Employees are the heart and soul of your business. Getting them involved in the causes they care about is a simple way to boost engagement, satisfaction, and retention. Employee giving platforms allow you to do just that and more.
With the right CSR software, you can make it easy for employees to set up automatic payroll giving, make charitable donations, take part in volunteer efforts, and create employee-led volunteering events. But to make this dream a reality, you need a platform that blends accessibility, customization capability, and industry-leading functionality. Here’s what you should know about the best (and worst) employee giving platforms so you can find the best fit for your team.
An employee giving platform is a software solution that streamlines and facilitates corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, enabling companies to manage employee charitable giving, track donations, and foster a culture of philanthropy.
This can take the form of charitable donations, payroll giving, fundraising campaigns, or volunteer opportunities. With an employee giving platform, you can keep everything you need to launch, manage, and track your efforts in one convenient software space.
The benefits of employee giving go well beyond philanthropy. Employee giving software is an easy way to keep your social impact program streamlined and your employees motivated, engaged, and involved in charitable causes that make a real-world impact.
Creating a sense of corporate purpose is a top driver of employee engagement. This not only boosts workplace morale; it drives better business outcomes. Charitable giving also bolsters your brand’s reputation, showcasing a commitment to community and social impact.
It’s a strategic investment across the board, helping you make a difference while nurturing a positive workplace culture, driving better employee retention and satisfaction, and supporting meaningful causes that align with your values and goals.
When you choose the right CSR platform, you equip your team with powerful tools for effective, scalable, functional philanthropy management.
There is a lot that CSR platforms can do, but as usual, the devil is in the details. With so many established employee giving platforms to choose from, it’s important to understand how and why these software solutions fall short.
A quick CSR software comparison reveals some consistent downsides of tried-and-true legacy platforms:
When it comes to employee giving software features, not all platforms are created equal. To reap the full rewards of effective employee engagement and philanthropy, you’ll want to keep a few key functions and features in mind.
Here are some employee giving platform features that will help you get the most out of your CSR software.
Believe it or not, donation distribution times matter. Most legacy platforms can take weeks or even months to deliver your donations. You want your hard-earned funds to go to work as soon as possible. Don’t settle for an employee giving platform that keeps your funds floating in limbo when they could be making a difference. You’ll also want to look for a platform with hands-off fund disbursement practices in place, which allows your team to delegate the work of cutting checks to your software vendor.
CSR can be expensive. The last thing you want is a host of unexpected extras and fees draining your budget. Look for a platform that offers consistent, transparent pricing and won’t nickel and dime you for basic functionality or features you'll never use.
A hard-to-use platform is more of a burden than a boost. For your employees to stay involved in your giving campaigns, they need to be able to navigate the platform easily and effectively. Accessibility, customization, and intuitive user-focused features ensure your employees can get and stay engaged with your giving goals, whether they work at a desk or in the field.
You need access to accurate, actionable data to inform and improve your future giving campaigns. Reporting on past initiatives can help you analyze what went well while identifying key areas for improvement. Reporting across all your social impact programs is also key.
Some CSR platforms have limited automation options, creating more work for your admin team. Employee giving should be simple and convenient on all sides.
Whether it’s payroll giving, automated donation matching, or simplified tracking dashboards, with the right tools, your team can spend less time on busywork and more on the tasks that matter most.
There’s no shortage of options on the market for employee giving software. Aside from Groundswell, some other popular tools include:
This is just a small sample of the options that CSR, HR, and other professional teams navigate when looking for the right platform for employee giving. While many of these tools aim to achieve the same goal – helping teams streamline employee giving and matching – they don’t all take the same approach.
Groundswell makes it simple for companies of all sizes to take part in meaningful causes. With 24 hour fund disbursement, automatic employee donation matching, admin-free payroll giving, transparent pricing, and easy customization options, Groundswell is your all-in-one CSR solution for maximum impact.
We make it easy to get your employees engaged, involved, and inspired to take part in your social responsibility initiatives. With Groundswell, your donations are delivered in a matter of hours, not weeks, so you can start making a real impact in real time. With easy-to-read, up-to-the-second reporting, you can collect the information you need to craft the perfect campaigns that bring your employees, teams, and organization together for the greater good.
Plus, with Groundswell, you can take advantage of a full range of social impact programs to engage employees and shape your communities, including:
Making a big impact shouldn’t demand deep pockets. Groundswell’s industry-leading CSR tools simplify and streamline your charitable efforts, making it easy for employees to make a difference.
Reduce your workload while getting more done with intuitive automation tools, user-friendly features, and employee portals that encourage ongoing involvement and real-world action.
If you’re ready to see how Groundswell can revolutionize your employee giving initiatives, book a demo today!
