When you make your company’s workplace giving campaigns easy for employees to participate in, their engagement will increase dramatically. Here are some basic strategies you can use to make it easier for your employees to give:
Offer Payroll Deductions
Offering automatic payroll deductions is a great way for employees to donate to a charitable cause. When they do so, they are able to actually take advantage of their tax deduction without needing a physical receipt from the charity. With a payroll deduction, the money comes out of the employee’s pre-tax income even before the employee receives his or her paycheck. Another benefit is that a payroll deduction allows an employee to break down an annual contribution into smaller payments spaced throughout the year.
Promote Employer Matching
One useful way to make it easy for your staff to participate in an employee giving program is to set up an employer matching program. This means that for every dollar an employee donates, the company matches it. The benefit to the employee is the knowledge that their donation is effectively being doubled once the company has matched it. Often the gifts that the company is matching are made by the employee outside of the workplace and they need to be verified before matching, but the verification process is typically very straightforward.
Set up Online Donations
Online donations are on the rise. They are quick, simple, and can be done from any location. Each year, online donating increases as more people become aware of how easy it is. Using a secure online donation platform will put your employees at ease knowing their donations are being vetted safely. This secure platform would typically be incorporated into your internal employee website or intranet. Your company can also set up a charitable giving page on your website, with links to the various charities that you and your employees have decided to support so people can learn more about them.
Use Email and Social Media Campaigns
You can help encourage employees give to charities by taking advantage of email and social media campaigns. Occasional emails distributed throughout your organization can help remind employees of their options for giving and can highlight some of the accomplishments that your company’s employee giving program has achieved. You can also utilize social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter to post information and share direct links to the secure donation pages of your company’s CSR campaigns.
Don’t Forget Face Time
Chances are not every employee in your organization sits in front of a computer all day. If your company relies exclusively on electronic means to engage with staff for employee giving, you may miss out on valuable contributions from a significant part of your workforce. Getting some face time with these employees to present their opportunities for workplace giving is a great way to get around this challenge. Sometimes you’ll need to have these employees fill out donation cards for someone else to enter into your electronic system, but this extra step is well worth the effort.
No matter which methods your employees choose in order to donate, never forget to recognize them for their contributions. While giving to charities is usually reward enough, it never hurts for someone to know that their support is appreciated.
Learn More about FrontStream's Workplace Philanthropy Platform
