Final Up to date on December 18, 2025
Think about if each hour a volunteer spent together with your nonprofit got here with a $25 examine hooked up to it. For a lot of of your supporters, this isn’t a fantasy—it’s a actuality ready to be claimed.
Volunteer grants, typically referred to as “{Dollars} for Doers,” are company giving applications the place corporations donate cash to nonprofits based mostly on the hours their workers volunteer. It’s primarily free cash on your mission. But, billions of {dollars} in company philanthropy go unclaimed yearly just because volunteers don’t know these applications exist.
The hole isn’t a scarcity of generosity; it’s a lack of expertise. That’s the place volunteer grant advertising and marketing is available in.
To bridge this hole, you don’t want an enormous promoting finances. You want a wise, focused technique that educates your supporters and makes it easy for them to submit their hours. On this information, we’ll transfer past the fundamentals and dive into actionable advertising and marketing techniques that flip your volunteer base right into a income engine.
We are going to cowl:
Let’s dive in and begin turning these volunteer hours into important funding.
Half 1: The Hidden Worth of Volunteer Grants
Earlier than you possibly can market volunteer grants successfully, it’s essential perceive the size of the chance. These aren’t simply small change; they’re a big, underutilized income stream.
What Are Volunteer Grants?
Volunteer grants are company giving applications the place an organization offers a financial donation to an eligible nonprofit as a reward for an worker’s volunteer service.
- Thresholds: Corporations sometimes require a minimal variety of hours (e.g., 10, 20, or 40 hours) to be served in a calendar yr.
- Payouts: As soon as the edge is met, the corporate points a examine. This is usually a set quantity (e.g., $500 for 20 hours) or an hourly price (e.g., $25 per hour).
Did You Know? 40% of Fortune 500 corporations provide volunteer grant applications. Moreover, 80% of corporations with these applications provide between $8 and $15 per hour volunteered. With the estimated worth of a volunteer hour hitting $34.79 in 2024, securing a grant successfully doubles the worth of each hour served.
Why Advertising Issues
The statistics are stark: whereas thousands and thousands of people work for corporations with these applications, the common worker participation price is barely 3%. Why? As a result of nobody instructed them. Your advertising and marketing technique is the catalyst that transforms a passive volunteer into an lively fundraiser.
Half 2: Constructing Your Volunteer Grant Advertising Technique
You don’t must reinvent the wheel. The best volunteer grant advertising and marketing integrates seamlessly into the communications you might be already sending. Here’s a channel-by-channel playbook.
1. Web site Placement: The “Passive” Ask
Your web site is your 24/7 improvement officer. Be sure that volunteer grants are seen the place supporters are already wanting.
- The “Methods to Give” Web page: Add a bit explicitly titled “Company Volunteering” or “Employer Grants.” Clarify that their time can double as a monetary reward.
- The Volunteer Touchdown Web page: That is crucial. Earlier than somebody even indicators up for a shift, they need to see a message: “Do you’re employed for an identical reward firm? Your hours may very well be price cash to us!”
- Search Device: Embed a company giving database device (like Double the Donation) instantly on these pages. This permits guests to sort of their employer’s title and immediately see if they’re eligible for a grant.
2. E-mail Advertising: The “Lively” Ask
E-mail is your most direct line to supporters. Use it to coach and remind.
- The Welcome Collection: When a brand new volunteer registers, your automated welcome electronic mail ought to embody a “Do you know?” part about volunteer grants.
- The “Milestone” E-mail: Set off an automatic electronic mail when a volunteer hits a particular hour threshold (e.g., 10 or 20 hours).
Topic Line: “You’re a star! (And also you is perhaps eligible for a grant)”
Physique: “Congrats on reaching 20 hours! Do you know many corporations, like [Company A] and [Company B], will donate $500 for this milestone? Click on right here to examine your eligibility.” - Seasonal Campaigns: Throughout Nationwide Volunteer Month (April) or the end-of-year giving season, ship a devoted blast reminding volunteers to log their hours and submit grant requests earlier than company deadlines expire.
3. Social Media: The “Public” Ask
Social media is ideal for fast, participating reminders that normalize company giving.
- Success Tales: Share a photograph of a volunteer (let’s name him Mark). “Because of Mark for strolling canines each Saturday! And an enormous thanks to [Mark’s Employer] for his or her $500 volunteer grant that paid for pet food this month!”
Why it really works: It publicly acknowledges the volunteer (retention!) and the corporate (stewardship!), whereas subtly educating different followers that that is one thing they’ll do too. - Tagging Corporations: Once you host a company group, tag the corporate on LinkedIn and Fb. “Thanks to the group from @Salesforce for volunteering! We love our company companions.”
4. On-Web site Advertising: The “In-Individual” Ask
Seize volunteers whereas they’re engaged within the work.
- Signage: Place a QR code at your volunteer check-in kiosk or entrance desk. “Verify in case your employer pays us on your time at this time!”
- Coaching Supplies: Embrace a one-pager about volunteer grants in your volunteer handbook or orientation packet.
- Verbal Reminders: Prepare your volunteer coordinators to say grants in the course of the pre-shift briefing or post-shift thanks. “Thanks for coming at this time! Please bear in mind to log your hours—lots of your employers will match them with a donation!”.
Half 3: Figuring out Eligible Volunteers
You’ll be able to’t market to these you don’t know. The largest hurdle for a lot of nonprofits is a scarcity of employment information. Right here is methods to repair that.
1. Replace Your Consumption Types
The most effective time to ask is at first. Add an non-obligatory “Employer” area to your volunteer registration type.
Professional Tip: Use a search device/drop-down menu quite than a free-text area to make sure standardized information (e.g., “Microsoft” as a substitute of “MSFT” or “Microsoft Inc.”).
2. The “Replace Your Profile” Marketing campaign
Ship an annual survey to your present volunteer base. Body it as a option to “assist us serve you higher” or “replace our information.” Ask about their present employer and if they’ve entry to a company portal like Benevity or CyberGrants.
3. Knowledge Appends
You probably have a big database with electronic mail addresses however no employer information, think about utilizing an information append service. These instruments can scan your checklist in opposition to public information and LinkedIn information to determine the place your supporters work, permitting you to phase your advertising and marketing lists for high-value employers like Verizon or Disney.
Fast Tip: Retirees are eligible too! Corporations like Intel and Chevron lengthen volunteer grant eligibility to retirees. Don’t exclude your older volunteers out of your advertising and marketing; create a particular phase only for them.
Guide monitoring is sustainable for 10 volunteers, however not for 1,000. Expertise is the important thing to scaling your volunteer grant advertising and marketing with out burning out your workers.
1. Double the Donation
That is the trade normal for automating company giving.
The Magic: It integrates together with your donation varieties and volunteer registration pages. When a consumer enters their employer, the system routinely checks eligibility and triggers a personalised electronic mail with the precise varieties and subsequent steps they want.
The Profit: You don’t should be a “grant knowledgeable.” The system handles the rules for 1000’s of corporations so that you don’t should.
2. Volunteer Administration Methods (VMS)
A Volunteer Administration System (also referred to as a VMS) is designed to log hours precisely.
Integration: Many of those platforms combine instantly with matching reward instruments, making a seamless circulate from “Hour Logged” to “Grant Requested.”
Reporting: Use your VMS to generate reviews on “Volunteers approaching grant thresholds” so you possibly can ship focused nudges.
Half 5: Overcoming Frequent Limitations to Entry
Even with a compelling advertising and marketing marketing campaign, friction is the enemy of conversion. If a volunteer hits a snag whereas attempting to submit a grant request—whether or not it’s a complicated type or a lapse in reminiscence—you lose that income. To safe these “{dollars} for doers,” your nonprofit advertising and marketing technique should actively dismantle the logistical and psychological roadblocks standing of their manner.
Barrier 1: “I Don’t Know If I’m Eligible”
The Impediment: Most volunteers assume that solely large firms like Google or Microsoft provide grants. They don’t notice that 1000’s of mid-sized corporations, regional banks, and insurance coverage corporations additionally take part.
The Answer: The Prompt Search
Don’t make them dig via their worker handbook. Present instant solutions instantly in your web site.
- Embed a Search Device: Place a company giving search device (like Double the Donation) in your volunteer touchdown web page. This permits supporters to sort of their firm title and immediately see tips, minimal hour thresholds, and hyperlinks to varieties.
- Record High Native Employers: Create a “High Companions” part in your web site itemizing native employers identified for company philanthropy. Seeing their firm’s emblem validates their eligibility immediately.
Barrier 2: “It’s Too A lot Paperwork”
The Impediment: The time period “grant” implies hours of writing proposals and filling out advanced varieties. Volunteers concern getting slowed down in forms.
The Answer: The “5-Minute” Promise
Reframe the method by highlighting the effectivity of recent CSR platforms.
- Digital Portals: Educate volunteers that the majority corporations use streamlined portals like Benevity, CyberGrants, or YourCause. These platforms typically enable workers to log hours and request a grant in below 5 minutes.
- Direct Hyperlinks: In your electronic mail communications, present direct URLs to those portals every time potential. Eradicating the step of “trying to find the login web page” considerably will increase conversion charges.
Barrier 3: “I Forgot (The Amnesia Issue)”
The Impediment: Volunteers are busy. They could depart a shift desiring to log their hours “later,” however “later” by no means comes.
The Answer: Automated Triggers
Combine your volunteer administration software program together with your communications technique to catch them whereas the reminiscence is recent.
- Submit-Shift Automation: Arrange an automated electronic mail to set off 1 hour after a shift ends. “Thanks for volunteering at this time! Don’t overlook to log your hours right here [Link] to unlock your company grant.”
- Milestone Nudges: When a volunteer hits a standard threshold (e.g., 20 hours), ship a celebratory electronic mail that doubles as a reminder: “You simply hit 20 hours! That’s the magic quantity for a $500 grant from many employers. Verify your standing now.”
Barrier 4: “My Firm Doesn’t Supply a Program”
The Impediment: A volunteer checks their eligibility and finds nothing. They really feel they’ve hit a useless finish.
The Answer: Advocacy Instruments
Flip that “no” right into a “not but.” Empower these volunteers to develop into inner champions on your trigger.
- Advocacy Templates: Present a pre-written electronic mail they’ll ship to their HR or CSR division asking to begin a volunteer grant program. (See Template 3 on this information).
- Various Giving: If grants aren’t an choice, counsel different methods their firm may help you, reminiscent of matching presents for money donations or organizing a group service day.
Wrapping Up & Subsequent Steps
Volunteer grant advertising and marketing is about working smarter, not more durable. By educating the supporters who’re already in your constructing, you possibly can unlock a sustainable stream of unrestricted income that grows together with your volunteer program.
Don’t let these company {dollars} disappear. Begin small, automate the place you possibly can, and rejoice each win.
Able to launch your technique?
- Audit your web site: Is there a transparent “Company Volunteering” part?
- Verify your varieties: Are you amassing employer information from new volunteers?
- Ship one electronic mail: Decide your high 50 most lively volunteers and ship them a private observe asking if their firm gives grants.
With the precise message on the proper time, you possibly can flip each hour of service right into a monetary funding in your mission. And Double the Donation Volunteering may also help! Get a personalised demo to see their platform in motion and see how the automation instruments make volunteer grant advertising and marketing simpler than ever earlier than.