There are a variety of ways that corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs can support employee volunteerism, from offering volunteer PTO to hosting a company-wide day of service. If you’re looking to expand your corporation’s CSR volunteer options, consider launching your own Dollars for Doers program.
Dollars for Doers, or D4D, has gained popularity in recent years as an effective corporate volunteer program. If you’ve heard of Grants for Time, Dollar for Hour, or Matching Time programs, these are all the same thing.
There has been a lot of buzz in the CSR community around the value and benefits of this type of program, and this guide has all the details you need to know. We’ll dive deeper into what Dollars for Doers is and how your company can get involved.
What is Dollars for Doers?
Dollars for Doers is an employee giving program in which a company provides monetary support, or volunteer grants, to nonprofits after their employees volunteer.
Unlike volunteer PTO, in which your company essentially pays your employee for their volunteer hours, in a Dollars for Doers program, your company donates directly to the nonprofit. Your employee gives their own time, then your company gives monetarily. Here’s how it works:
- Your company sets parameters for which nonprofits qualify, how much you’re willing to donate, and how many volunteer hours a donation requires.
- An employee volunteers for a nonprofit of their choice on their own time and tracks the hours spent volunteering.
- After volunteering, the employee reports it to your company and requests a donation from the Dollars for Doers program.
- If the volunteering opportunity follows your eligibility guidelines, your company sends the nonprofit a donation.
That’s it! It’s a fairly straightforward process for both employees and employers, and it benefits nonprofits by giving them both volunteers and additional funding they can use to further their purpose.
Who can implement a Dollars for Doers program?
Any company with interested employees and a passion for CSR can get involved with Dollars for Doers.
Many corporations are already tapping into this program. Take a look at these companies that go above and beyond to strengthen their Dollars for Doers programs. Companies like ExxonMobil, Google, and Disney all have their own Dollars for Doers programs offered at different rates and use them to engage employees while supporting nonprofits.
How Dollars for Doers can benefit your company
Aside from strengthening your overall CSR program and giving back to your community, Dollars for Doers offers the following benefits:
- It improves your company’s public image. The more positivity you surround your company with, the better. Stocking up on positive press is always beneficial, especially concerning the gift of a person’s time to organizations in need. Plus, when the public views your company as socially responsible, you can end up recruiting more employees who place a high value on working for responsible companies.
- It helps employees develop job-related skills. Volunteering offers a wealth of benefits for anyone, but it can especially benefit your company by developing employee skills that can transition to the workplace. Dollars for Doers incentivizes volunteering, leading to more employee development in the long run.
- It increases employee engagement. Employees want to volunteer and help make a difference in their community. And, when employees feel their company makes a positive impact, they see fulfillment not only in their work, but in the corporations they work for.
If you’re ready to take advantage of this opportunity, consider starting your own volunteer program or adding Dollars for Doers into your existing pool of CSR initiatives.
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