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According to Giving USA, Americans contribute over $300 billion a year to nonprofit organizations and causes. Of this, about $5 billion is contributed through thousands of workplace giving programs. Today, workplaces have become more decentralized, flexible and remote, which makes it more challenging for companies to conduct workplace giving programs in the traditional sense.
Workplace giving is certainly not new – American Express asked its employees to contribute change to help build the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty in 1885 – and the first community fundraising campaign was in Cleveland in 1913. But workplace really took off when the GE Foundation offered to match employee contributions to their alma maters in 1954.
United Way was the leading beneficiary of this type of workplace giving for well over half a century, but its influence began to wane as more companies professionalized their giving programs and employees became more sophisticated in their choices of nonprofits and causes to contribute to.
Now, innovative approaches are needed to reinvigorate workplace giving, and luckily there are numerous new enterprises designed to do just that.
Here are just three:
Global Giving. Global Giving has been assisting individuals to give to the charitable projects of their choice around the world for almost 20 years. Unlike traditional employee gift matching programs and giving campaigns that provide unrestricted support to organizations, Global Giving encourages nonprofit organizations to apply for funding for a project with a specific campaign goal. Individuals can then give to the project and get updates on how their money is being used to assist the goal of that project. Currently, there are over 6,500 projects listed on the Global Giving site, and these can be sorted by country or cause – making it easy for any employee anywhere in the world to find causes and projects to support. If an individual is having trouble deciding, Global Giving has a Project of the Month that people can support with their donations. Global Giving is a one-stop way for companies to create a global workplace giving program that provides plenty of freedom of choice and flexibility.
Legacy Collective. Founded in Austin, Texas, Legacy Collective is a community of givers who commit to a monthly donation from $35 to $1,000 and join a Giving Circle. These Giving Circle donors then nominate, approve and contribute quarterly grants to the organizations of their choice around the world. Since its inception in 2015, Legacy Collective has raised nearly $5 million from 600 monthly giving circle members, and recently it created the Afghanistan Relief Fund, which has raised over $100,000 from over 1,100 donors, many of whom are first time givers. While small in numbers, Legacy Collective is taking advantage of research that has shown that donors who participate in giving circles – in which individuals pool their money and decide collectively how to distribute it – give more than other donors, give more strategically and give to a greater number of organizations.
Philanthropi. Philanthropi helps individuals establish their own Impact Accounts, which operate like traditional donor-advised funds. These Impact Accounts allow the “owner” to control, measure and track their contributions, choose the charities they wish to support, and decide how quickly they want their funds distributed. These Impact Accounts also offer volunteer opportunities and track the hours and minutes that donors volunteer with their organizations. Philanthropi provides opportunities for donors to rally support from their families, friends and co-workers, and it facilitates these networks on behalf of selected charities and causes. The platform also provides articles and social content around giving through its ThinkLab site.
While some workplace giving programs have remained vibrant and inclusive, as workplaces change so too will workplace giving programs. In order to maintain this critical source of contributions in our communities, employees will need different and technologically savvy approaches to assist with their giving and volunteering. These platforms provide three innovative ways of doing so.
