Dive Brief:
- Incentives like volunteer grants (also known as Dollars for Doers), matching gifts, and paid time off for volunteering are standard ways that employers and HR to help employees give back.
- Benefits like crowdraising competitions and skills-based volunteering opportunities also work, and offer a robust volunteer and giving platform that makes the whole experience social, mobile, and interactive.
- Forbes highlights one of the promising new corporate fundraising and volunteering trends: team volunteer grants. The traditional Dollars for Doers model offers grants to nonprofits for every hour that an employee volunteers with that organization, but team volunteer grants are donations given to nonprofits when employees volunteer together as a group.
Dive Insight:
Trying to transition employee interest in volunteering into action is a challenge. But when employees volunteer as a group, participation rates go up. It feels “safe” (you can show up without needing anything and do it as a part of a group), and requires no long-term commitment.
Given this reality, team volunteer grants are a compelling lure for employee volunteering, as well as a strong opportunity for team building and community impact.
If an employer is already engaged in employee-driven fundraising programs or would like to get started, team volunteer grants could work, the article says. Collectively, employees raise funds for causes they care about while working directly with the nonprofit, at the same time enjoying a social experience and improving their ability to collaborate.
