Cohen & Co Builds a Scalable Employee Giving Program with YourCause

Cohen & Co, an accounting firm with more than 800 employees, launched an employee giving and matching initiative to strengthen its people‑first approach to corporate social responsibility. With recent funding from its foundation, the firm adopted Blackbaud’s YourCause® to give employees a simple, secure way to support the causes that matter most to them—driving early participation and strong impact.

Cohen & Co Empowers Employees to Drive $12,000 in Giving in One Week with YourCause

Cohen & Co’s decision to launch an employee giving and matching program was deeply rooted in its people‑first culture. Leadership recognized that while the firm cared deeply about community impact, there was no centralized process to champion all the causes that employees were personally invested in. Without a formal program, requests were handled manually and selectively, making it difficult to scale support equitably across a growing organization.

By empowering employees to support the causes that matter most to them through personal donations, which are amplified by company matching, Cohen & Co reinforced a core belief that employee happiness and engagement fuel stronger client service and deeper community impact. Giving employees flexibility and choice in their charitable giving was a natural extension of the firm’s culture and values.

The team evaluated several platforms and chose YourCause for its usability, security, and scalability. The platform stood out as intuitive and customizable, with the flexibility to turn on new features over time as the firm continues to grow, without adding administrative overhead. Lesley Cawley, chief marketing officer at Cohen & Co, said, “We didn’t want to hire a new resource to just manage employee giving. That didn’t seem like the right answer. We needed a scalable, easy‑to‑manage platform that could grow with us and that’s where YourCause came in.”

Working on a tight timeline, Cohen & Co launched YourCause in just a few months to align with an upcoming all‑firm town hall. The implementation process was highly collaborative, with the YourCause team adapting to accelerated timelines and prioritizing the most critical features first. This approach allowed the firm to announce the new employee benefit at a key moment and begin showing traction quickly.

Empowering Employee Philanthropy

Cohen & Co’s adoption of YourCause changed how the firm engages employees in community giving. The employee giving program allows staff to donate to eligible organizations of their choice, enabling them to support causes that are personally meaningful while increasing access to charitable giving across geographies and interests.

While employees are free to support any eligible organization through the program, the firm has also seen moments of collective giving, such as GivingTuesday, when employees rally around shared initiatives alongside their individual philanthropic interests.

The platform has also enabled Cohen & Co to respond quickly during times of need. When natural disasters occur, the firm can activate national or regional campaigns that allow employees to donate to pre-vetted organizations through the Blackbaud Verified Network, providing a fast and trusted way to support relief efforts without creating additional administrative burden.

The firm’s first GivingTuesday campaign showcased the value of this engagement. With an additional $25 match incentive, employees raised $12,000 in just one week for 50 charities, significantly amplifying the impact of their individual contributions. With guidance from the YourCause support team, Cohen & Co optimized its campaign setup to ensure a smooth and successful launch during a critical year-end giving period.

Moran remarked, “Our employees are deeply engaged in their communities. Seeing them give back showed how important these causes are—and we’re able to reinforce that support by matching their contributions.” The GivingTuesday campaign also surfaced valuable data to inform future initiatives. Using reporting and analytics within YourCause, Cohen & Co gains visibility into employee giving trends. These insights are shared with local Cohen Cares committees to help inform future volunteering events and community initiatives are aligned with employee passions.

Scaling for Long-Term Impact

Cohen & Co is building on the early success of its initiatives to refine and expand its corporate social responsibility programs. Inspired by the response to the GivingTuesday campaign, leadership plans to run targeted campaigns throughout the year to maintain momentum and continue engaging employees in meaningful ways.

Moran concluded, “YourCause allows employees at Cohen & Co to guide company resources toward causes they value, which in turn benefits the entire firm.” Looking ahead, the firm is eager to explore additional features, including volunteer management, to deepen engagement in its existing volunteer time-off program. By integrating these tools and tracking results alongside foundation grant cycles, Cohen & Co will continue refining its approach to ensure resources reach the communities and causes that matter most to its employees. The initial success proves that the platform is not just a tool but a catalyst for enhancing employee-driven philanthropy across the organization.