In a Time of Remote Work and Virtual Meetings, Workplace Giving Becomes Even More Important in the Fight against Coronavirus

A month ago, I didn’t know what ‘social distancing’ was. Now, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s become a fact of life that we need to stay six feet away from each other to avoid spreading germs. If you, like so many others across the country, have moved yourself and your workforce entirely remote to accommodate this new way of working, you’re likely also looking for virtual ways to help in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Enter workplace giving. Workplace giving campaigns are employer-sponsored programs that offer employees the opportunity to make tax-deductible donations to pre-vetted charities. The best part? Everything is done online. By launching a workplace giving program, you will have empowered your workforce to make a difference, from the comfort and safety of their own homes or remote workspaces. And in turn, with just a few clicks of a mouse, your team has a chance to make a difference for so many.

The Facts of Workplace Giving

Workplace giving – also known as employee giving – can take many different forms. In fact, they are as unique as the companies that host these programs. Most often, charitable contributions are offered through payroll deduction, which means a little bit is taken out of your employee’s check all year long. That’s not only easier on the employee’s bank account, it’s also easier for nonprofits, who don’t have to process hundreds or thousands of individual payments. Charitable contributions are grouped together, which greatly reduces the charity’s administrative burden to process those funds. Besides recurring payroll deductions, employees can also donate via one-time payroll deduction, credit card, bank account, check, PayPal – or even PTO, stock/securities, etc. The charities that are eligible in workplace giving campaigns are pre-vetted, eligible for tax-deductible donations, and help communities across a wide array of causes. 

Workplace Giving Options

Just as there are different ways to give, there are different technology options to choose from when considering which workplace giving program is right for your business:

• If you want to start, or already have a volunteering program, workplace giving can be combined with volunteer management, along with crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising, social sharing, and other social impact efforts using America’s Charities Engage CSR solution. Engage makes it easy to integrate all of your efforts into one program, using one technology, so it’s easier for your team to manage, and easier for the employees to participate.
• If you want to give your employees a bit more choice in how and when they donate, the America’s Charities Modern Giving solution is the ultimate in flexibility. Your team funds their account using their preferred payment method (those funds are tax-deductible right away), and then they can then grant out those funds when they wish – during your company’s regular campaign, or on the fly as the need arises. Our Snapshot Employee Donor Research shows one of the top five detractors from an employee donor’s giving experience is the limited ability to donate how and when they want. With Modern Giving, your employees drive their own giving. Plus, Modern Giving provides gamification tools to make giving across the organization exciting and even more rewarding.
• If you want to dial in on a giving-only campaign, the America’s Charities Simply Giving solution offers a choice of branded and personalized user interfaces, a full range of flexible and convenient giving options, and the ability to share your organization’s philanthropy story to spur giving. And with its many employee engagement features such as social media sharing and real-time monitoring of campaign goals, you go beyond giving to truly engage your workforce.
• If you don’t have time or budget for a full-scale workplace giving program, you can run a one-time campaign in support of coronavirus. America’s Charities Quick Start solution can be launched within 48 hours of contract signing. It comes equipped with our 120 annually vetted and pre-approved high-impact charities, offering a wide arrange of causes to support. You can also limit the choice to a specific nonprofit or a handful of charities as is often the preference for disaster giving and other special cause campaigns. We actually developed our Quick Start solution for disaster giving campaigns like the coronavirus so organizations can launch a giving campaign – fast. Giving is made by credit card only, which means if your company is using Quick Start for employee giving you don’t have to spend your energy determining what’s best for your employees or what fits with your policies. Quick Start can also easily be used by companies interested in rallying their customers and the broader public around a company-branded disaster campaign.

And all of America’s Charities’ giving and engagement solutions are mobile-friendly, come with donation matching capabilities, campaign monitoring, reporting, charity vetting, funds distribution and management, a library of how-to templates and resources, and multi-channel donor support with 95 percent donor satisfaction.

Why Workplace Giving is Uniquely Suited for Coronavirus Support

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, federal, state, and local governments are struggling to provide support – but nonprofits are already there, on the ground, providing goods, services, and other guidance when and where it’s needed most. We asked our 120+ nonprofit members to tell us how they were helping coronavirus efforts, and what they shared with us was both eye-opening, and heart-breaking. Click here to read the round-up for what they told us. There is no doubt they need support – and they need it now.

Support Your Employees in Different Ways

Want to go above and beyond helping your employees give? Click here to learn the three steps you can take right now to show your workers you care.

Get Started with Your Virtual Fundraising

To be sure, coronavirus impacts so many. Our neighbors down the street, across the country, and around the world are hurting – and they need our help. The good news is we can help, today, at our computers, from the safety of our homes or remote workspaces. And, we can help more than our neighbors – we can help our own employees. Workplace giving has stood the test of time because it works. In extreme times like these, workplace giving brings people together for the greater good, in the work to build a better world. And that is worth all of our time and effort.

Visit our Coronavirus Resource Center for additional information about the ways you can help.