2 Simple Strategies to Increase Donations Using Your Website

Meals on Wheels of San Francisco includes Employer Matching Gifts as a subsection of its Ways to Give page (see image 2 at right). When someone clicks on Employer Matching Gifts, she sees a catchy image inviting donors to check to see if their employers will match their gifts, as well as two short paragraphs describing how easy it is for donors to get their gifts to the nonprofit matched.

Volunteer opportunity pages
Most nonprofit organizations also offer the opportunity for constituents to volunteer, whether it’s skill-based volunteering or hands-on help at events. Using these pages to promote volunteer grant programs is another great way to utilize your digital savviness to increase fundraising dollars.

While the number of corporations offering volunteer grant programs as part of their corporate philanthropy isn’t as high as the number offering matching-gift programs, there is still a large amount of money being unclaimed by nonprofit organizations via their volunteers.

When an employee of a company volunteers with an eligible nonprofit organization, there is the opportunity for that employee to submit a volunteer grant request, which comes in two different forms. Some companies require employees to volunteer a certain number of hours before they can request volunteer grants (for example, if an employee of Best Buy volunteers 40 hours in one year, Best Buy will provide a $1,000 monetary grant to the same organization). The other type of grant is when a company pays a per-hour rate. For example, if a Capital One employee volunteers with a nonprofit organization, Capital One will pay $1 per hour volunteered.

Again, the biggest obstacle for a nonprofit organization trying to receive donations via volunteer grant programs is the lack of knowledge on the constituent level. Use your website to educate your volunteers! Include pictures, fancy buttons and simple text that promote corporate giving programs to your followers, and simply ask them to check with their companies about these opportunities.