and accredited educational

institutions (including K-12). Since then, thousands of companies have created similar employee

giving programs.

The most common match ratio is 1:1, meaning that the company will donate the exact same

amount as the employee did. Each company will set a dollar amount that they will contribute in

Sample Article: Employee Giving Programs

matching gifts per employee each year. Employees can then make as many matching gift requests

as they like until they hit that maximum dollar amount.

Volunteer grant programs, also known as “Dollars for Doers” programs, are charitable giving

programs setup by companies to provide a monetary donation to eligible nonproﬁts where their

employees volunteer as a way to encourage community engagement.

If you volunteer for a nonproﬁt organization like ours and work for a company with a volunteer

grant program, you can request a volunteer grant from your employer to increase your impact on

our organization.

These volunteer grants can be set amounts ($750 for 50 hours volunteered) or hourly amounts ($10

per hour volunteered).

Last year we received

[insert number]

matching gifts and volunteer grants, which helped us raise

[insert dollar amount]

. This year we set a goal of raising [insert dollar amount] from these programs.

If we meet our goal, we’ll be able to better

[insert organization’s mission and how the organization

would use the additional funding]

You can help us reach these goals by searching for your own match-eligibility. Immediately gain

access to detailed information about your employer’s corporate giving programs and assess your

eligibility by searching our database of companies that offer employee matching

[link to your

dedicated matching gifts page or Double the Donation hosted URL]

We’ll provide you with as much of the following as possible:

y Up-to-date, company-speciﬁc program guidelines

y Minimum volunteer hours required to qualify for a matching donation

y Links to the online matching gift request forms or downloadable PDFs offered by

your employer

y Our contact information (Tax ID, address, fundraising contact), which you may

need for your matching gift request

How prevalent are corporate

giving programs?

Corporate giving programs have gotten more popular with time. More than 65% of Fortune 500

companies offer matching gift or volunteer grant programs, and countless smaller companies have

followed suit.

Sample Article: Employee Giving Programs

Some companies have gotten creative with their corporate giving, offering higher matches to

organizations in a speciﬁc sector (educational, cultural, environmental, etc.) or even matching funds

raised by employees in peer-to-peer campaigns.

A few examples of these programs include:

y Verizon provides $750 grants for 50 volunteer hours and matches up to $5,000 annually

y IBM provides $1,000 grants to nonproﬁts where an employee has volunteered for 40 hours.

They also match up to $5,000 annually for current employees or retirees.

y BP, in addition to similarly generous matching gift and volunteer grant programs, matches

funds raised for nonproﬁt walks, runs, etc. and offers every employee an annual $300 grant to

donate to any nonproﬁt organization, no initial donation or volunteering required!

Thousands of companies, representing more than 18 million people, offer matching gift or

volunteer grant programs.

We hope you’ll take a few extra minutes to see if your company offers employee giving grants

[link to your Double the Donation URL]

— grants that could equal hundreds, or even thousands, of

dollars for the nonproﬁt organizations and educational institutions you care about.