Employee Giving: How to Increase Your ROI Regardless of Fundraising

If you are a developer at a nonprofit in the healthcare, educational, or any other sector, you’ve probably struggled with employee giving programs that generate more costs than donations, right? 

This is the reality for many organizations, and the root of the problem is often the same: low engagement. 

It’s common for these programs to have participation rates below 10% of employees, and for the few who do participate, retention rates are even more concerning. But why aren’t employees—the ones who should be most committed to their organization’s social projects—interested in giving? 

The causes are numerous, but in all cases, breaking this pattern requires the same approach: a radical shift in focus. Employee giving programs are typically designed with the goal of maximizing fundraising. While this might make sense in the short term, the problem is that initiatives aimed at increasing fundraising often run counter to those designed to boost engagement. 

This is the turning point. Getting the maximum number of employees engaged in your employee giving program must become your obsession. When an employee participates in a giving program, regardless of the amount donated, the bonds connecting that employee to your organization are strengthened, leading to multiple positive effects. 

It’s important to remember that your employees are members of your community, and helping the community is, above all, in their best interest. It’s up to your program to provide the flexibility and reach needed to ensure everyone can take part. 

“But does prioritizing engagement mean I’ll raise less funds?” 

No, it doesn’t. In fact, even though focusing on engagement might involve initiatives that take this approach—such as encouraging smaller donations to get more people to give—in the long run, engagement always tends to drive higher fundraising results. 

But the important thing here is to understand two key points: (1) the success of your employee giving program shouldn’t be measured solely by the amount raised; and (2) you don’t necessarily need to raise more to make your program financially sustainable. In fact, here’s a spoiler: improving engagement in your program can deliver a much higher ROI than any direct fundraising you’ve ever achieved. 

I won’t go into detail about strategies to boost engagement in your program—this text isn’t about that. But to understand how engagement can deliver a higher ROI than your actual fundraising, we need to align on three basic principles of an engaging giving experience that your program must have: 

1. Accessibility 

Every employee in your organization, from doctors to janitors, must be able to participate in your program. This means it needs to be available on the channels they regularly use (computers, mobile devices, internal work tools) and provide a great experience for everyone, whether they’re donating $1,000 or $5. 

2. Recurrence 

Your program needs activation triggers to encourage employees to donate again, ideally on a monthly basis. Sporadic donations don’t create the necessary impact for strong engagement. 

3. Impact Feedback 

Your employees need to clearly and immediately understand how every dollar donated will be used to improve lives, even if that measurement is only an estimate. This dynamic is essential for building a conscious connection between the donor and the cause they’re helping. 

Organizations that successfully implement employee giving programs based on these three principles can achieve participation rates of 30% to 50% of their entire workforce. This means a significantly larger number of people donating and engaging with the organization’s purpose. And this is where the path to your ROI begins. 

Purpose: Your New Source of ROI 

A study by Cone Communications found that 71% of employees want their company to provide opportunities to help make a positive impact on the organization’s social and environmental commitments. Meanwhile, Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace Report, conducted across 183,000 companies in 90 different countries, revealed that companies with highly engaged employees experience 51% lower turnover rates. 

These findings point to two key insights: (1) your employees want to engage in your employee giving initiatives; (2) employees who engage tend to stay longer at your company. Considering that an employee turnover costs approximately one-third of their annual salary, we can conclude that highly engaging employee giving programs can lead to significant cost savings for your organization. But to grasp the full extent of this impact, we need to establish a hypothetical example based on benchmark data. 

Calculating Cost Reduction 

Imagine an organization with 50,000 employees, an average salary of $80,000 per employee, and a turnover rate of 20%. Running the numbers, we find that this organization incurs an annual turnover cost of approximately $264,000,000. 

Now imagine that this same organization implemented a highly engaging employee giving program, achieving a participation rate of 30% of its workforce—equivalent to 15,000 participants in absolute numbers. 

Among these participants, a 51% reduction in the turnover rate was observed, as expected in high-engagement scenarios according to Gallup’s research. Of the 3,000 expected turnovers for the year, only 1,470 occurred. Calculating the costs associated with these turnovers, the total dropped from $79,200,000 to $38,808,000. In other words, a savings of $40,392,000. 

Now let me ask you: how feasible is it to raise over $40 million through an employee giving program? 

Of course, this is a hypothetical scenario—many variables could affect this outcome in a real-world setting. However, the most important takeaway here is understanding that the cost-saving potential of a highly engaging employee giving program far outweighs its fundraising potential. Therefore, engaging more people in your program should be a top priority. 

I strongly recommend that you use your organization’s actual data to simulate the potential cost savings from reduced turnover. I’m sure you’ll be excited about the results. 

Engaging more people in giving not only drives ROI but also fosters happiness, well-being, and a genuine connection to the social causes your organization supports. It’s a virtuous cycle that benefits the donors, the recipients, and your organization as the bridge between them.