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If your nonprofit is trying to break into the world of corporate philanthropy as a way to raise more money for your cause, you might be looking into a few different areas. Matching gifts, volunteer grants, challenge grants, and payroll deductions are just a few of the ways that nonprofits can benefit from the generosity of companies (and, consequently, the ways that corporations can help give back to their communities).

You can market corporate giving programs to your donors and volunteers in person, over the phone, and at fundraising events. But you can also use your automated messaging technology to let your supporters know how they can make their donations of time and money go further.

While automated messaging isn’t necessarily for every nonprofit, you can still use it to market corporate giving programs to your donors and volunteers. Marketing automation will allow you to get increasingly personal while targeting and marketing with precision to each individual donor.

Let’s learn about integrating corporate philanthropy with automated messaging!

And for really great examples of corporate philanthropy, check out these ten companies leading the charge.

1. Use mass texting to mention matching gifts.

Matching gifts are the “buy one, get one free” sales of corporate giving programs. They generally work like this:

1. A donor makes a contribution to your nonprofit.
   
   
2. The donor then submits a matching gift request to their employer.
   
   
3. The employer receives the request and decides whether or not to match the donation (based on eligibility requirements and donation minimums and maximums).
   
   
4. The company matches the donation and sends the money to your nonprofit.
   
   
5. Your organization must verify that the donation was received.
   
   
6. You now have two donations when you initially only asked for one!
   
   

The only chink in the matching gift armor is the fact that some of your donors might not even know that their employer will match their donation!

How can you receive twice as many contributions if your supporters aren’t aware of the matching gift programs that their employers may offer?

A simple solution to this problem is mass texting.

Sending out a text message to your donors that mentions matching gifts is a great supplement to your existing fundraising appeals. Even if you text an individual who gave a donation six months ago, they might still be eligible to have that donation matched; matching gift deadlines can be as short as three months, but some extend to over a year.

There’s a chance that some of the donors you text work for companies that will double their donations. Don’t miss out on a double scoop’s worth of contributions by not texting your donors matching gift information!

2. Send emails to your volunteers immediately after they’ve donated their time.

Emails are a tried and true way to get in touch with volunteers. If you need to quickly let your supporters know about a volunteering opportunity, sending out a mass email is the way to go.

But emails can also be a great way to let your volunteers know how they can make their hours of support go even further.

Volunteer grants are the best friends of matching gifts. The two are often paired together as corporate giving programs that reward the charity of employees.

Volunteer grants work very similarly to matching gifts as well. After a volunteer has given a certain amount of time to your organization, they submit a request for a volunteer grant to their employer. Usually, companies will set a threshold number of hours that must be reached before the funds are released.

If you keep good tabs on all of your volunteers’ hours (and other metrics as well!), you’ll be able to send out automated messages as soon as they’ve crossed the threshold for a volunteer grant or if they’re just a couple of hours short.

While not every single one of your volunteers is going to work for a company that will reward their dedication with a volunteer grant, your automated emails can remind those that do that they’ll need to send in their applications soon.

3. Don’t forget your automated acknowledgements.

Imagine you receive a present from a good friend. It’s just what you’ve wanted for months, and you’re so excited and happy that they know you so well.

You write out a long thank you letter and even place it in an envelope with a stamp.

But instead of mailing it out to your friend, it sits on your coffee table for weeks before you eventually throw it away.

What good did that letter do? Does your friend even know how appreciative you are for that great gift?

Now imagine a similar scenario occurring at your nonprofit. A donor gives a contribution and has their donation matched, and yet it’s all quiet on the acknowledgement front.

If you automate your acknowledgements once you receive matching funds from a donor’s employer, your supporters will:

1. Know that their matched donation was verified and received.
   
   
2. Appreciate the fact that you’re thanking them for the second donation.
   

Your organization should already be sending out acknowledgements for donors’ initial contributions. But if you send out automated emails letting donors know that the second donation came in, they’ll know that your nonprofit is truly grateful.

Conclusion

There are so many ways to use text messaging and emails to connect with your donors and volunteers. Some nonprofits have even looked to mobile fundraising as a way to generate more revenue and support for their causes. 

But your organization can use your existing automated messaging to connect your donors with the various corporate philanthropy programs that their employers might offer. Not only will you be able to receive the donations and time of your dedicated donors and volunteers, but you’ll also be able to let them know about matching gift programs, volunteer grants, and other corporate giving programs that might be available to them.

Author Bio

Adam Weinger

Adam Weinger is the President of Double the Donation, the leading provider of tools to nonprofits to help them raise more money from corporate matching gift and volunteer grant programs. Connect with Adam via email or on LinkedIn.

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