Main Takeaways:

• Most charitable needs are local, but enterprise CSR programs are often built for national scale, leaving smaller, community-rooted nonprofits underfunded and harder to reach.
• Employee match programs are a valuable way to support local nonprofits. By combining contributions, collaborative giving can unlock larger grants and deepen community impact.
• Giving Circles, a structured form of collaborative giving, close that gap by empowering employees to surface and champion local nonprofits, while the CSR team retains oversight and reporting.
• Pairing front-end collective giving experiences with enterprise-grade CSR technology enables companies to support thousands of local causes without thousands of new administrative tasks.
• Going forward, the impact leaders pulling ahead will measure more than dollars out the door. They will track participation, retention, and the reach of their dollars into the communities where employees actually live and work.

The Tension Between Scale and Locality in Corporate Giving

Most CSR leaders running national or global programs share a quiet frustration. The communities their employees care about are local: a food bank in Tulsa, a youth mentoring program in Newark, a wildfire recovery effort in Sonoma County. But the giving programs built to serve a workforce of 20,000 or 100,000 were designed for scale, not specificity.

Look at how people give when they have a real say in where the money goes. When individuals come together in structured groups known as Giving Circles, they overwhelmingly fund local causes. Nearly three-quarters (70%) of giving-circle leaders report that their funds stay in their home state, and nearly half (47%) make grants within the same city, town, or county, according to research from the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy.

When people choose collectively, they tend to support the places they live, and employees are unlikely to be an exception. Yet most corporate giving programs default to large national nonprofits with established intake processes, recognizable brands, and the staff capacity to navigate enterprise compliance reviews.

The result is a disconnect between where employees feel the most pull and where corporate dollars actually land. Employee match programs do reach local nonprofits, and that matters. But individual contributions amplified by match are typically small relative to what a community-rooted organization needs to grow or sustain a program. The largest corporate philanthropic dollars — discretionary grants, foundation investments, and cause partnerships — are allocated through processes employees have little influence over. There is a model that changes that dynamic: Giving Circles.

What Is a Giving Circle?

A Giving Circle is a form of collective giving in which a group of people pool resources, learn about issues, and decide together where to direct support. Members nominate nonprofit organizations, discuss what they learn, and vote on where the group’s combined funding goes.

In a corporate setting, Giving Circles can be organized around an office, an Employee Resource Group (ERG), a shared cause area, or a cultural moment. Funding can come from employee contributions, corporate matching, dollars-for-doers programs, corporate foundations, or CSR budgets, which means employees can participate fully in the nominating, learning, and voting process whether or not they contribute personally. That flexibility is what makes the model both inclusive and scalable.

The category is growing quickly. Between 2017 and 2023, collective giving grew more than 140% in both participation and total dollars, reaching nearly 4,000 groups, around 370,000 participants, and over $3.1 billion donated. The model has moved from the margins of philanthropy into something CSR leaders should understand and consider.

Why Smaller Nonprofits Struggle to Access Meaningful Corporate Dollars

The barriers facing small, local nonprofits are operational, not philosophical.

A neighborhood literacy program with two staff members cannot easily complete a multi-page vendor questionnaire, hold a W-9 in the right format, or respond to a quarterly impact survey. Even when corporate giving teams want to fund them, the cost of onboarding a $5,000 grantee partner can match the cost of onboarding a $500,000 one. The result is that compliance requirements, not community priorities, often determine who gets funded.

This is not a failure of intent. It is a failure of infrastructure. Fifty-five percent of Giving Circle survey respondents support nonprofits with budgets under $1 million, and 83% said their groups prioritized giving to organizations supporting marginalized communities. These are precisely the organizations least likely to appear on a standard corporate nonprofit partner list. Reaching them at scale requires a different model.

How Collective Giving Changes the Funding Flow

Collective giving inverts the usual corporate giving sequence. Instead of CSR teams sourcing, evaluating, and selecting nonprofits on behalf of the company, employees do that work themselves as part of a structured group. They nominate organizations from their own communities, share why those causes matter, and vote together on where pooled funding goes.

This shift does three things at once.

First, it surfaces local nonprofits that would never reach a small, corporate giving team through traditional channels. Employees are the best researchers a CSR program has. They know which after-school program their kids attend, which shelter helped a colleague, which mutual aid network responded fastest during the last storm.

Second, it changes how employees experience giving. Eighty-six percent of collective giving members say participation increased their confidence in taking action to change their community, and 59% report that it increased their advocacy on issues they care about personally. That is a different outcome than a one-click payroll deduction produces.

Third, it deepens commitment over time. According to the GivingTuesday Data Commons, nationally just under 2% of new donors start with recurring giving. On Grapevine, more than 73% of new donors in 2025 chose to give recurring contributions. When people give as part of a group, they give differently.

Operational Efficiency and Centralized Reporting

For CSR leaders, the question is not whether collective giving creates engagement. The data on that is clear. The question is whether it creates more administrative work.

It does not have to. The anxiety around local giving is usually about three things: vetting, distribution, and reporting. Each can be designed out of the employee experience without being designed out of the program.

Grapevine handles the front end. Employees nominate trusted nonprofits, learn together, and direct funds collectively, with the structure of a Giving Circle keeping participation organized and decisions transparent. YourCause from Blackbaud’s employee engagement and grantmaking technology provides the enterprise infrastructure underneath: verified nonprofit data, payment processing, and centralized reporting across teams, locations, and programs.

A CSR team running Giving Circles across fifteen offices does not need to manage fifteen separate vendor relationships or stitch fifteen impact reports together by hand. They get a single view of participation, dollars deployed, and nonprofits funded, with the local specificity preserved underneath. The employee experience stays intimate and community-rooted. The administrative experience stays centralized and enterprise-grade.

What Impact Leaders Should Track in 2026

The CSR programs gaining ground in 2026 are the ones measuring beyond dollars donated. A few metrics worth elevating:

Participation breadth. What percentage of employees engaged with the program at all, not just gave? Collective giving creates opportunities for engagement beyond being a donor: nominator, advocate, voter, group facilitator. Each is a meaningful form of participation. Benchmark participation rates against peers of similar size, industry, or geography using CSR benchmarking frameworks and industry reports such as the YourCause CSR Industry Report to assess program performance and maturity.

Local reach. How many nonprofits with budgets under $1 million received contributions large enough to be consequential to their operations — not just a single employee donation amplified by match — through your program this year, and how many were located in the same metros as the employees who chose them? This is the equity question made measurable.

Retention and recurrence. Are employees coming back? Are they giving recurrently? A program that activates a giver once and loses them is leaving value on the table.

Outcomes reported. Do employees say the program helped them feel more connected to their community, more confident as changemakers, more proud of where they work? Fifty-five percent of collective giving members report a positive impact on their ability to lead healthy lives, physically, mentally, and spiritually. That kind of outcome compounds.

When CSR strategy moves from a one-size-fits-all national program to a model that responsibly supports local causes, the case for impact gets stronger, not weaker. The visibility, governance, and scalability are still there. They are just doing different work.

When it comes to corporate volunteering, many people assume that more options mean better outcomes. But the truth is, most organizations don’t struggle to come up with ideas. They struggle to choose the right ones for their workforce, their goals, and their level of program maturity.

For example:

• A skills-based volunteering program might deliver incredible impact but require more planning than your team can realistically support.
• A volunteer day could drive strong participation in one office but fall flat with a remote workforce.
• Some activities are easy to launch but difficult to scale; while others are measurable but only interest a small group of employees.

So, to help you decide which ones will work for you, we’ve created a list of 11 corporate volunteering activities for your team; as well as practical guidance on who it works for and key considerations before getting started.

Main Takeaways:

• The best volunteering activity isn’t necessarily the most popular. It’s the one that best aligns with your workforce, goals, and program maturity.
• Different volunteering opportunities deliver different outcomes, from increased engagement to leadership development and measurable community impact.
• Employee interests matter. Programs that align volunteering opportunities with causes employees care about often see stronger participation.
• A successful volunteering strategy balances accessibility, impact, and long-term sustainability rather than relying on one type of activity.

How to Choose the Right Volunteering Opportunity

Every volunteering activity delivers a slightly different outcome. Some are designed to maximize participation. Others are better suited to leadership development, ESG goals, or long-term community impact. Before choosing an activity, ask yourself a simple question: Which outcome matters most?

1. Start with your goal

If you want to:

• Increase participation: Prioritize team-based activities that are flexible, social, and easy to join.
• Demonstrate impact: Focus on more skills-based opportunities and/or long-term non-profit partnerships.
• Scale globally and engage remote teams: Offer flexible options with a mix of in-person and hybrid options.

2. Be realistic about constraints

• How much time can your team practically commit to? Is there more demand for short-term micro-volunteering events, or longer ongoing projects?
• How is your workforce set up? Do you need to accommodate for deskless employees or a hybrid set up? Are all offices local or global?
• What level of maturity is your program? Is corporate social impact new to your organization or a pivotal part of your company culture?

3. Consider employee interests and values

Employee participation is often stronger when opportunities align with causes employees already care about. This is particularly important as volunteering continues to shift toward more flexible and personalized experiences that align with employees’ specific interests, passions, and availability. To meet this need, gather insights from employee surveys, past impact data, key moments that matter and awareness days, as well as relevant industry findings, including the types of causes employees want to support.

4. Use these insights as a filter as you assess the ideas below.

The most successful volunteering programs are built around fit. Use your goals, constraints, and employee interests as a filter to assess which opportunities are most likely to succeed within your organization.

11 Corporate Volunteering Ideas to Engage Employees

1. Community Clean-Up Events

• Best for: Local teams, early-stage programs
• Participation type: Team
• Impact type: Environment and Animals

What makes it work:

Clean-up events are easy to understand, highly visible, and often require very little training. They’re particularly effective when teams volunteer together and can see the results of their work immediately.

What to keep in mind:
Many organizations treat clean-ups as one-off activities. Employees attend once, but participation decreases when the event becomes repetitive or disconnected from a broader volunteering strategy.

2. Food Bank Volunteering

• Best for: Large groups, first-time volunteers, local teams
• Participation type: Team
• Impact type: Human Services

What makes it work:

Food banks often offer structured volunteer opportunities that require minimal onboarding, making them easy for employees to participate in. Volunteers can immediately see the impact of their efforts, whether they’re sorting donations, preparing food parcels, or supporting distribution efforts.

What to keep in mind:

Food bank volunteering is often most successful as a group activity, but companies may encounter limited opportunities for larger events, particularly with popular food banks and during busy periods. Smaller teams, however, may find it easier to participate more regularly; while larger groups may need to plan further in advance to secure opportunities.

3. Care Package or Kit Assembly

• Best for: Large teams, office-based or distributed workforces
• Participation type: Team
• Impact type: Human Services / Health

What makes it work:
This activity is highly accessible and easy to scale. Not only can it happen in your office, which makes it easy for employees to join in; it’s also perfect for any experience level (especially first-time volunteers). To boost engagement, we recommend aligning your kits with key awareness days, moments that matter, and/or causes that matter most to your team.

Some options include:

• Hygiene kits
• School supply packs
• Winter care packages
• Disaster relief kits
• Pet shelter kits

What to keep in mind:

Without context, it can feel transactional. Employees often feel more engaged when they understand who they’re helping and why the items matter.

4. Skills-Based Volunteering

• Best for: Mature programs and knowledge-based workforces
• Participation type: Skills-based
• Impact type: Public and Societal Benefit / Economic Opportunity

What makes it work:

When employees use their professional expertise to support nonprofits, organizations often generate significant value while giving employees opportunities to develop and apply their skills in new environments and contexts. Nonprofit benefit by receiving expert help to address specific operational challenges, ranging from marketing plans and HR support to IT/technology implementation and financial guidance.

What to keep in mind: 
Projects may stall or become overwhelming when expectations are too broad and/or unclear. Nonprofits may request support that expands beyond the team’s capacity, while volunteers may struggle to balance commitments alongside their day jobs. 

5. Skills-Sharing Workshops

• Best for: Professional services, finance, technology, HR, and marketing teams
• Participation type: Skills-based
• Impact type: Education / Public & Societal Benefit

What makes it work:
Rather than completing work on behalf of a nonprofit (like you would during a skills-based volunteering activity), skills-sharing workshops allow employees to share knowledge that can help individuals or organizations build long-term capability. Examples include financial literacy workshops, CV reviews, interview coaching, or digital skills training.

What to keep in mind:

Workshops are most effective when topics align with genuine needs. Generic sessions may attract participation but deliver limited long-term value.

6. Virtual Mentoring or Tutoring

• Best for: Hybrid or global teams
• Participation type: Individual or small group
• Impact type: Education

What makes it work:
Virtual mentoring creates meaningful personal connections while removing geographic barriers. It can also fit more easily into an employee’s schedule than traditional volunteering.

What to keep in mind:
Participation might drop-off if sessions lack structure or regular scheduling.

7. Micro-Volunteering (bite-sized acts of kindness and other small tasks)

• Best for: Low participation environments
• Participation type: Individual
• Impact type: Varies by opportunity

What makes it work:
Industry trends suggest that volunteering is increasingly shifting toward shorter, more flexible opportunities that fit into busy schedules and diverse working environments. Employees who may never sign up for a full session are often willing to contribute 15-30 minutes and micro-volunteering enables that by offering a low barrier to entry and empowering them to contribute meaningfully without committing to a full volunteer day.

Activities may include mentoring a job seeker, reviewing a nonprofit’s marketing materials, writing letters to seniors, or even participating in a company-wide kindness campaign.

What to keep in mind:
Micro-volunteering can be difficult to connect to larger program goals if activities aren’t coordinated.

8. Environmental Action Campaigns (e.g., tree planting, sustainability challenges)

• Best for: Companies focused on ESG goals
• Participation type: Individual or team
• Impact type: Environment and Animals

What makes it work:
Employees can see a direct link between their volunteering efforts and broader sustainability commitments.

What to keep in mind:
Activities can feel disingenuous or symbolic if no measurable outcomes are shared – so it is important to tie each activity to measurable outcomes (e.g., trees planted, waste reduced) and share that impact post-event.

9. Employee-Led Volunteering

• Best for: Mature programs, organizations with active ERGs, companies focused on employee choice
• Participation type: Individual or Team
• Impact type: Varies by opportunity

What makes it work:
Internal benchmarking shows that companies that leverage Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) achieve nearly 2× the volunteer participation rates of companies without ERG involvement. This is likely because employees are often more deeply connected to causes that matter personally to them – which in turn leads to stronger engagement and a more diverse range of volunteering experiences.

What to keep in mind:
Employee-led volunteering naturally reflects the interests and passions of the people who participate. While this often leads to higher engagement, it can also make it harder to ensure opportunities align with broader organizational priorities or community impact goals. Establishing a few guiding principles can go a long way in helping to strike a balance between employee choice and program focus.

10. Charity Fundraising Challenges

• Best for: Distributed workforces, organizations seeking broad participation
• Participation type: Individual or Team
• Impact type: Varies by opportunity

What makes it work:
Fundraising walks, runs, cycling challenges, or awareness campaigns allow employees to support causes while creating friendly participation and shared goals. Activities can often be completed regardless of geography.

What to keep in mind:
Successful fundraising challenges don’t just rely on friendly competition to drive interest. Employees are often more motivated when they understand the impact they’re helping create; so be sure to connect fundraising goals back to the cause, charity, or community benefit throughout the campaign.

11. Board or Committee Service

• Best for: Senior leaders, emerging leaders, leadership development programs
• Participation type: Skills-based
• Impact type: Public and Societal Benefit

What makes it work:
Serving on a nonprofit board or committee allows employees to contribute strategic expertise while developing leadership, governance, and decision-making skills.

What to keep in mind:
Board service typically involves fewer participants than traditional volunteering activities, which can make it a less effective option if your primary goal is broad employee engagement. It tends to work best as part of a wider volunteering strategy that offers opportunities for employees at different levels and stages of their careers.

Best Practices for Building a Successful Volunteering Program

• Start with one or two activities rather than launching everything at once.
• Match opportunities to your workforce.
• Balance quick-win activities with longer-term impact opportunities.
• Regularly gather employee feedback to understand what’s working and where adjustments are needed.
• Measure participation and outcomes early so you can refine your program over time.
• Consider using purpose-built technology to reduce time-consuming tasks like promoting opportunities, coordinating registrations, tracking participation, and reporting outcomes for leadership and stakeholders.

So, Which Volunteering Opportunity Is Right for You?

If you’re still deciding where to begin, here’s a quick recap to help you match your goals with the types of opportunities most likely to deliver the outcomes you’re looking for.

But, remember, there is no single “best” volunteering activity.

The most effective programs aren’t necessarily the largest, most ambitious, or even the most expensive. They’re the ones that choose activities intentionally, align them with employee interests, and create experiences people genuinely want to return to.

So, whether you’re just getting started or looking to expand an existing program, focus on choosing a few opportunities that fit your workforce well, learn from employee feedback, and build from there.

And over time? Those individual activities can evolve into a volunteering program that drives participation, strengthens culture, and creates lasting community impact.

Low participation.

Difficulty proving impact.

Leadership questioning program value.

At first glance, these look like CSR challenges themselves. But, often, they’re simply the messages our programs are sending us.

The most successful leaders learn to translate those messages.

Instead of asking, “How do we come up with a quick fix?” they ask, “What is this challenge actually trying to tell us?”

In this blog, we’ll decode some of the most common signals CSR programs send and explore how other organizations responded when they discovered what was really happening beneath the surface.

Main Takeaways:

• CSR challenges often point to design gaps, not a lack of employee interest or organizational commitment.
• The most common issues include low participation, limited resources, inconsistent data, unclear impact, global complexity, and stakeholder scepticism.
• Strong CSR programs connect employee interests, nonprofit needs, business priorities, and measurable outcomes.
• Purpose-built technology can help reduce manual work, improve visibility, and make program data easier to use.

What You Hear: “Employees Aren’t Participating”

Translation: “Our program may not fit how employees want to engage.”

When participation drops, many organizations assume employees simply aren’t interested in social impact. However, with 89% of Gen Z employees and 92% of Millennials saying purpose is important to their job satisfaction, the issue is often less about whether employees want to engage and more about how they want to engage.

Research from our annual YourCause Global CSR Industry Review that companies offering both giving and volunteering opportunities achieve significantly higher engagement rates (16.5%) than organizations offering volunteering (6.3%) or giving alone (5.0%). Internal benchmarking further found that organizations leveraging Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) achieve nearly 2x the volunteer participation rates of companies without ERG involvement.

Taken together, these findings suggest that employees are not only looking for opportunities to engage; but they are actively looking for multiple, flexible ways to give back that reflect their interests, schedules, identities.

What You Hear: “We Have Data but Can’t Prove Impact”

Translation: “We’re struggling to turn our activity into a meaningful story.”

One of the most common misconceptions in CSR is that more data automatically leads to better reporting. In reality, many organizations already have plenty of information. They know how many employees participated, how much money was donated, how many volunteer hours were logged, and which causes received support.

What they struggle with is explaining why those numbers matter.

That distinction becomes increasingly important as programs mature. Community partners, employees, executives, and board members are often looking beyond activity metrics to understand what changed because of those efforts. The problem is that the information needed to answer that question is often scattered across multiple systems, reports, surveys, and stakeholders. As a result, merging all that activity data into a single narrative becomes extremely difficult to manage – especially if done manually.

That’s why so many teams are opting to use purpose-built platforms and AI-powered tools to help surface patterns, identify trends, and connect related data across different program areas. These tools condense hours of work into seconds; which in turn allows teams to focus less on collecting information and more on understanding what that information actually means.

What You Hear: “I don’t have enough time to get everything done”

Translation: “The program has likely outgrown its original processes.”

ACCP and YourCause research found that 72% of CSR teams have taken on additional responsibilities in recent years, reflecting the expanding scope of corporate social impact programs.

However, in many cases, the processes used to manage volunteering, giving, grantmaking, and employee engagement haven’t grown at the same pace. As programs scale, administrative tasks such as posting opportunities, managing registrations, reviewing applications, processing requests, and tracking participation often consume much of the team’s capacity.

Many organizations address this by reducing the number of manual processes required to operate the program. Centralized CSR platforms allow employees to discover opportunities, register for events, submit matching gift requests, log volunteer hours, and track participation through a single experience. Grantmaking workflows, nonprofit vetting, application reviews, approvals, and program administration can also be managed within a common integrated system.

This approach reduces duplicate data entry, manual tracking, email-based coordination, and the movement of information between disconnected tools. It also gives CSR teams greater visibility into program activity without requiring information to be collected from multiple sources each time it’s needed.

What You Hear: “Leadership is questioning the value of CSR”

Translation: “The business case hasn’t been clearly connected to organizational priorities.”

Whether you’re launching a new impact initiative or reporting on an established program, leadership ultimately wants to understand the same thing: why does this matter to the organization?

CSR teams naturally focus on community impact, using volunteer participation, employee giving, nonprofit partnerships, and grantmaking outcomes as indicators of program success. But leadership teams are usually evaluating investments against a different set of priorities. They want to see outcomes related to employee engagement, recruitment, retention, productivity, culture, reputation, and long-term growth.

The strongest business cases connect both sides of the story. Community outcomes remain central, but they are paired with evidence showing how those efforts support organizational priorities.

For example, studies have found that strong social impact programs are associated with up to a 21% increase in profitability, a 20% increase in sales, a 21% increase in productivity, and up to a 57% reduction in employee turnover. These types of outcomes help explain why CSR increasingly appears in conversations about talent strategy, employee experience, organizational culture, and business performance rather than being viewed solely as a philanthropic initiative.

The same principle applies after a program launches. Building support is important, but maintaining support often depends on demonstrating continued relevance to the organization. Of course, volunteer hours, donation totals, and participation rates still matter, however, they become much more powerful when paired with evidence that helps leadership understand the broader value being created for employees, communities, and the business itself.

What You Hear: “Every Region Wants Something Different”

Translation: “Your program may need more local flexibility without losing global consistency.”

A sustainability initiative that resonates in Toronto may have limited relevance in Texas. A volunteering campaign that performs well in one region may struggle in another. Even the causes employees care about can vary significantly across locations, business units, and cultures.

Global programs face a unique challenge: ensuring activities remain relevant and engaging, no matter where a team is located. At the same time, providing every region with complete freedom can make it difficult to measure participation consistently, compare results, or understand overall impact. Standardizing every activity creates the opposite problem, leaving employees disconnected from opportunities that don’t reflect their local communities or priorities.

The most effective programs avoid choosing one approach over the other. Instead, they establish consistency around the things that matter most, (i.e. reporting standards, governance, measurement, and strategic priorities), while giving regional teams flexibility in how those priorities come to life. Employees engage locally. Impact is measured globally. The strongest programs are built to support both.

The truth is: every CSR program encounters challenges. However, the organizations that navigate these challenges most successfully tend to approach them as signals rather than setbacks.

• Low participation can reveal opportunities to create more flexible ways for employees to engage.
• Difficulty proving impact may highlight a need to connect data into a clearer narrative.
• Questions from leadership can indicate that the business case needs to be framed in terms of organizational priorities.
• Growing administrative burden may suggest that processes have not evolved at the same pace as the program itself.

When viewed this way, CSR challenges become useful sources of information. They help identify where programs need greater alignment, stronger processes, clearer measurement, or more relevant employee experiences.

Ultimately, the goal isn’t to eliminate every challenge. It’s to understand what those challenges are trying to tell you; and use that information to build a stronger, more sustainable program over time.

Main Takeaways

• Pain: Grants teams are managing more applications, more complex forms, and higher expectations for fast, consistent, and informed decision-making, all while trying to reduce manual review time and administrative burden.
• Innovation: AI Application Summaries and Form Intelligence help administrators and reviewers work more efficiently by summarizing application content and improving application form questions with AI-assisted suggestions.
• Solution Delivery: These complimentary features are available to customers who complete the required generative AI opt-in process, giving organizations more flexibility to adopt AI when they are ready.

Grantmaking teams are under growing pressure to move faster without sacrificing quality, fairness, or control. Administrators need to build effective application forms, collect the right information from applicants, support reviewers with clear context, and keep programs moving through each stage of the grant lifecycle.

But when teams are dealing with long applications, unclear questions, and manual review processes, the experience can slow down quickly. Reviewers spend too much valuable time searching for key details, administrators need to revise forms repeatedly to improve clarity, and applicants face unnecessary friction when questions are confusing, repetitive, or difficult to complete. For organizations managing multiple programs, regions, or funding priorities, this administrative burden can limit efficiency and make it harder to focus on strategic impact.

Practical AI Innovation for Grantmaking

YourCause from Blackbaud is continuing to bring practical, responsible AI innovation to grantmaking teams with two complementary capabilities: AI Application Summaries and Form Intelligence.

Form Intelligence helps administrators strengthen the application experience before submissions ever begin. As teams create or update forms, the feature provides AI-generated suggestions that may help improve the structure, clarity, and usefulness of form questions. The feature makes useful recommendations that administrators can review, accept, refine, or ignore based on their program needs. This makes Form Intelligence especially valuable for organizations creating new programs, refreshing existing forms, or managing complex application processes where clear questions and thoughtful design can improve both applicant experience and downstream review.

AI Application Summaries help teams move faster once applications are submitted. Instead of requiring reviewers to read every response in full before forming an initial understanding, AI generates a summary-style view of the application content so users can quickly identify key themes, priorities, and applicant-provided details. This is not meant to replace human review or decision-making; it is designed to give teams a faster starting point so reviewers can spend less time searching and more time evaluating.

Both AI Application Summaries and Form Intelligence are complimentary features for our grantmaking customers, but they require the customer to complete the generative AI opt-in process before they can be enabled. This opt-in approach is intentional and aligns with Blackbaud’s responsible AI practices, giving customers control over whether and when generative AI functionality is activated for their organization.

Together, these innovations help solve a very real grantmaking pain point: too much administrative effort spent preparing forms, interpreting application responses, and equipping reviewers with the context they need. By applying AI in targeted, practical ways, we are helping teams improve form quality, accelerate review readiness, and make grant workflows easier to manage. The result is not AI for the sake of AI, but to help administrators and reviewers save time while maintaining the human judgment, governance, and accountability that effective grantmaking requires.

Matching gift programs are one of the most effective ways to amplify employee generosity, yet many organizations struggle to define what success actually looks like. It is easy to focus on total dollars matched, but that number alone does not tell you whether your program is reaching its full potential.

To measure success effectively, you need a more complete view. By tracking the right metrics, you can identify missed opportunities, improve participation, and create a better experience for employees. In this blog, we will walk through five essential metrics that help you evaluate and strengthen your matching gift program.

Main Takeaways:

• Measuring the right combination of participation, conversion, and financial metrics gives you a complete view of your program’s performance.
• Small gaps in awareness and follow-through can significantly limit the total impact of your matching gift program.
• Leading programs consistently track unclaimed match opportunities and act on them to increase overall giving.
• Clear, ongoing reporting helps you demonstrate value to stakeholders and continuously improve the employee experience.

1. Match Participation Rate

Your participation rate shows how many eligible employees are actively using your matching gift program. It is one of the clearest indicators of awareness and engagement.

To calculate this metric, compare the number of employees who submitted a matching gift request to the total number eligible for the program.

What strong participation looks like:

• Participation steadily increases over time as employees become more familiar with the program
• Engagement is distributed across teams, regions, and employee groups
• Matching gifts are integrated into broader employee engagement initiatives

Industry data reinforces the importance of participation. Research shows that 84 percent of employees are more likely to donate when a match is offered, highlighting how powerful this benefit can be when employees know it exists.

If your participation rate is low, the issue is often awareness. Consistent communication and visible promotion can make a measurable difference.

2. Match Request Conversion Rate

This metric measures how often eligible donations actually turn into submitted match requests. It helps you understand whether employees are following through after they give.

A strong conversion rate indicates that your process is simple and visible. A low conversion rate usually points to friction.

Common factors that impact conversion include:

• How easy it is to submit a matching request
• Whether employees are reminded at the right moments
• How clearly eligibility rules are communicated

This is one of the most actionable metrics you can track. Even small improvements in the request experience can drive immediate increases in matched giving.

3. Total Matched Donations

Total matched donations represent the overall financial impact of your program. This is often the first number stakeholders want to see, and it plays a key role in demonstrating value.

However, this metric is most useful when viewed alongside participation and conversion data. Growth in total matching can come from:

• More employees participating
• Higher average donation sizes
• Better capture of eligible matches

For example, organizations that actively promote matching gifts often see stronger giving behavior overall. One study found that one in three donors would increase their gift size if matching is applied, showing how this benefit influences both participation and total impact.

4. Average Match Value per Employee Over Time

Analyzing the average match value across the year can help you understand how employees are engaging to different campaigns or moments of activations. The goal is to never simply set and forget a gift matching strategy, but to understand how employees engage so you can guide future campaigns.

This metric can reveal:

• Seasonal trends in giving behavior
• Which campaigns or causes inspire larger donations
• Opportunities to encourage higher engagement during key moments, such as year-end or disaster response campaigns

For example, targeted campaigns can significantly increase impact when paired with matching. In this PGE wildfire donation matching success story, a focused 10:1 match initiative helped generate more than $132,000 in total impact to support wildfire prevention and youth jobs.

Understanding your average match value per employee can also help you set realistic match caps that reflect actual giving behavior. If most employees give below the cap, it may signal a need to focus on participation, while higher averages can support the business case for increasing match caps to further amplify impact.

5. Unclaimed Matching Gift Opportunities

Unclaimed matching gifts represent one of the biggest missed opportunities in most programs. These are donations that could have been matched, but were never submitted or completed.

Tracking this metric helps you quantify lost impact and prioritize improvements.

To reduce unclaimed matches:

• Send timely reminders after employees make donations
• Surface matching eligibility directly within the giving experience
• Reinforce deadlines and program details through ongoing communications

If you want to go deeper on improving program performance, this guide on best practices for multiplying impact provides practical strategies to increase participation and promote matching more effectively.

Bringing It All Together

Each of these metrics provides a different lens on your matching gift program. When you track them together, you get a much clearer picture of what is working and where you can improve.

Start by establishing a baseline for each metric, then set realistic goals based on your organization’s size and engagement maturity. Review performance regularly and share insights with stakeholders to build alignment and support.

Most importantly, connect your data back to the employee experience. A successful matching gift program is not only measured by dollars raised, but by how easy and rewarding it is for employees to support the causes they care about.

Main Takeaways

• Healthcare employee engagement requires a holistic approach that addresses both systemic challenges like staffing and administrative friction, as well as cultural factors that drive purpose and connection.
• Data is essential for improving engagement, helping leaders identify friction points, measure sentiment, and refine programs based on what employees actually need.
• Recognition and purpose-driven initiatives, including flexible CSR opportunities, play a critical role in reducing burnout and reinforcing why healthcare employees do what they do.
• Investing in professional growth and clear career pathways is key to retention, helping employees feel supported, valued, and motivated to stay long term.

The healthcare landscape currently faces unprecedented pressure, as rising patient volumes and a tightening labor market converge to create a high-stakes environment for clinical and administrative teams. Projections indicate a shortage of nearly 100,000 critical healthcare workers (excluding registered nurses) by 2028. In this climate, systemic stress and administrative friction frequently drive employee disengagement and burnout.

To build a sustainable future and maximize your healthcare organization’s impact, leadership should prioritize a holistic approach to staff satisfaction. By intentionally implementing the following employee engagement strategies, organizations can transform a high-stress environment into a supportive community where healthcare professionals feel empowered to deliver high-quality patient care.

Utilize Data to Identify Workforce Engagement Gaps

Data-driven insights are the foundation of any successful retention strategy because they show leadership what specific systemic pain points to address, whether in practice management, medical billing, or patient care. By establishing consistent metrics for employee sentiment and implementing healthcare analytics tools, administrators can pinpoint exactly where friction occurs before it leads to turnover.

Here are a few ways to maintain a pulse on employee satisfaction:

• Deploy regular surveys and feedback loops. These tools identify specific areas where employees feel unsupported, such as staffing ratios or administrative bottlenecks that hinder daily care, and allow them to suggest improvements.
• Analyze exit interview and retention data. Reviewing these metrics helps leadership spot trends across different departments or shifts within the facility to address localized cultural issues.
• Review participation rates in employee programs. If a professional development or wellness initiative sees low engagement, it likely indicates that the program doesn’t meet team members’ current needs or is difficult to access.

In addition to assessing where your organization might be going wrong, take the time to understand where your employee engagement strategy already excels. Conduct interviews with high-performing clinical staff to identify the specific cultural or operational factors that keep them committed to their work during periods of high stress.

Foster a Culture of Recognition and Purpose

While clinical staff require competitive compensation as a baseline, healthcare workers are also motivated by a deep sense of purpose and a desire to make a tangible difference in their communities. Cultivating a culture where leadership recognizes and celebrates these contributions reinforces everyone’s connection to your organization’s mission.

Meaningful employee recognition programs go beyond surface-level rewards to acknowledge the specialized skills and emotional labor required in modern medicine. For example, you could:

• Establish regular leadership acknowledgment. Consistent praise from leadership and peers boosts morale and reinforces the value of each employee’s unique contribution to the patient experience.
• Connect daily tasks to the broader mission. Sharing patient success stories or community health outcomes helps administrative and support staff see the direct impact of their behind-the-scenes efforts.
• Implement peer-to-peer recognition programs. Allow coworkers to celebrate one another’s successes to build a stronger sense of team unity across different clinical units and shifts.

Start your recognition program revamp with the teams that are most disengaged. For example, if your revenue cycle and billing teams experience the most turnover, you could implement a digital wall of impact where staff across these teams where employees can post short, anonymized notes whenever a colleague’s quick action helped with their work.

Provide Opportunities for Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Impact

Many healthcare professionals naturally gravitate toward service, yet many organizations struggle to engage frontline workers who work non-traditional shifts. To overcome these logistical barriers, design corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs with extreme flexibility to reach staff on varying schedules.

A robust social impact strategy offers a powerful way to combat the emotional exhaustion often found in healthcare environments, especially through tactics like:

• Volunteer opportunities and donation matching. These CSR initiatives give employees a sense of agency and tangible impact on causes that matter to them personally. Offer volunteer time off (VTO) or special gift matching ratios for specific occasions to encourage employees to participate in these programs.
• Specialized skills-based volunteering. Allowing medical staff to use their clinical expertise for community health fairs or local clinics fulfills a deeper sense of vocational purpose.
• Organization-wide philanthropic goals. Set clear CSR benchmarks not only to keep everyone on the same page about why your initiatives exist, but also to attract new mission-driven professionals who value social accountability to your organization.

CSR Opportunities for Healthcare vs. Other Industries

In office jobs like tech or finance, incorporating CSR is simple. Workers can easily block out an hour on their digital calendars to volunteer online, or they can leave the office early for a charity event. But for frontline healthcare workers, that model does not work. Hospital schedules are strict, patient care cannot stop, and nurses are already exhausted. Asking a tired employee to give up a rare day off for a company volunteer project will only cause more burnout.

To make CSR work in healthcare, leaders must adjust their approach. Beyond larger, scheduled group and team-building events, you should also offer small “micro-impact” choices that staff can do on their own time.

Healthcare CSR strategies should follow these rules:

• Bite-sized: Giving back should only take a few minutes, not a whole afternoon.
• Floor-focused: Bring CSR opportunities directly to the breakroom or nurse station, rather than requiring staff to travel.
• Skill-aligned: Let clinicians use their medical talents for good, like helping at local health fairs, to remind them of their passion for helping others.
• Emotionally restorative: Choose low-stress tasks that feel therapeutic, like writing quick cheer-up cards, to help relieve daily shift stress.

This is where specialized CSR technology comes into play. With the right mobile tools, you can enable clinical staff to engage with social impact goals on their own terms. Clinical teams working night shifts or on rotating schedules can quickly log volunteer hours or participate in micro-giving campaigns in minutes. This allows them to engage further with your CSR initiatives without stealing their free time or adding to their physical exhaustion.

Invest in Professional Growth and Continuing Education

Organizations build long-term loyalty by showing employees a clear career trajectory within that institution, rather than leaving them feeling stagnant in their current roles or needing to look elsewhere for the advancement they want. Investing in your workforce’s future signals that you value their potential and remain committed to their personal and professional success.

Career development serves as a critical retention tool by providing clinicians with the tools they need to evolve alongside the industry, such as:

• Clear advancement paths. Employees who see a clear trajectory for growth are much more likely to remain loyal to an institution over the long term.
• Long-term career investment. Allocating funds for professional development signals that your organization values the employee’s future potential, not just their current output.
• Training for new technologies. As facilities adopt advanced tools, providing the necessary training reduces the anxiety that frontline caregivers often associate with technological change.
• Specialized certification support. Encouraging staff to earn new credentials allows them to take on higher-level responsibilities and specialized roles within your organization.

Offering continued education also upskills your existing workforce, resulting in more efficient, knowledgeable, and competent employees.

According to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report, only around 20% of employees globally are engaged at work, with the majority either not engaged or actively disengaged.

Companies know that this isn’t something to ignore. Employee engagement drives stronger productivity, retention, wellbeing, and innovation. When engagement levels dip, it does not necessarily point to a single issue, but rather a combination of factors such as changing priorities, workloads, and how employees experience day-to-day work.

For many organizations, CSR and employee engagement programs offer useful insight into these shifts. Participation patterns, feedback, and involvement in initiatives like volunteering or giving can help highlight where employees are feeling energized and where additional support or clarity may be needed.

In this blog, we explore 10 common reasons employee engagement may be lower than expected, along with practical ways to strengthen connection, participation, and overall experience.

Main Takeaways:

• Low employee engagement is typically driven by friction in the employee experience, not lack of interest.
• The most common barriers relate to managers, visibility, relevance, and workload.
• CSR and engagement programs can directly address gaps in purpose, belonging, and wellbeing.
• Improving engagement is about removing barriers and making participation easier and more meaningful.

What Low Employee Engagement Is Trying to Tell You

When engagement drops, it is often a reflection of unmet expectations rather than disengaged employees. In many cases, employees still want to contribute, connect, and actively participate in the company culture. But competing priorities, unclear processes, or lack of support make it harder than it should be.

This is similar to what we see in CSR programs. Low participation does not mean employees are not interested in giving or volunteering. It usually signals that something in the program or broader employee experience is creating unnecessary friction.

1. Employees Don’t Feel Supported by Their Manager

What this really means:
Managers may be focused on delivery and performance, but not consistently supporting employees through feedback, coaching, or development conversations. Employees can feel uncertain about expectations or disconnected from their manager.

Why it matters:
Managers are one of the strongest drivers of engagement and retention. When employees feel unsupported or unheard, disengagement builds quickly, even if other aspects of the role are positive.

How to fix it:
Invest in manager capability by prioritizing coaching, communication, and development. Encourage regular one-on-ones that focus not only on tasks, but also on growth, wellbeing, and participation in initiatives like volunteering or employee resource groups (ERGs).

2. There’s No Clear Path for Growth

What this really means:
Employees cannot see how they can develop within the organization, whether through promotions, new responsibilities, or skill-building opportunities.

Why it matters:
Without a clear path forward, employees may feel stagnant and less motivated to engage. Growth is one of the most consistently cited reasons people stay or leave.

How to fix it:
Create transparent career pathways and make internal opportunities visible. Connect development with CSR initiatives where possible, such as skills-based volunteering that helps employees build new capabilities.

3. Workload and Burnout Are Limiting Participation

What this really means:
Employees feel they do not have the time or capacity to engage beyond core responsibilities, including participation in engagement or CSR programs.

Why it matters:
Burnout reduces both productivity and discretionary effort. When employees feel overwhelmed, engagement activities are often the first things to be deprioritized.

How to fix it:
Build flexibility into roles and position engagement, including volunteering, as part of work rather than an additional task. Programs like Volunteer Time Off (VTO) can help normalize participation.

4. Recognition Is Inconsistent or Missing

What this really means:
Employees’ contributions, including participation in social impact initiatives, are not consistently acknowledged.

Why it matters:
Recognition reinforces desired behaviors and strengthens connection. Without it, employees may feel their efforts do not matter, leading to reduced engagement over time.

How to fix it:
Embed recognition into everyday workflows. Highlight both business achievements and social impact contributions to reinforce the value of engagement across the organization.

5. Employees Don’t See the Impact of Their Work

What this really means:
There is a disconnect between what employees do and the outcomes it creates, both for the business and for communities.

Why it matters:
Employees who understand their impact are more likely to stay engaged and committed. Purpose-driven work is strongly linked to higher engagement levels.

How to fix it:
Share stories, data, and outcomes regularly. In CSR programs, clearly communicate who is being helped and how employee contributions make a difference.

6. Communication Is Fragmented or Hard to Navigate

What this really means:
Opportunities, updates, and initiatives are shared across multiple channels without a clear central source of truth.

Why it matters:
When employees cannot easily find or act on information, participation drops. This is a common barrier in CSR engagement as well, where visibility directly impacts uptake.

How to fix it:
Centralize communication and provide a single place for employees to discover and engage with opportunities, including volunteering and giving programs.

7. Opportunities Don’t Feel Relevant

What this really means:
Employees do not see themselves reflected in available programs or do not feel a personal connection to them.

Why it matters:
Relevance is key to sustained engagement. Employees are more likely to participate when opportunities align with their interests, values, or skills.

How to fix it:
Offer a range of engagement options, including skills-based, team-based, and micro-volunteering opportunities. Use surveys and participation data to tailor programs.

8. There’s No Strong Sense of Belonging

What this really means:
Employees feel disconnected from their colleagues, teams, or overall company culture.

Why it matters:
Belonging is a leading indicator of engagement. Without it, employees are less likely to participate in programs or stay long term.

How to fix it:
Leverage ERGs, team volunteering, and shared initiatives to build connection. These experiences create opportunities for employees to engage beyond their day-to-day work.

9. Participation Feels Complicated or Time-Consuming

What this really means:
Processes for joining initiatives or programs are unclear, fragmented, or require too much effort.

Why it matters:
Even when interest is high, friction in the process can significantly reduce participation and engagement over time.

How to fix it:
Simplify and streamline the user experience using technology that enables employees to easily discover, join, and track participation.

10. Employees Don’t Feel Heard

What this really means:
Feedback mechanisms exist, but employees do not see action taken as a result, or they are not regularly asked for input.

Why it matters:
When employees feel their voice does not matter, engagement declines. Listening and acting on feedback is critical to maintaining trust.

How to fix it:
Use stay interviews, surveys, and feedback loops to gather input and act on it. These insights help identify issues early and improve both engagement and program effectiveness.

How CSR and Employee Engagement Programs Improve Engagement

CSR and employee engagement programs play a central role in addressing many of these challenges by creating opportunities for employees to connect, contribute, and feel valued.

They help:

• Reinforce purpose through real-world impact
• Build belonging through shared experiences
• Improve wellbeing through volunteering and giving
• Strengthen alignment between employee values and company actions

Research consistently links purpose-driven work to higher engagement and commitment because employees are more motivated when they understand how their time, skills, and contributions connect to meaningful outcomes. CSR programs can make that connection more visible by giving employees tangible ways to support causes they care about, collaborate with colleagues, and see the impact of their participation over time.

Quick Ways to Start

If you are looking to improve engagement, start here:

• Identify the primary barriers through surveys or participation data
• Review manager effectiveness and communication practices
• Audit how easy it is to join engagement and CSR programs
• Expand participation options to better reflect employee needs
• Share impact and outcomes more consistently

Improving engagement is less about adding more programs and more about making existing ones easier, clearer, and more meaningful.

Employee engagement software plays a critical role in driving participation across corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, from giving and volunteering to employee resource groups and community initiatives. The best platforms remove friction, create intuitive and engaging experiences, and provide multiple ways for employees to get involved in impact.

This guide compares the top employee engagement software providers that support CSR programs. These descriptions reflect research from third-party reviews, vendor insights, and client feedback to offer a balanced and practical perspective.

1. YourCause from Blackbaud

YourCause from Blackbaud offers a comprehensive employee engagement platform that connects giving, volunteering, employee resource groups, and impact reporting into a single, unified experience. Through YourCause, organizations can create highly engaging, personalized journeys that make it easy for employees to participate in causes that matter to them.

Employees can discover opportunities through curated cause areas, skill-based matching, and campaign experiences while engaging with features such as peer-to-peer fundraising, volunteering events, and recognition programs. Administrators benefit from scalable tools to manage participation, track engagement, and optimize programs across global teams.

Pros:

• Unified engagement experience across giving, volunteering, campaigns, and employee resource groups helps drive consistent participation.
• Personalized discovery tools, including skills matching and interest-based recommendations, increase relevance for employees.
• Engagement features such as peer-to-peer fundraising, team challenges, recognition, and rewards help sustain participation over time.
• Robust reporting and dashboards provide insight into participation rates, engagement trends, and program effectiveness.
• Global scale with multilingual support and access to millions of vetted nonprofits enables inclusive engagement worldwide.

Cons:

• No dedicated mobile app currently, though the platform is fully mobile responsive and the first of our app experience is in development, with plans to release by the end of this year.
• Designed around scalable best practices rather than highly customized one-off feature development.

Who Is This Product Best For?

YourCause is ideal for organizations seeking a centralized, scalable employee engagement platform that connects all CSR activities into a cohesive experience.

If you would like to explore YourCause for your organization, reach out today.

2. Benevity

Benevity is a well-known employee engagement platform that enables participation across giving, volunteering, and micro-actions designed to encourage employee involvement in social impact.

Pros:

• Wide range of engagement features, including micro-actions and “friendraising,” offer multiple ways for employees to participate.
• Large global network of nonprofits and opportunities supports diverse employee interests.
• Automated workflows and notifications help maintain engagement across programs.

Cons:

• Admin workflows can be complex, making it harder to quickly update or launch campaigns.
• Reporting capabilities may require additional add-ons for deeper insights.
• Higher pricing can limit accessibility for smaller or mid-sized programs.
• Some users report inconsistencies across engagement modules.

Best for large enterprises looking for a wide range of engagement options, though it may require additional support to manage effectively.

3. Bonterra (CyberGrants)

Bonterra provides employee engagement functionality as part of a broader CSR and grants management platform, supporting organizations with complex program needs.

Pros:

• Supports structured engagement programs with complex approval workflows and governance.
• Combines engagement with grantmaking and giving for highly regulated environments.
• Centralized admin view for managing multiple CSR initiatives.

Cons:

• User interface can feel outdated, which may reduce employee participation.
• Learning curve for both admins and users may slow adoption.
• Limited flexibility for modern engagement experiences compared to newer platforms.
• Global and discovery capabilities can be more restricted.
• Competing technological priorities due to software acquisitions may limit product development and innovation.

Best suited for organizations with complex CSR structures that prioritize compliance over user experience.

4. Deed, a Bonterra company

Deed, a Bonterra company, focuses on creating a modern, engaging user experience to encourage participation in giving and volunteering programs.

Bonterra recently acquired Deed, meaning that integration across products is still evolving, and the transition may affect customers.

Pros:

• Intuitive, modern interface that employees find easy and enjoyable to use.
• Engagement features such as campaigns, badges, and storytelling encourage participation.
• Simple setup supports quick launch of engagement initiatives.

Cons:

• Limited reporting depth makes it harder to measure engagement trends at scale.
• Scalability challenges for global or complex engagement programs.
• Fewer advanced features for managing multi-layered CSR strategies.
• As part of the Bonterra portfolio, organizations may face integration gaps while the platform unification work is done.
• Limitations may arise from evolving technology infrastructure and post-acquisition customer support changes.

Deed is a good option for organizations prioritizing user experience and simplicity in their engagement strategy.

5. Submittable

Submittable has expanded into employee engagement through acquisitions, offering tools that connect giving, volunteering, and program participation.

Pros:

• Customizable workflows and forms help organizations structure engagement programs.
• Accessible interface supports ease of adoption for smaller teams.
• Curated engagement experiences available through acquired services.

Cons:

• Fragmented platform experience due to multiple acquired systems.
• Reporting and analytics can lack cohesion across modules.
• Slower innovation cycles limit the evolution of engagement features.

Best for organizations already using Submittable that want to extend into CSR engagement.

6. Groundswell

Groundswell emphasizes employee-led engagement, focusing on empowering individuals and teams to participate in giving and impact initiatives.

Pros:

• Modern interface encourages participation and reduces barriers to entry.
• Supports employee-driven initiatives and community-focused engagement.
• Fast onboarding and responsive support.

Cons:

• Limited feature depth compared to established platforms.
• Reporting capabilities are not as advanced for measuring engagement.
• Less suited for complex or global CSR programs.

Best for companies prioritizing employee-led engagement and ease of use over advanced functionality.

7. Percent Pledge & Goodstack

Percent Pledge and Goodstack offer lightweight engagement platforms designed for simplicity and accessibility in CSR programs.

Pros:

• Simple, user-friendly interfaces that lower the barrier to participation.
• Quick setup enables organizations to launch engagement programs rapidly.
• Affordable options for smaller teams.

Cons:

• Limited engagement features beyond basic giving and volunteering.
• Reporting and analytics may not support deeper program optimization.
• Fewer options for scaling engagement across large organizations.

Ideal for small organizations or those just beginning to build basic engagement programs.

Corporate grantmaking software helps companies plan, administer, and report on their philanthropic grant programs with greater efficiency and accountability. Grantmaking solutions are specifically designed to manage the full grant lifecycle, including application intake, eligibility screening, review workflows, approvals, payments, and post‑award reporting.

As corporate philanthropy becomes more strategic and scrutinized, software plays a critical role in ensuring grants are distributed fairly, compliantly, and in alignment with business priorities. The best grantmaking platforms reduce manual work for administrators, improve transparency for applicants, and give CSR teams clear insight into where funds are going and what impact they are driving.

This list compares the leading corporate grantmaking software providers in the market. Because this content comes from YourCause from Blackbaud, our own platform is included, alongside other well‑known vendors. To keep this comparison useful and trustworthy, evaluations are based on publicly available product details, third‑party reviews, and direct customer feedback, with a clear focus on grantmaking functionality.

1. YourCause from Blackbaud

YourCause from Blackbaud offers a comprehensive corporate grantmaking solution designed to support employee‑nominated grants, corporate foundation grants, discretionary grants, and invitation‑only grant programs. Grantmaking is integrated with the employee engagement features to create a unified CSR experience, allowing organizations to oversee grants alongside employee giving, matching gifts, volunteering, and impact reporting without relying on disconnected systems.

The platform is built to handle scale, governance, and compliance while remaining accessible to both applicants and internal reviewers. Companies can standardize grant processes globally while still allowing flexibility at the program level, helping CSR teams move from transactional grant administration toward more strategic philanthropy.

Pros

• YourCause centralizes grantmaking alongside other CSR programs, reducing friction and eliminating the need to manage grants in isolation.
• The platform supports fully configurable grant application forms, including eligibility logic and conditional questions, allowing organizations to align intake processes with program rules and priorities.
• Manages multi‑round review and approval workflows enable teams to assign reviewers, score applications, and move grants through structured decision stages.
• Integrated nonprofit verification and compliance infrastructure help minimize risk and administrative oversight for grantmaking teams.
• Built‑in dashboards and exportable reports make it easier to analyze trends, assess alignment with corporate priorities, and communicate grant impact internally and externally.

Cons

• The platform prioritizes scalable, best‑practice functionality rather than highly customized, one‑off development for individual clients.
• Smaller organizations running only a limited number of grants each year may find the platform more robust than necessary.

Who Is This Product Best For?

YourCause is best suited for organizations managing recurring, higher‑volume, or multi‑region grant programs that value strong governance, reporting, and integration with broader CSR initiatives.

If you would like to explore YourCause for your organization, reach out today.

2. Benevity

Benevity offers grantmaking capabilities as part of its broader employee engagement and corporate giving platform. Grant programs are often tied to employee nominations or company‑led impact initiatives and can be configured with custom criteria and approval workflows.

The platform is a well‑established option in the CSR space and is commonly used by organizations seeking to link employee engagement with community investment.

Pros

• Benevity allows organizations to link employee participation data with grant nominations, supporting employee‑driven philanthropy.
• Grant criteria and approval workflows can be customized to align with internal policies and program goals.
• The platform offers global nonprofit coverage, supporting international grantmaking programs.

Cons

• Administrators often report that managing grant programs requires support assistance for routine updates or changes.
• Some grant reporting and advanced insights are available only through additional modules or paid add‑ons.
• Some reports of disbursement delays or slow timelines, as well as limited forecasting capabilities for budgets and spend.
• Pricing is typically geared toward large enterprises, which may limit accessibility for smaller teams.

Best For

Benevity is best suited for large enterprises seeking to connect employee engagement activity with grantmaking.

3. Bonterra (CyberGrants)

Bonterra’s grantmaking software is built on the long‑standing CyberGrants platform and is designed to support complex, compliance‑heavy grant programs. It is commonly used by corporate foundations and organizations with formal governance requirements.

The platform places a strong emphasis on process control and documentation, making it a familiar option in regulated industries.

Pros

• Bonterra supports multi‑stage reviews, detailed approval logic, and audit‑friendly grant workflows.
• The platform is well suited for organizations managing large, formal grant portfolios through corporate foundations or trusts.
• Strong compliance and record‑keeping capabilities help meet regulatory and reporting requirements.

Cons

• The user interface and reporting experience are often described as dated and less intuitive.
• International scalability and global options such as language and currencies vary by module.
• Implementation and ongoing administration typically require dedicated internal resources and training.
• The platform is priced for large enterprises and may be less flexible for evolving program needs.

Best For

Bonterra is a strong fit for enterprises and corporate foundations with complex grant requirements and formal governance structures.

4. Submittable

Submittable is a grants management platform used by government, foundations, and nonprofit organizations. It also offers corporate grantmaking software, particularly to manage application intake and the reviewer process. The platform places a strong emphasis on usability for applicants and reviewers alike.

Pros

• Submittable offers flexible application forms and review workflows that are easy to configure and manage.
• Applicants and reviewers generally find the platform intuitive and straightforward to navigate.
• Pricing is often attractive for organizations running focused or smaller‑scale grant programs.

Cons

• Functionality can feel fragmented due to acquisitions, which may affect reporting consistency.
• The platform does not natively integrate employee giving, volunteering, or CSR engagement data.
• It offers less structure for long‑term grant portfolio management compared to enterprise CSR platforms.

Best For

Submittable is well suited for organizations primarily focused on simply managing grant applications and reviews rather than deeply integrated CSR strategy.

5. Deed, a Bonterra company

Deed provides a modern CSR platform that includes grantmaking functionality designed to emphasize simplicity and employee participation. Grant programs are commonly positioned around employee nominations and community-based initiatives. The platform prioritizes user experience over deep configuration.

Bonterra recently acquired Deed, bringing the platform into its broader social good ecosystem, although integration across products is still evolving, and the transition may affect customers.

Pros

• The interface is clean and modern, making it approachable for applicants and administrators alike.
• Basic grant programs can be launched quickly with minimal setup.
• Employee‑driven grant initiatives are easy to manage within the platform.

Cons

• The platform offers limited depth for complex or highly regulated grant programs.
• Reporting and long‑term grant analytics are less advanced than enterprise‑focused competitors.
• As part of the Bonterra portfolio, organizations may encounter integration challenges or inconsistencies while the broader platform is unified.
• Potential limitations from evolving technology infrastructure and customer support changes following the acquisition.

Best For

Deed is a good fit for organizations running straightforward grant programs that value simplicity and participation.

6. Groundswell

Groundswell approaches corporate philanthropy with a strong emphasis on employee experience and rapid funding. Grantmaking is often connected to employee donor‑advised funds and simplified disbursement models.

The platform is relatively new compared to longer‑established CSR vendors.

Pros

• Groundswell provides a modern, consumer‑grade interface that reduces barriers to participation.
• Faster funding models can help deliver support to nonprofits more quickly than traditional grant cycles.

Cons

• Grant governance and workflow flexibility are limited compared with traditional grantmaking platforms.
• Reporting and program oversight capabilities are still maturing.
• Lack of customer success experience in supporting complex client grant programs.

Best For

Groundswell is best suited for companies prioritizing speed and user experience over detailed grants management and governance.

7. Goodstack

Goodstack provides nonprofit verification, donation processing, and grant infrastructure that supports lightweight corporate grant programs. Its focus is on payments and validation rather than full lifecycle grant management.

Pros

• Strong nonprofit validation helps organizations ensure funds are distributed to legitimate recipients.
• Grant payments and disbursements are straightforward to manage.

Cons

• The platform offers limited workflow configuration for grant reviews and approvals.
• Reporting and portfolio‑level grant insights are relatively basic.

Best For

Goodstack works best for organizations running simple grant programs that do not require complex workflows.

Main Takeaways:

• Pain: CSR teams are managing growing expectations across programs, regions, and data, often without added capacity.
• Innovation: AI introduces a new way to work by cutting down manual effort, strengthening insight generation, and making engagement more relevant for employees.
• Solution Delivery: With YourCause, responsible AI is built directly into giving, volunteering, grants, and reporting workflows, so CSR teams can drive more effective programs while maintaining oversight.

The Big Picture

CSR teams are being asked to do more, across more regions, for more stakeholders, and with more data, often without additional headcounts. We see this reality our customers face, and that’s why we’re on a mission to transform corporate purpose into global impact by connecting employees, nonprofits, and data using intelligent technology and responsible AI.

At YourCause, our approach to AI is simple: reduce admin burden, strengthen decision-making, and spark deeper employee engagement, without sacrificing governance and human oversight. In our recent Product Update Briefings, we shared how AI innovation is showing up across CSRconnect, GrantsConnect, and Impact Edge to help teams move from set-up and reporting to participation and impact. You can watch the full briefings on-demand here.

Below is a snapshot of our AI innovation, including what’s available today, and what we’re actively building next, to help you move faster, engage employees more meaningfully, and turn impact data into action.

What’s New: AI Features Available Today

1. Global engagement, with AI-powered translation

• Solution translations (CSRconnect, GrantsConnect): Instantly translate platform text into 26+ languages to support global participation.
• Custom content translations (CSRconnect): Translate your own program content directly in-platform so employees can engage in their preferred language.
• Applicant response translations (GrantsConnect): Translate applicant form responses so reviewers can evaluate submissions faster and more consistently across regions.

2. Grantmaking operations, made simpler

• Form intelligence (GrantsConnect): AI-powered grammar and clarity suggestions help grant managers build polished applications and collect more consistent information from applicants.

• Application summaries: Surface key details across submissions—like objectives, funding requests, and alignment—so reviewers can understand requests faster.

3. Conversational analytics for faster reporting

• Blackbaud AI (Impact Edge): An add-on to our reporting suite that lets you ask questions in plain language, generate analysis, and create exportable charts and graphs—so impact reporting is faster and easier to share.

What’s Next: AI Innovation in Progress

CSRconnect: Personalized, Proactive Engagement

• AI-powered charity search: Explore organizations based on the outcomes you want to drive, not just keywords, with smarter recommendations to help employees find more relevant causes.
• Offline matching review: When an issue is detected with receipts for offline matching, the user is alerted and prompted to fix it before submitting – but not prevented from submitting – so problems get resolved at the root cause, making it easier for admins downstream.
• AI-assisted event & content creation: Draft engagement elements and volunteer event content more quickly, helping admins launch campaigns faster and respond to moments that matter.

GrantsConnect: Faster, Smarter Reviews

• Application scoring & recommendations: Evaluate submissions against your criteria to help prioritize review queues and identify high-potential opportunities.
• Agentic capabilities: We are exploring how we go beyond generative AI in GrantsConnect, moving us from insights into action while keeping decision-making firmly in human hands.

Impact Edge: Deeper Insights, Less Effort

• Expanded Blackbaud AI capabilities: We’re continuing to evolve Blackbaud AI to support more nuanced questions and more types of data, so you can move from reporting to insight with less effort.

1. Better support for complex, natural-language questions.
2. More insight from narrative and unstructured text (like event descriptions).
3. Added help for nonprofit context and data interpretation—so teams can act with more confidence.

• Role-Based Permissions: Control who can access AI features and dashboards, reinforcing governance and security.

Why It Matters

• Less manual work: Spend less time translating, polishing forms, and building reports.
• Clearer decisions: Use summaries, recommendations, and conversational analytics to move from data to direction faster.
• More capacity for strategy: Free up time to focus on program design, partnerships, and employee engagement instead of busywork.
• Built for global teams: Support participation and review workflows across languages and regions, without creating separate processes.
• Deeper engagement: Spark passion from your employees with recommendations and the ability to search with impact in mind.