Volunteers are the lifeblood of many nonprofit organizations. They dedicate their time, vitality, and expertise that can assist you obtain your mission. However do you know that their time may additionally generate important monetary income on your trigger? Whereas many organizations are accustomed to matching presents for money donations, fewer are taking full benefit of the alternatives for monetizing volunteerism. That is the place company volunteerism applications come into play.
By leveraging the best fundraising software program, you possibly can remodel hours of service into financial grants. On this information, we are going to discover:
Let’s dive in, analyzing how this highly effective fundraising instrument can revolutionize your office giving technique and make it easier to take full benefit of the income potential sitting inside your volunteer base.
What Does It Imply to Monetize Volunteerism?
Monetizing volunteerism might be outlined because the apply of leveraging time spent volunteering to generate monetary income. It primarily turns hours of service into {dollars} on your trigger. Whereas this will take many types, essentially the most important and profitable alternative lies inside company volunteerism, particularly by means of volunteer grants (also called “{dollars} for doers” applications).
Underneath these company applications, firms present a financial grant to a nonprofit after their staff have volunteered for a selected variety of hours.
This creates a win-win for everybody concerned. The nonprofit receives important labor and extra funding. The company meets its company social accountability (CSR) targets and boosts worker engagement. The volunteer feels a deeper sense of impression, figuring out their time is producing actual monetary help for a trigger they care about, even with out having to open their very own wallets to take action.
Whereas the idea is easy, the execution might be complicated with out the best instruments. Many volunteers have no idea these applications exist. Even when they do, they could not know how one can submit a request. This lack of know-how leads to thousands and thousands of {dollars} in potential income being left on the desk yearly. To seize these funds, nonprofits want a proactive technique to determine eligible volunteers and information them by means of the submission course of.
The Rising Significance of Company Volunteer Applications
Company social accountability is now not only a buzzword; it’s a essential enterprise crucial. Firms are more and more looking for methods to interact their workforces and provides again to their communities. Consequently, volunteer grant applications have gotten extra prevalent and beneficiant.
In keeping with Double the Donation’s analysis on current volunteer statistics, greater than 40% of Fortune 500 firms presently provide volunteer grant applications. Moreover, 80% of firms with volunteer grant applications provide between $8 and $15 per hour volunteered. This implies a single volunteer dedicating only a few hours a month may generate lots of of {dollars} on your group over the course of a 12 months. Once you scale this throughout your complete volunteer base, the income potential is substantial.
Did You Know?
Office giving is evolving. Whereas matching presents for money donations are very important, volunteer grants characterize a large, untapped alternative. The typical participation price for volunteer grants is usually decrease than that for matching presents, just because nonprofits don’t ask for them as typically. By incorporating this chance into your engagement technique, you possibly can stand out and safe funding that others miss.
Along with grants primarily based on hours served, many firms additionally provide volunteer time without work (or VTO). This profit offers staff paid days off to volunteer. When nonprofits actively promote these alternatives, they make it simpler for company staff to say “sure” to volunteering, thereby growing the pool of people who may finally set off a volunteer grant.
How Does Double the Donation Volunteering Assist?
Double the Donation is widely known for its nonprofit fundraising software program, with a historic deal with company matching presents. Nonetheless, our platform has expanded to a complete answer designed to maximise income throughout all office giving channels. Our instruments for volunteering particularly goal the hole between volunteer intent and company funding.
The core of our providing lies in our in depth database and seamless integration capabilities. We preserve the world’s largest and most correct database of company giving applications. This contains detailed data on volunteer grant insurance policies, minimal hour necessities, submission deadlines, and hyperlinks to digital submission types.
Right here is how our fundraising software program empowers your group:
- Identification: We make it easier to determine which of your volunteers work for firms with current volunteer grant applications. That is accomplished by means of intuitive search instruments built-in straight into your volunteer registration types or devoted internet pages.
- Training: As soon as a volunteer identifies their employer, our instrument gives them with company-specific pointers in actual time. They will then immediately see if they’re eligible and what the precise necessities are.
- Automation: We automate the follow-up course of. Moderately than your group manually chasing down volunteers, our system sends personalised emails reminding them to log their hours and submit their grant requests.
By streamlining these steps, Double the Donation removes the majority of the executive burden out of your group. This lets you deal with delivering a optimistic volunteer expertise whereas our software program works within the background to seize further income.
Fast Tip
Don’t silence your knowledge. Use actionable office giving database insights to section your communications. If you realize a bunch of volunteers works for a selected firm with a beneficiant program, create a focused marketing campaign thanking them for his or her time and explicitly asking them to submit a grant request.
Kicking Off: Useful, Step-by-Step Implementation Ideas
Prepared to begin monetizing volunteerism? Implementing Double the Donation’s full set of instruments is designed to be fast and efficient. Comply with these steps to combine volunteer grant promotion into your current workflows:
1. Combine Double the Donation’s Search Instrument
Step one is visibility. You could make it straightforward for volunteers to seek out out if their firm affords a grant. To take action, place Double the Donation’s firm search instrument straight in your volunteer data pages, registration types, and affirmation screens. This prompts volunteers to seek for their employer in the intervening time their engagement degree is highest.
2. Proactively Seize Employment Information
Info is energy. When volunteers join shifts or occasions, embody an elective subject for “Employer” in your consumption types. Figuring out the place your supporters work means that you can determine high-value alternatives for company sponsorships and grants in a while, too!
3. Automate Put up-Occasion Outreach
The most effective time to ask for a volunteer grant is shortly after the service is accomplished. Subsequently, configure your fundraising software program to ship an automatic thank-you electronic mail as much as 24 to 48 hours after a volunteer shift.
This electronic mail ought to embody:
- A heartfelt thanks for his or her laborious work.
- A abstract of the impression they helped create.
- A direct hyperlink to the Double the Donation search instrument or their firm’s particular submission type if you have already got their employment knowledge.
4. Evaluation and Analyze Your Information
From there, use Double the Donation Volunteering’s dashboard to trace your progress. Monitor which firms are being searched for many often and monitor the standing of grant submissions. This data helps you additional refine your technique and proves the ROI of your volunteer administration efforts.
Get Impressed: 4 Nonprofits Monetizing Volunteerism Efficiently
Seeing how different organizations leverage these instruments can spark concepts on your personal technique. These 4 nonprofits have built-in company volunteerism incentives into their digital presence to drive income successfully. Let’s have a look!
Lengthy Island Cares
View the web page right here: https://www.licares.org/how-to-help/volunteer/
Lengthy Island Cares, a meals financial institution devoted to ending starvation within the Lengthy Island space, locations its volunteer grant promotion entrance and heart on its web site. Inside their volunteer touchdown web page, the group makes use of a daring header that reads, “See if your organization affords Volunteer Grants!” instantly adopted by the seamlessly embedded Double the Donation search instrument.
By inserting this widget straight below their foremost navigation bar (accessible through their “Volunteer” tab), they make sure that each particular person trying to assist is instantly educated on related alternatives to multiply their impression. This method captures volunteer intent on the actual second they need to interact, guaranteeing no potential company income is neglected.
Veterans Group Challenge
View the web page right here: https://vcp.org/take-action/ways-to-volunteer/
The Veterans Group Challenge (or VCP) focuses on ending veteran homelessness. Their web site contains a sturdy “Methods to Volunteer” part that highlights group and company alternatives alike. To extend engagement, the group makes use of clear messaging to encourage company teams not solely to help but in addition to research their employer’s grant applications.
To not point out, the Veterans Group Challenge does a superb job of quantifying the worth of its supporters. Inside its impression web page, the group explicitly states that its 5,300+ volunteers contributed a worth of greater than $827,000 in a single 12 months. This units a robust stage for monetizing volunteerism by asking for volunteer grant engagement and extra.
Additional down their web site, below a bit titled “Company-sponsored volunteering,” VCP continues to coach its supporters concerning the number of incentives obtainable. They particularly point out Paid Volunteer Time Off (PVTO) alongside volunteer grants, encouraging company staff to make the most of their firm advantages to spend the day constructing houses for veterans whereas being supported by their employers. They usually proactively present all the knowledge a person would wish to finish a company giving request for his or her employer, making the method a fast and straightforward one.
Carolina Tiger Rescue
View the web page right here: https://carolinatigerrescue.org/get-involved/
Carolina Tiger Rescue engages animal lovers to assist preserve their sanctuary. The group has accomplished a superb job of diversifying its income streams by selling company grants alongside particular person volunteering. Their “Get Concerned” web page is a hub for engagement, the place they educate supporters on how straightforward it’s to double their impression. Their technique reveals that organizations in any area of interest, from animal welfare to human companies, can successfully monetize volunteer hours.
Plus, Carolina Tiger Rescue proves that eradicating friction is the important thing to securing volunteer grants. With a purpose to drive actual outcomes, the group does extra than simply ask for the grant; they supply each single piece of data a donor must submit the request instantly. Proper subsequent to the Double the Donation search instrument, they listing their Tax ID quantity, mailing handle, and particular contact data for his or her Donor Companies group. This technique eliminates the necessity for a volunteer to click on away to seek out authorized particulars, considerably lowering the abandonment price through the submission course of.
Letters to a Pre-Scientist
View the web page right here: https://prescientist.org/volunteer-matching/
Letters to a Pre-Scientist connects college students with STEM professionals. Their mannequin depends closely on skills-based volunteering. They deal with educating their particular demographic (STEM professionals typically work for big tech and science companies with beneficiant CSR budgets) concerning the availability of company grants. By embedding the search instrument and offering clear directions on their “Volunteer” web page, they make sure that their volunteers can simply monetize their mentorship hours.
In actual fact, they even excel at “doing the mathematics” for his or her volunteers. On their devoted “Volunteer Matching” web page, the group explicitly states: “We estimate every STEM pen pal donates 10 hours of their time all through the college 12 months.” Since many company grant applications require a minimal variety of hours (typically between 10 and 40), this assertion instantly validates the volunteer’s eligibility.
Moreover, the group incorporates a strong FAQ part under the search instrument that defines precisely what volunteer grants and matching presents are, offering a complete training hub for his or her supporters.
Monetizing Volunteerism: Incessantly Requested Questions
Nonetheless have questions concerning how your group can monetize volunteerism with office philanthropy? Try these FAQs to study extra:
Do volunteer grants require a 501(c)(3) standing?
Sure, most company giving applications require the recipient group to be a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit or a registered academic establishment. Nonetheless, some firms additionally help different forms of tax-exempt organizations. The precise eligibility standards for every firm are detailed inside our database.
What if a volunteer doesn’t know if their firm affords grants?
That is precisely why instruments like Double the Donation are important. It removes the guesswork! A volunteer merely varieties their firm identify within the search widget, and the platform gives rapid solutions on eligibility, minimal hour necessities, and submission hyperlinks. This empowers the volunteer to behave while not having to contact their HR division manually.
Can we monetize previous volunteer hours?
Typically, sure! Many firms permit staff to submit grant requests for volunteering carried out throughout the present calendar 12 months, or generally as much as a number of months previous the service date. Whereas submission deadlines can fluctuate by employer, it’s actually value sending a retroactive marketing campaign to your volunteer listing on the finish of the 12 months to seize any unclaimed funds from the earlier months.
How a lot funding do volunteer grants really present?
Whereas the quantity largely varies by firm, the impression is critical. Analysis signifies that 80% of firms with volunteer grant applications provide between $8 and $15 per volunteer hour. Some companies might as a substitute present a lump-sum grant as soon as a selected threshold of hours (e.g., 20 or 40 hours) is met.
Whereas a couple of {dollars} an hour may appear small in isolation, it provides up shortly, particularly when you might have a number of volunteers or company teams collaborating.
What about Volunteer Time Off?
Whereas Volunteer Time Off (VTO) will not be a direct method to monetize volunteerism (which means your nonprofit doesn’t obtain a examine just because somebody used VTO hours), it’s nonetheless a robust method to drive worth. These applications permit staff to volunteer through the workday with out dropping pay.
By selling VTO, you take away the barrier of “time” for a lot of working professionals. This helps you get extra volunteers within the door, offering important labor and expertise that save your group cash. Moreover, bringing in these company staff will increase your probabilities of securing volunteer grants later, as engaged staff usually tend to log their hours for monetary rewards.
How does this relate to employer appends?
When you’ve got a listing of volunteers however don’t know the place they work, take into account using employer appends companies. This course of scans your current information and provides employer knowledge the place obtainable. Upon getting this knowledge, you possibly can ship focused emails to volunteers who work for grant-offering firms, considerably growing your general conversion price.
Wrapping Up & Subsequent Steps
Monetizing volunteerism is a robust method to diversify your fundraising income and deepen your relationships with supporters. It transforms a easy act of service right into a monetary contribution that sustains your operations. By using Double the Donation as your major fundraising software program for office giving, you possibly can automate the invention and submission course of, guaranteeing you by no means miss out on these priceless grants.
Don’t let your volunteers’ laborious work go unrewarded by company philanthropy. Begin capturing the income your group deserves at the moment.
Able to unlock the monetary potential of your volunteer base? Join with our group to study extra about Double the Donation Volunteering.
