Collecting employer information in volunteer registrations is a crucial strategy for nonprofits seeking to maximize their outreach, fundraising, and engagement potential. By understanding where their volunteers work, organizations can identify opportunities for corporate volunteer incentives and more.
In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of gathering employer details in volunteer registrations. Plus, we’ll provide practical tips for nonprofits to effectively integrate this step into their volunteer sign-up process. Specifically, we’re going to cover:
Equipping your team with accurate and up-to-date employer data not only strengthens relationships with individual volunteers but also opens doors to additional resources that can significantly enhance the impact of a nonprofit’s programming. The rewards are endless—and the best place to access this information is directly within your volunteer registrations.
Let’s begin!
The Importance of Employer Information for Nonprofits & Schools
Collecting employer information from volunteers, donors, and other supporters is a strategic practice that can significantly benefit both nonprofits and schools. After all, understanding where constituents work provides invaluable insights that can open doors to a range of opportunities.
Here’s why employer information is crucial:
- Uncovering workplace giving programs. Thousands of companies offer workplace giving programs where they support the organizations their employees give to or volunteer with. Knowing where your donors and volunteers work can help your team identify opportunities for matching gifts, volunteer incentives, and more.
- Establishing more well-rounded supporter profiles. The more you know about your supporters, the better you can engage them with your organization. Use employer data to customize your outreach and add a personal touch to your communications once your supporter profiles are filled in!
- Accessing wealth and giving insights. Prospect research can play a significant role in understanding an individual’s likelihood of giving. If you know where they work, you can estimate wealth indicators and determine approximately how much they may be able to contribute to your cause.
- Identifying potential partnerships. Companies want to support the organizations their employees are involved with. If a number of your donors or volunteers come from a single company, try reaching out to them to pitch a one-off giving program or volunteer opportunity.
In summary, employer information is a powerful asset that fundraising organizations can leverage to do more for their missions. Collecting and utilizing this data helps organizations unlock the full potential of corporate support, ultimately advancing their missions more effectively than ever before.
Benefits of Collecting Employer Information in Volunteer Registrations
With any number of opportunities to collect employer information from your supporters, what makes your volunteer registration forms an ideal location?
Let’s take a look at the benefits of this particular method:
Volunteers are likely highly engaged with your cause while actively registering for an event. When volunteers are in the process of signing up for an event, they are actively showing interest and commitment to your cause. This moment of heightened engagement makes it an ideal time to gather additional information, such as employer details.
Volunteers are already expected to provide personal information in the registration process. During the volunteer registration process, participants are usually asked to provide basic personal details, such as their name, contact information, and emergency contact details. Because they are already sharing personal information, including an additional field for employer details is a natural extension of the form—rather than an extra burden.
Volunteers love having the chance to amplify their impact through workplace giving. Many volunteers are motivated by the opportunity to make a bigger difference, and workplace giving programs, such as volunteer grants, offer a simple way to do so. When volunteers know that their employer offers opportunities to double or triple the impact of their support, they are often eager to participate.
How to Collect Employer Information During the Registration Process
Now that you understand why you should incorporate employer information into your volunteer registration forms, we’ll take a look at some actionable strategies that your team can adopt in order to do so.
Here’s a step-by-step overview of the process you’ll want to follow:
- Design an optimized volunteer registration form. Start by creating a registration form that is user-friendly and visually appealing, with a clear layout and minimal clutter. Make the form concise to encourage completion while ensuring it collects the necessary information.
- Implement an optional field or employer search tool. Add an optional field for “Employer Name” to encourage volunteers to provide this information. To improve data accuracy and ease of use, consider implementing an employer search tool with auto-suggest. This way, as volunteers type, the tool can suggest company names, reducing the chances of typos or incomplete entries.
- Mention why you’re collecting the information. Provide a brief explanation about why you’re collecting this data. Explain how employer details help identify volunteer incentives that could amplify the impact of their contributions.
- Direct volunteer traffic to your registration forms. Begin promoting your volunteer registration forms to ensure they reach your audience. Make the registration process easy to find and complete by providing direct links and clear calls to action, encouraging potential volunteers to sign up and provide their information.
- Send employer data to your 360MatchPro platform. If you use a platform like 360MatchPro, integrate it with your registration form to automatically transfer employer information to your donor database. This streamlines the process, allowing you to identify volunteer grants and other opportunities as efficiently as possible.
Following these steps ensures that employer information is collected efficiently during the volunteer registration process. And doing this enables your organization to leverage corporate giving programs, build partnerships, and maximize the impact of volunteer contributions.
Leveraging Employer Information for Volunteer Programs
Once you’ve collected employer data (whether in your volunteer registrations or otherwise), it’s time to put it to good use. One of the most valuable purposes of this information is locating available corporate volunteer programs.
While these programs vary from one company to the next, it’s a good idea to become familiar with the types of programs you might see. Generally, these include:
- Volunteer grants — Corporate programs where companies provide monetary donations to nonprofits based on their employees’ volunteer hours. This incentivizes employees to engage in volunteer work and helps nonprofits receive additional funding.
- Volunteer time off (or VTO) — Programs that allow employees to take paid time off from work to volunteer for charitable organizations. This encourages employees to give back to their communities without sacrificing their personal time or pay.
- Skills-based volunteerism — Opportunities that involve employees using their professional skills and expertise to support nonprofit organizations. This type of volunteerism provides access to high-quality professional services like marketing, legal, or IT that may otherwise not fit in the organization’s budget.
- Corporate volunteer days — Organized events where a company’s employees participate in volunteer activities as a group. These events may be held during work hours and are often planned around specific causes or projects, such as environmental cleanups or community service projects.
Each of these programs encourages employee involvement in the community and helps companies support charitable causes in meaningful ways. When you know where your volunteers (or donors!) work, you can identify individuals who may qualify for workplace volunteer programs like these.
Not to mention, when you utilize Double the Donation’s volunteer incentive database tool, you can even provide company-specific information on available volunteer programs directly from your registration confirmation page!
Common Challenges and Solutions for Collecting Employer Information
If you don’t currently have a strategy for collecting employer information in volunteer registrations, don’t fret. Many organizations face challenges when it comes to gathering this information, but we’ve got the solutions ready for you.
Challenge: Not collecting the information at all.
Organizations often overlook the value of employer information and may miss the opportunity to collect it during volunteer registrations. This can limit their ability to identify corporate philanthropy opportunities, such as matching gifts or volunteer grants, and hinder their efforts to maximize volunteer contributions.
Solution: Start asking for employer information in volunteer registration forms.
To overcome this challenge, organizations should add an employer information field to their volunteer registration forms. Even if it’s optional, including this field increases the chances of gathering valuable data that can help unlock corporate giving opportunities.
Challenge: Collecting the information too late.
When employer information is requested after volunteers have already signed up or participated in an event, it can be challenging to gather accurate data. This delay may reduce response rates or lead to missed opportunities for volunteer grants or volunteer time off associated with recent activities.
Solution: Request employer information from your initial volunteer sign-ups.
To avoid this issue, organizations should ask for employer information at the very start of the volunteer registration process. This ensures that relevant details are collected upfront, allowing the organization to identify corporate giving opportunities and engage volunteers with workplace giving programs right from the beginning. Plus, early collection sets the stage for more effective follow-up and donor engagement.
Challenge: Leveraging outdated information.
Just because you’ve accessed an individual’s employer information at one point in time doesn’t mean it will be the same for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, relying on outdated employer information can be problematic, as supporters may change jobs or employers over time. This can result in inaccurate data and missed opportunities if the organization continues to base its outreach on outdated records.
Solution: Regularly refresh supporters’ profiles with up-to-date details.
To keep employer information current, organizations should periodically prompt volunteers and donors to update their profiles. And the best way to do so is to ask them for the information each time they register for an event or complete a donation!
Regularly refreshing supporter data ensures that organizations have accurate information for pursuing volunteer incentives and broader corporate partnerships alike.
Challenge: Employer information going unused.
Even when employer data is collected, it may not be effectively leveraged by the organization. This lack of data utilization often results in missed opportunities to engage volunteers and corporate partnerships going unrealized.
Solution: Utilize the information for workplace giving incentives.
Train your staff on the importance of leveraging employer information for fundraising and corporate engagement. Teams can use this data to identify volunteer incentives, target companies with multiple supporters, or reach out about establishing new programs.
See it in Action: Organizations Collecting Employer Info in Volunteer Forms
Maybe you’re considering the addition of an employer information field—or search tool—to your volunteer registration forms. But first, you want to see what other organizations are doing.
You’re in luck! Check out the following examples of leading fundraising organizations collecting employment information directly as individuals register for volunteer activities.
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States is a leading animal welfare organization dedicated to advocating for and protecting animals through rescue, advocacy, policy change, and more. In order to work toward its mission effectively, this national nonprofit engages volunteers across the country in a number of virtual, in-person, and hybrid roles.
Plus, when an individual registers to become a volunteer for the organization, they’re prompted to provide information regarding their current employment status. This includes an entire section dedicated to fields such as employer name, job title, and even matching gift eligibility.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
As a renowned pediatric treatment and research facility, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is focused on finding cures and treating children with catastrophic diseases. To elevate its impact, the organization is continuously seeking volunteers to help out in roles related to event support, fundraising, office and administration, and more.
When an individual registers to become a volunteer with St. Jude, they’re asked to complete a number of form fields—including personal information, contact information, and employment details.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a prominent breast cancer organization committed to funding research, community health programs, and advocacy efforts to combat breast cancer.
When an individual is interested in volunteering, they’re prompted to fill out a brief online registration form. In addition to fields relating to volunteer interests, motivations, and more, the organization also asks volunteers to provide the name of their current employer—allowing the team to uncover available corporate giving opportunities and more.
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a major health organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke by funding research, promoting healthy lifestyles, and supporting patient care. The leading nonprofit benefits from generous volunteer support through a number of individual and corporate volunteer opportunities alike.
In fact, the AHA even supplies a dedicated inquiry form for companies interested in organizing corporate volunteer events. This resource collects information about the business, its employees, and any current volunteer incentives—including Dollars for Doers!
It even links out to the organization’s dedicated Matching Gifts Page, which includes a company search tool for users to access their employers’ program information.
Next Steps for More Impactful Volunteer Registrations
Including employer information in volunteer registrations offers a valuable opportunity for nonprofits to expand their support network and increase fundraising potential. By connecting with volunteers’ workplaces, organizations can unlock corporate philanthropy opportunities such as volunteer grants, volunteer time off, and even long-term corporate partnerships.
For nonprofits looking to elevate their impact, taking the time to collect and leverage this information can make a significant difference. It’s a simple step that not only enhances the volunteer experience but also fosters stronger ties between nonprofits, volunteers, and their employers.
Interested in securing additional support for your cause? Check out these additional resources to learn more:
