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Donate As A Company – Best Practices For Corporate Donations

Corporate Donations

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No doubt you and your organisation know how to get donations from individual supporters, but do you also know how to get corporate donations from small companies all the way to big multinationals? It’s very popular for companies to initiate corporate donations to charities throughout the year as corporate social responsibility. So let’s find out if your non-profit organisation has already benefitted from the many forms of corporate fundraising.

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Donate As A Company To Charity

Simply said, corporate fundraising is when companies support charities and non-profit organisations either through donating money as a company, voluntary work, or something else. Companies donating to charity encourage employees to do some volunteering or to support charities in another way. Such kind of corporate donation programmes are advantageous for the companies themselves but even more so for the non-profit organisations they support. In this article, we will discuss four different forms of corporate fundraising and what key role they can play in the strategy of your organisation.

We will discuss the following four topics for successful corporate giving strategy:

  1. Donation Matching programmes.
  2. Euros For do-ers Programmes.
  3. Support Programmes For Volunteers.
  4. Community Grants.

This list isn’t extensive, but it will give your non-profit organisation a good introduction to the different ways in which to implement corporate fundraising and how to maximize donations. Let’s give it a go with that in mind.

Donate as a company - corporate donations


How To Get Donations From Companies?

1. Corporate Donation Matching Programmes

Are you looking to double (or even triple!) the money given to you by donors? You’re in luck! Matching donations are as easy as they sound. In theory, its companies matching the donations of their employees to the relevant non-profit organisations. There are different ratios to which a company can match donations. The most commonly used ratio is 1:1 (euro for a euro). This means that a donation of €100 becomes €200, and so on. Most non-profit organisations will be able to receive matching donations. However, there are a few exceptions, such as sports teams, certain religious groups, and political organisations.

Matching donations is not only easy to implement for you as an organisation, it’s also easy to take part in for your supporters. The submission process is very easy and usually takes less than 10 minutes for donors to go through.

It really depends on the company how long an employee has to fill in his/her request to the employer, it can range from only one month to more than a calendar year. That being said, it’s absolutely critical you tell your donors about this process! This means they will get their submissions in quickly, and you will get your money.

To get the most out of this form of corporate donations, it’s important that your marketing strategy also includes donation matching. Include information about this on your donation’s webpage, newsletter, social media posts, and make sure to mention it at events! Even more important, don’t forget to thank your donors when you have received their donations and when you have matched them.

Conclusion: matching donations is like a two-for-one deal for the non-profit sector. Programmes like this make it easier than ever before to maximize the potential of your donations through corporate fundraising.

2. Euros For Do-ers Programmes.

The Euros for do-ers programmes turn voluntary hours into monetary donations. Companies will make financial donations to organisations where employees regularly do some voluntary work through these programmes.

These programmes, which are also known as voluntary grants, are set up by companies that want to encourage their employees to do voluntary work. This also helps them to increase employee engagement and team building through giving back to the community in groups. Volunteers offer an incredibly valuable service to your organisation by giving you their time and effort. Now their contribution can be strengthened through their company donating to your organisation!

Companies donating to charity can be way more effective of proper volunteers are at place. Most non-profit organisations will qualify for these programmes but bear in mind that companies might restrict the number of hours employees can volunteer at your organisation.

A company will usually donate to organisations where employees have spent at least 10 hours (on average) doing voluntary work. Some companies will establish a threshold of hours that needs to be met before they can do a donation, whereas other companies will donate on an hourly basis. Besides donations for voluntary work on an individual basis, some companies also offer corporate fundraising for groups of employees who take part in voluntary work.

However, it will always be: the more employees take part, the more money the company will donate. For example, a company will donate €500 when 5 or more employees hit 25 hours of voluntary work. Yet, when 50 or more employees take part voluntarily, they will donate €5000! The group focused activities like this can also include corporate fundraising team efforts like a walkathon or running sessions. This kind of corporate fundraising fits exceptionally well with online peer-to-peer campaigns where donors are raising money through their social networks.

If you think that the peer-to-peer fundraising route is the one for you, check out the WhyDonate donation crowdfunding platform! When you’re creating your volunteer strategy for corporate fundraising, make sure you consider group-focused activities as well. This will boost your potential as a donation-receiving organisation.

Conclusion: the euros for do-ers programmes combine two key aspects for non-profit organisations: volunteers and financial donations. Using your existing volunteers’ employers and their volunteering allowance can be a great way to increase your corporate fundraising.

3. Support Programmes For Volunteers.

Although donations from a company are an invaluable part of your organisation, volunteers are also a very important resource. We have already discussed how you can tap into your existing volunteers to raise extra money. But there are more ways to maximize tapping into your existing volunteers through corporate giving and donation companies. Through support programmes for voluntary work, companies can donate goods to non-profit organisations in need as a company.

Corporate donations can be done both through volunteering or through material goods. Some examples of corporate charitable donations are:

  • Business consultancy services
  • Food
  • Office supplies
  • Technology such as computers and software
  • Marketing strategies
  • Building and construction materials

Before you ask for materials and services, think carefully about which will be of most benefit to your organisation, as what can be donated will be different for each company. Donations like this, for example, can be very useful for corporate fundraising events or very specific corporate giving projects.

Not every company will have corporate giving programmes or will be able to donate as a company. Nonetheless, support programmes for volunteers will be able to provide your organisation with specialised volunteers who can help your organisation in ways not all volunteers can. What’s more, this enables non-profit organisations to receive high-quality products and services completely for free. That is clearly a big advantage of corporate giving!

Conclusion: support corporate philanthropy programmes for volunteers can provide non-profit organisations with invaluable services and materials from generous companies if you want to donate as a company. Even though you don’t directly receive the money, you can benefit from thousands of euros in donated materials.

4. Business Donations To Charity: Community Grants

If your organisation wants to make a positive change in your community, you might be able to get financial support from companies that share your vision. Although the details of donating as a company will be different for each company, community grants are, in essence, lump sums given to non-profit organisations by companies. These are often given on a yearly basis by companies. If you’re looking to sponsor a big project, continue a community programme, or participate in emergency relief, Community Grants are a great option for you.

Donate as a company - corporate philanthropy


Why Do Companies Donate To Charity?

Even though most forms of corporate giving require employees to submit applications, community grants are usually applied for by organisations themselves. Sometimes companies decide not to go for an application process and instead handpick a non-profit organisation in a local community to donate money.

Usually, though, non-profit organisations need to set out why they need financial support and how it will help them through an application. Writing applications is serious business. One of the most important steps is finding the right business partner. This means, what is the best business to give you the funds you need? Just like you would do research on potential individual donors to find the right one, you will also need to think about your application for a Community Grant.

Corporate Social Responsibility activities include:

  1. Philanthropy and charitable giving.
  2. Employee volunteering and engagement.
  3. Environmental sustainability.
  4. Ethical sourcing and supply chain practices.
  5. Diversity and inclusion initiatives.
  6. Education and skill development support.
  7. Community development investments.
  8. Stakeholder engagement and transparency.
  9. Social impact partnerships.
  10. Advocacy and policy influence.

Conclusion

Corporate donations can really help your organisation to meet your fundraising target, or they can help a specific project or longer-running campaign. Although these can’t be implemented as quickly as other forms of corporate giving, they really are worth it in the long run.

Corporate fundraising really is a win-win situation: companies will profit from a bigger social impact whilst receiving the required donations to further build on their mission. Your organisation can increase charitable donations, receiving of useful materials, and maximising volunteers through using multiple forms of corporate giving. If you’re interested in more fundraising tips for non-profit organisations, make sure to check out our latest non-profit blog.


Answering Popular Corporate Donations FAQs

Q. How much charitable donation does my organisation need?

A. Some companies may not have set limits to how much they can sponsor through Community Grants, but others will have set limits. Think about how many of your online fundraising goals you would like to reach subsidies and how much sponsorship you need for your campaign. Sometimes it makes more sense to ask for many smaller amounts of financial support, whilst other times, it’s better to put your time and effort into getting a few big donations.

Q. How To Get Companies To Donate

  1. Find companies that align with your ideals.
  2. Personalize requests for donations to reflect their principles and goals.
  3. Establish connections through networking and events.
  4. Provide partnership opportunities in addition to single-time donations.
  5. Give them recognition for their contributions.
  6. Transparency in the use of funds.
  7. Send a quick response and convey your gratitude.
  8. Consider matching gift programs and employee engagement.
  9. Inform donors about the positive impact of their contributions.

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