The average employee spends roughly 90,000 hours—about one-third of their lives—at work. Today, that time is about more than just a paycheck. People want their jobs to feel meaningful, connect them with others, and give them a way to support causes they care about. That’s where employee giving programs come in.
By launching a workplace giving program, your company can incorporate corporate social responsibility (CSR) into its business strategy and build a workplace that employees are proud of. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to drive impact, including:
- What is Workplace Giving?
- The Impact of Successful Employee Giving
- Common Types of Workplace Giving Programs
- How to Start an Employee Giving Program
- 4 Strategies for Encouraging Employee Giving
- Inspiring Examples of Workplace Giving Programs
- Employee Giving Program FAQs
You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to become a CSR leader in your industry. With the right tools and a thoughtful approach, your organization can boost employee engagement, increase charitable giving, and make a lasting difference in the social causes your workers care about.
What is Workplace Giving?
Workplace giving refers to a variety of company-sponsored initiatives that promote social impact—whether through financial donations, volunteerism, or both. These efforts are often part of a broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy aimed at advancing social good while fostering a positive workplace culture.
One common form of workplace giving is the employee giving program, which enables team members to support nonprofits through payroll deductions, employer matching gifts, or volunteer time off (VTO). Many companies also offer volunteer grants or organize group service events to encourage deeper involvement.
Beyond employee and workplace giving, companies can take additional steps to improve their social and environmental impact. For example, you might reduce your carbon footprint by incentivizing employees who carpool—such as entering them in monthly drawings to win rewards like gift cards or free meals.
The Impact of Successful Employee Giving
Everyone wins with a great employee giving program! Let’s take a look at the specific benefits for your company, its employees, and the organizations they support.
For Companies
- Improve talent acquisition. A focus on workplace giving can make you stand out in the eyes of socially conscious, talented job seekers. In fact, nearly 71% of workplace donors want to work for employers with missions and values that align with their own. More specifically, 81% of employees state that it’s important to work for a company that integrates CSR into its business practices.
- Engage and retain employees. By making it easy for employees to give back to their communities, you can provide them with a stronger sense of fulfillment and purpose in their roles. As a result, companies see a 52% lower turnover rate when they engage newer employees in corporate philanthropy.
- Enhance your brand reputation. Establishing an employee giving program signals to consumers, employees, and investors that your company is committed to making the world a better place. Knowing this, 96% of the world’s 250 highest-revenue companies report on their sustainability efforts, and this investment pays off. Around 77% of consumers want to purchase from companies with CSR initiatives, which can increase revenue by up to 20%.
For Employees
- Find fulfillment at work. Workplace giving empowers employees to support causes they care about through their jobs, fostering higher engagement and deeper meaning in their day-to-day roles. Employees want their work to align with their values, making purpose-driven workplaces more attractive and fulfilling.
- Strengthen workplace camaraderie. Participating in volunteer events and giving campaigns helps employees bond over shared values and causes. In a Deloitte study, 49% of employees reported feeling more connected to their colleagues after participating in workplace volunteer programs. These shared experiences can lead to stronger teams, greater collaboration, and higher morale.
- Amplify their charitable impact. Through opportunities like matching gifts and volunteer grants, employees can multiply their typical charitable contributions. Despite this potential, matching gifts remain a significantly underutilized resource, meaning that structured programs can dramatically increase impact for employees and the nonprofits they support.
For Nonprofits
- Increase funding and resources. Employee giving programs unlock steady streams of financial support through payroll deductions, matching gifts, and volunteer grants. In fact, corporate donations grew by 9.1% in 2024, reflecting the growing role of workplace giving in nonprofit fundraising strategies. Knowing how important corporate support is, 49% of nonprofits identify workplace giving as a key growth strategy.
- Gain skilled volunteer support. Volunteer time off (VTO) and team-based service days allow nonprofits to access high-quality, skilled support—often in marketing, finance, or IT. These contributions can fill critical gaps, and when combined with volunteer grants, they provide both hands-on help and direct financial impact.
- Grow awareness and reach. Partnering with companies through workplace giving opens the door to broader visibility. As employees learn about causes through internal campaigns, nonprofits reach new donor and volunteer networks—often gaining long-term supporters beyond the initial partnership.
Common Types of Workplace Giving Programs
Your employee giving program can include a range of activities for employees to engage in. The most common ones are:
- Matching gifts: When an employee makes a gift to an eligible nonprofit, your company will match that gift amount—typically at a 1:1 ratio, though some programs go as high as 3:1. This way, employees can double, triple, or even quadruple the impact of their donations.
- Volunteer grants: Also commonly called Dollars for Doers, volunteer grants involve awarding monetary grants to nonprofits where your employees regularly volunteer. The amount you give will typically depend on the hours contributed—for example, $300 for every 20 hours volunteered. Your company might also line up company volunteer days or offer team volunteer grants to reward collective efforts.
- In-kind gifts: Your company can host in-kind donation drives to collect essential supplies for nonprofits in your area. For instance, you might encourage employees to donate gently used books, notebooks, and e-readers to an organization working to improve literacy within your community.
- Employee grants: Allow employees to take the lead in supporting causes close to their hearts by giving them an annual grant amount they can award to an eligible nonprofit. You can either provide this opportunity to all employees or use it to reward stellar performance in the workplace.
- Payroll deductions: Employees can automatically deduct a portion of their paycheck to go toward their nonprofit of choice. These deductions take place on a recurring basis and provide employees with a convenient way to become consistent contributors to charitable causes.
While these types of employee giving are popular among companies of all sizes, don’t be afraid to get creative with opportunities that align with your employees’ interests and preferences. Patagonia, for example, has an Environmental Internship Program through which employees can spend up to two months working at an environmental group of their choice while receiving their regular pay.
No matter which initiatives you choose, companies typically use workplace giving software to manage them, simplify participation, and track engagement.
How to Start an Employee Giving Program
To create a thriving and sustainable employee giving program, you need a strong foundation. Follow these steps to build a program that’s tailored to your goals and needs:
1. Determine your needs, budget, and goals.
Since every company has its own objectives, mission, and budget, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to implementing a workplace giving program. Start by meeting with your leadership team and board members to decide how much funding you’ll allocate for your employee giving program. Emphasize the benefits to secure their buy-in upfront.
From here, use these basic tips to get a lay of the land at your company:
- Gather input from various stakeholders. Survey key individuals across your company, including members of your leadership team, human resources (HR) specialists, and employees. Ask about the causes they’re most interested in, what types of workplace giving opportunities would drive the most engagement, and any other factors you need to consider to make your programs as inclusive as possible.
- Consider the most pressing needs in your community. Reflect on your company’s industry and specialties. Then, conduct research into nonprofit needs and initiatives within your community. In doing so, you might uncover areas where your company can power significant change and impact.
- Specify what you hope to achieve through workplace giving. Are you trying to boost employee morale? Attract more top talent? Support a specific cause that closely aligns with your mission and values? Defining your desired results upfront will guide your decision-making as you outline the details of your programs.
Based on the information you collect, set key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your workplace giving success. For example, you might decide to track employee participation rates, the number of volunteer hours logged, and the total amount of funds contributed.
2. Create an employee giving policy.
With your goals and budget in mind, create an official employee giving policy that outlines key guidelines such as:
- Purpose: Explain what your company aims to accomplish with its employee giving program, and tie it back to your mission and values. Establishing this connection early on ensures that employees understand why the program is important to your company’s overall success and how they can play a role in it.
- Focus: Some companies focus their employee giving program on specific types of nonprofits or charitable causes. For example, a pharmaceutical company might primarily support organizations that conduct health research or provide mental health resources to the community. If you want to narrow your program’s focus on causes related to your mission, highlight them in your employee giving policy.
- Eligibility: Specify which organizations are eligible for support. Many U.S. companies only contribute to nonprofits with official 501(c)(3) status. Additionally, clarify whether full-time, part-time, and retired employees can participate in your program. Some companies even match gifts made by employees’ spouses.
- Types of giving: Remember, your employees will vary greatly when it comes to the amount of time, money, and energy they can dedicate to your workplace giving initiatives. List a variety of giving opportunities your workplace giving program offers, along with relevant details. For example, if you’re offering matching donations, include information about your match ratio, minimum and maximum match amounts, and match request deadline in this section.
- Contact information: Your employees may have more specific questions about participating in your program. To make it easy for them to get involved, include the email or phone number of a designated contact who can share more information as needed.
Later on, as your program expands, consider building out separate documents on matching gifts and your other employee giving opportunities to provide more in-depth guidance for participation.
3. Invest in workplace giving software.
Running multiple workplace giving programs and measuring KPIs can seem like a lot of effort for any company. That’s where workplace giving software comes in. Investing in one of these platforms allows you to significantly streamline program management and create more rewarding experiences for your employees.
When researching potential solutions for your business, look for these essential features:
- Corporate donations: Your company should be able to award grants to nonprofits using an automated, equitable giving strategy.
- Employee giving: Make sure you can facilitate matching gifts, volunteer grants, and payroll deductions for employees. Automatically approve requests based on preset criteria.
- Volunteer management: Your company should be able to schedule local volunteering opportunities, plan team-wide events, and allow employees to log their volunteer hours.
- Auto-submission: The most innovative workplace giving platforms offer matching gift auto-submission, which makes the matching gift process faster and easier than ever. Employees can automatically complete and submit their match requests just by inputting their company email addresses when donating.
- A mobile app: Provide convenient mobile access to your workplace giving platform, so more employees can submit requests and participate in your CSR initiatives.
- Reporting: Use real-time reporting dashboards to measure your impact and report it to stakeholders.
For an example of comprehensive software, check out this rundown of Uncommon Giving’s easy, self-serve employee giving and volunteering platform:
As you explore different platforms, reference online reviews and reach out to peers at similar companies for recommendations. For instance, check out Uncommon Giving’s Capterra reviews to hear what our customers have to say and see why we maintain a 4.9-star average rating!
When you’ve created a short list of potential platforms, request demos to see firsthand how they can support your employee giving program. Consider the user-friendliness of the software, along with the customer support available, before you make your final decision.
4. Launch and promote your employee giving program.
Once you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to launch your workplace giving program and get employees actively involved. To maximize participation, you’ll need to spread the word, generate excitement, and keep the momentum going. Research shows that only 19% of companies include more than one paragraph about matching gifts in easily accessible employee-facing materials. To make sure your employees have all the information they need, prioritize clear, consistent communication.
Build awareness and engagement by:
- Producing an attention-grabbing launch announcement, such as a short video.
- Incorporating your giving policies into your onboarding materials and employee handbook.
- Hosting company-wide Q&A sessions to address program details.
- Adding program overviews to your website and internal newsletters.
- Sharing regular program updates, impact metrics, and success stories across social media.
- Organizing dedicated giving events throughout the year, like GivingTuesday.
To further inspire participation, encourage leaders and managers to set the example by engaging in giving opportunities themselves. During the early stages, identify passionate employees who are eager to get involved—invite them to lead volunteer events, organize donation drives, and share their experiences publicly. Peer influence, leadership buy-in, and ongoing communication will help sustain enthusiasm and grow participation in your program.
5. Assess your program’s performance.
You know that employee giving can transform your company’s culture and community relationships for the better. But how do you know that you’re getting the results you set out to achieve?
By tracking your results and making ongoing improvements, you can refine your workplace giving program over time and enhance your social impact.
The following metrics can clue you in on your program’s performance:
- Participation rate. Out of your total number of employees, how many people engage with your program? A lower participation rate might indicate that you need to promote your program more or add more incentives for getting involved.
- Total donation amount. Keep track of the total amount of money your program has contributed, including both individual employee donations and company matches. To increase this number, consider adjusting your program guidelines, such as increasing your matching gift ratio to 2:1 or even 3:1 to entice more employees to participate.
- Volunteer hours. Monitor the total number of hours your employees volunteer through your program to determine how well you’re inspiring them to get involved in their community. To encourage more participation, partner with local nonprofits and use your employee volunteering tools to coordinate dedicated events for your teams.
- Outcomes. Ask your nonprofit partners to report the impact of your donated funds or employee volunteer contributions. For example, an environmental conservation organization might share that, thanks to your employee and company-matched donations, it was able to plant 7,000 trees in the past year.
- Social media engagement. Note the number of likes, shares, and comments your employee giving-related posts receive on social media. These metrics can reveal how your employees, customers, and community members perceive your program and its impact.
Use these data points to identify your program’s strengths and areas for improvement. Maintain transparency by communicating this information to your employees and other stakeholders, too. Many companies publish annual CSR reports to consolidate their accomplishments and impact into one easy-to-read document.
4 Strategies for Encouraging Employee Giving
You may have established a well-thought-out workplace giving program, but you still need to infuse it into your company culture if you want it to stick. Try these strategies to make employee giving a central part of your operations and activities:
Expand your program criteria.
There are some easy adjustments you can make if you notice that employee participation rates aren’t as high as you want them to be. Start by identifying ways to make participation flexible and convenient. For example, you could:
- Extend program eligibility to part-time employees, retired employees, and even employees’ spouses.
- Lower your minimum match amount so that employees can give at levels they’re more comfortable with.
- Increase your maximum match amount to encourage more generosity among employees.
- Adjust your volunteer grant offerings, such as awarding $15 per hour volunteered rather than $750 for every 50 hours volunteered.
- Allow employees to support any 501(c)(3) organization, rather than nonprofits that fall under a specific cause or focus area.
- Provide volunteer time off (VTO), so employees can volunteer with nonprofits during normal working hours.
97% of donors want flexibility in where and how they give to causes they care about, such as having their employer match gifts to any nonprofit of their choice. By allowing employees to get involved in their preferred ways, you ensure that they have every reason to keep participating in your program.
Engage in special giving days.
Your employees lead busy lives. Sometimes, giving back to their community can fall off their radars. To reignite their generosity and rally them behind your CSR efforts, look out for special cause awareness and giving days your company can participate in.
There are plenty of opportunities to consider depending on employee interests and your overall mission, such as:
- World Day of Social Justice in February
- Earth Day in April
- International Youth Day in August
- International Literacy Day in September
- World Mental Health Day in October
- World Diabetes Day in November
GivingTuesday, which occurs on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the U.S. every year, is one of the most popular giving days for companies to participate in. On this day, you can host a staff-wide volunteer event, organize an in-kind donation drive, or offer to match gifts at a higher ratio to motivate employees to get involved.
Celebrate employees who participate.
According to research conducted by Gallup and Workhuman, employees who say their recognition program is aligned with their company’s values are 4.9 times more likely to strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work.
Strengthen your workplace culture, boost morale, and inspire employee giving engagement by recognizing those who participate in your workplace giving program. You might:
- Send thank-you emails and eCards to employees who participate in one of your initiatives, like attending a company volunteering event.
- Present recognition awards, such as “Social Impact Star” or “Ambitious Advocate,” to top employee contributors to your program.
- Hand out small rewards like gift cards, branded mugs, and t-shirts after a team-wide event or when individual employees complete a milestone in their participation.
- Spotlight employee giving participation in company-wide newsletters, social media pages, and website blog articles.
- Host a post-initiative celebration or an annual event to celebrate the impact your employees have accomplished together.
Incorporate a mix of group and individual recognition to reinforce participation across your employee base. Personalize your messages when possible to demonstrate that you value their specific contributions to your program.
Collect feedback from employees.
To maintain ongoing participation in your employee giving program, you need to fine-tune it according to employees’ needs, preferences, and interests. Create opportunities that they’ll never grow tired of by sending a survey once or twice a year to collect their feedback. Consider asking questions such as:
- What would motivate you to participate more in our employee giving opportunities?
- What obstacles, if any, have kept you from getting involved?
- What types of giving or volunteering opportunities are you most interested in?
- What specific causes would you like our program to support more?
- How do you prefer to learn about the impact our employees have generated through the program?
- What improvements, if any, would you like to see in our program?
While it may not be feasible to apply every piece of feedback to your employee giving program, use these survey responses to identify common concerns or opportunities you should address. For example, if you notice that many of your employees are passionate about tackling food insecurity in their community, you could reach out to local hunger relief nonprofits to establish more formal partnerships or volunteering opportunities.
Inspiring Examples of Employee Giving Programs
Every company has its own approach to employee giving. When creating your employee giving initiatives, look at other examples of established programs for inspiration. Here are a few examples to get you started:
Bombas
Bombas is an apparel company that donates an item of clothing for every customer’s purchase. Beyond these product donations, Bombas engages its employees in various social impact opportunities. For example, Bombas:
- Hosted a community dinner on GivingTuesday, gathering individuals experiencing homelessness and business peers for a family-style meal.
- Allows employees to choose an organization every year and allocates up to 2,000 pairs of donation socks to give to that organization.
- Engages employees in helping shelters host monthly pizza nights.
It’s clear that Bombas understands the importance of giving employees the freedom to support the causes that are closest to their hearts through employee giving. Uncommon Giving’s corporate giving software provides a database of over 1.5 million vetted nonprofits that employees can browse at their convenience to direct their donations and volunteer time.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that embraces a culture of giving across its employee base. A few ways this company engages in community giving include:
- Annual employee-led charitable initiatives
- Monthly employee volunteering opportunities
- Operation Giving, an all-company day of service
Plus, Ironwood provides medical education grants that support initiatives to improve the quality of healthcare and independent education. Employees, customers, and other stakeholders can explore more about the company’s impact in its Environmental, Social and Governance Report, which goes into detail about its approach to corporate responsibility.
Actualize Consulting
Actualize Consulting is a financial services firm that focuses its CSR initiatives on engaging employees in hands-on giving.
For example, the entire company combines fundraising with wellness by participating in Alex’s Lemonade Stand’s Million Mile, during which team members run, bike, or walk as many miles as they can over a month to raise funds to help cure childhood cancer. Additionally, employees enjoy supporting The Doe Fund by holding mock interviews and donating business clothing to help formerly incarcerated individuals in their job searches.
Actualize Consulting is a stellar example of a company that has built lasting partnerships with nonprofits in its community. If your company is interested in pursuing similar partnerships to concentrate its social impact, look for a workplace giving platform that comes with a database of verified nonprofits. Uncommon Giving, for instance, allows you to browse through over 1.5 million nonprofits, vetted twice a month, to find philanthropic opportunities for your company.
Employee Giving Program FAQs
What is employee giving?
Employee giving is a type of workplace giving (though sometimes the terms are used interchangeably) that focuses on empowering employees to play an active role in corporate philanthropy. Generally, it involves one or more company-sponsored programs that allow employees to take the lead by choosing which causes and organizations to support and how much to contribute.
What are the most common types of employee giving?
The most common types of employee giving are matching gifts, volunteer grants, in-kind gifts, employee grants, and payroll deductions. Other types include volunteer time off (VTO), employee charitable giving accounts, and company-wide campaigns.
How do you start a workplace giving program?
Define your company’s goals and budget for the program, create policies, and choose a workplace giving platform. Then, launch your program, announce it to employees, and continually assess its impact. Explore the steps listed above for more details.
Wrapping Up: Making a Difference Through Employee Giving
Think of your employee giving program as a journey. Your company has the potential to touch hundreds or even thousands of lives through the philanthropic opportunities you facilitate for your employees.
No matter where you are in your journey, Uncommon Giving’s workplace giving tools are here to help. By patiently monitoring your results and improving your strategies, you can establish your business as a force for social change in the eyes of employees, customers, and other stakeholders in your community.
For more information on how to improve employee giving and engagement at your company, check out these additional resources:
- Donation Matching for Companies: Complete Program Guide. Matching gifts are one of the most powerful ways to support individual philanthropy. Learn everything you need to know about this employee giving initiative.
- Dollars for Doers: How to Inspire Employee Volunteers. Volunteerism is a big part of workplace giving. Discover how to encourage your employees to volunteer by launching a volunteer grant program.
- 11 Best Corporate Giving Software for Easy Social Impact. The success of your workplace giving program hinges on the technology you use. Explore the leading corporate giving software your company can use.
