Corporate Employee Volunteer Grant Programs
The added bonus to volunteering
What do Verizon, CarMax, and State Farm all have in common? They all offer volunteer grant programs.
Volunteer grant programs, also known as “Dollars for Doers” programs, are charitable giving programs set up by companies to reward employees for giving back to their communities.
Companies provide monetary donations to eligible nonprofits like Play Like a Girl as a way to recognize employees who volunteer. These grants enable corporations to give back to their communities and support organizations that employees are already passionate about.
Although volunteer grants are a relatively new form of corporate giving, they’re widely offered among Fortune 500 companies and are catching on at smaller companies, too. For instance:
- Verizon’s Volunteer Program provides $750 grants for 50 volunteer hours.
- State Farm’s Good Neighbor Grant Program recognizes employees with a $500 grant for 40 volunteer hours.
- CarMax’s Volunteer Grant Program awards $10 for every hour volunteered up to $10,000.
In fact, hundreds of companies offer volunteer grant programs with donations generally ranging from $10-15 per hour volunteered. Basically, this means that Play Like a Girl will not only receive the help provided by our amazing volunteers, but we’ll be given monetary support from their employers as well!
How do volunteer grant programs work?
Volunteer grant programs are an easy way for volunteers to secure an additional monetary contribution for our organization without having to take out their checkbooks.
Volunteer grant programs consist of five steps:
- Employee volunteers with Play Like a Girl!
- Employee volunteers determine if their company offers volunteer grants — you can search for your employer’s volunteer grant guidelines at iplaylikeagirl.org/double-your-donation/ to find company-specific program guidelines, requirements, and forms.
- Employee volunteers submit the grant request, either electronically or using a paper form.
- Nonprofit validates the grant request — we confirm for the individual’s employer that the individual is in fact a volunteer with our organization.
- Company sends us a check.
If you’re already volunteering with us, please take a few minutes to check if your employer (or your spouse’s employer) offers volunteer grants: iplaylikeagirl.org/double-your-donation/ — grants that could equal hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for us to put toward furthering our mission.
Want to help?
Last year we received over 100 matching gifts and volunteer grants, which helped us raise nearly $20,000. Our goal is to raise $25,000 this year. If we meet our goal, we’ll be able to better make good on our mission to level the playing field for girls and women everywhere.
You can immediately gain access to detailed program guidelines offered by your employer and assess your eligibility by searching our database of companies that offer volunteer grant programs.
We’ll provide you with as much of the following as possible:
- Up-to-date, company-specific program guidelines
- Minimum volunteer hours required to qualify for a matching donation
- Links to the online matching gift request forms or downloadable PDFs offered by your employer
- Our contact information (Tax ID, address, fundraising contact), which you may need for your matching gift request
If your company isn’t listed, make sure to check with HR as there are many additional companies out there who offer volunteer grant programs.
We wish we could submit the required form for you, but unfortunately the employee must submit the volunteer grant request to their employer directly. We appreciate you taking a few minutes to double your impact!
Employee Giving Programs
The key to unlocking extra revenue
Employee giving programs offer an exciting opportunity to educational institutions and nonprofit organizations including Play Like a Girl. Each dollar you donate could be doubled, tripled, or more, and every hour you volunteer could come with a monetary contribution as well.
Over the next several weeks, we will explore two of the most popular forms of corporate philanthropy:
- Employee matching gifts: Donations offered by companies to Play Like a Girl for donations you make or have already made.
- Volunteer grants: Monetary contributions made by a company to Play Like a Girl when you mentor a girl, serve on the board or volunteer in any other way.
Let’s dive in!
What are corporate matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs?
Corporate matching gift programs are charitable giving programs created by corporations in which the company matches donations made by employees to educational institutions or nonprofit organizations. Donors can double their impact by utilizing the matching gift programs that are in place at thousands of companies.
Employee giving programs have been around since 1954, when the GE Foundation created its Corporate Alumni Program, the first corporate matching gift program. Today, the GE Foundation matches over $35 million annually to accredited educational institutions (including K-12) and 501(c)(3) organizations like Play Like a Girl. Since then, thousands of companies have created similar employee giving programs.
The most common match ratio is 1:1, meaning that the company will donate the exact same amount as the employee did. Each company will set a dollar amount that they will contribute in matching gifts per employee each year. Employees can then make as many matching gift requests as they like until they hit that maximum dollar amount.
Volunteer grant programs, also known as “Dollars for Doers” programs, are charitable giving programs setup by companies to provide a monetary donation to eligible nonprofits where their employees volunteer as a way to encourage community engagement.
If you volunteer for Play Like a Girl and work for a company with a volunteer grant program, you can request a volunteer grant from your employer to increase your impact.
These volunteer grants can be set amounts ($750 for 50 hours volunteered) or hourly amounts ($10 per hour volunteered).
How prevalent are corporate giving programs?
Corporate giving programs have gotten more popular with time. More than 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift or volunteer grant programs, and countless smaller companies have followed suit.
Some companies have gotten creative with their corporate giving, offering higher matches to organizations in a specific sector (educational, cultural, environmental, etc.), for employees who serve on a nonprofit board or even matching funds raised by employees in peer-to-peer campaigns.
A few examples of these programs include:
- Verizon provides $750 grants for 50 volunteer hours and matches up to $5,000 annually
- IBM provides $1,000 grants to nonprofits where an employee has volunteered for 40 hours. They also match up to $5,000 annually for current employees or retirees.
- BP, in addition to similarly generous matching gift and volunteer grant programs, matches funds raised for nonprofit walks, runs, etc. and offers every employee an annual $300 grant to donate to any nonprofit organization, no initial donation or volunteering required!
Thousands of companies, representing more than 18 million people, offer matching gift or volunteer grant programs.
Will you help us reach our goal?
Last year, Play Like a Girl received over 100 matching gifts and volunteer grants, which helped us raise nearly $20,000 more than years prior. This year, we hope to increase the amount raised from these programs. If we meet our goal, we’ll be able to make good on our mission to level the playing field for girls and women everywhere.
You can help us reach these goals by searching for your own match-eligibility. Immediately gain access to detailed information about your employer’s corporate giving programs and assess your eligibility by searching our database of companies that offer employee matching.
We’ll provide you with as much of the following as possible:
- Up-to-date, company-specific program guidelines
- Minimum volunteer hours required to qualify for a matching donation
- Links to the online matching gift request forms or downloadable PDFs offered by your employer
- Our contact information (Tax ID, address, fundraising contact), which you may need for your matching gift request
We hope you’ll take a few extra minutes to see if your company offers employee giving grants that could equal hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars for Play Like a Girl!
Play Like a Girl Interest Meeting
Thanks for Raising a Hand
Interested in deepening your involvement at Play Like a Girl? Join our founder and CEO for a meeting to learn about the organization, our programs, current volunteer needs, and ways women professionals and male allies everywhere can help us level the playing field for girls and women across Nashville and beyond.
We will discuss a wide range of ways you can engage in this work, including:
- Mentoring a girl
- Guest speaking or facilitating a program
- Hosting a group of girls for an industry field trip
- Recruiting girls nationwide for our virtual programs
- Helping to launch a chapter in your city or company
- Creating content and managing our social media channels
- Copywriting for our blog, grants and other print publications
- Partnering with us or sponsoring a program or event
- Connecting our leaders with people, tools and resources
- Joining the Board of Directors or an advisory board
- Volunteering (in general, at a special event, etc.)
- And more!
Learn more about partnership opportunities at iplaylikeagirl.org/partner.
Sign up to mentor at iplaylikeagirl.org/mentor.
Harpeth Hall Polar Bears Hockey Field Day
An #HourWithHer Can Boost a Girl’s Confidence for a Lifetime
Girls opt out of important activities like sports and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Why? Most often, they don't see anyone who looks like them doing things they dream of doing. So they lack the confidence that they can be and do anything.
Research shows that spending just an hour with a girl can boost her confidence for a lifetime. That's why we're inviting inspiring women role models like you to spend an hour with us this Saturday, September 10th between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM.
Play Like a Girl is teaming up with the Harpeth Hall Polar Bears, the first all-girls scholastic hockey team in Tennessee, to introduce the game of hockey to female middle school students at our partner school, STRIVE Collegiate Academy.
Sixth through eighth grade girls will learn the fundamentals of the game and play a spirited floor hockey scrimmage alongside high school hockey players. They'll also meet inspiring women role models in hockey, learn important STEM concepts in the sport and explore exciting careers at the intersection of STEM and hockey.
You're invited to join the fun as a volunteer! Spend an #HourWithHer, and together we can help girls in our community reach their full potential. You choose your hour: 10 - 11 AM, 11 AM - 12 PM or 12 - 1 PM.
Play Like a Girl Hosts Leading Women in Science and Tech
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Hannah Pike
615-601-1864 | [email protected]
PLAY LIKE A GIRL HOSTS LEADING WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECH AT STEM SUMMIT THIS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Play Like a Girl connects middle school girls to women in STEM careers through STEM+ Saturday makerspace labs, lunchtime mentoring in Metro Schools and hands-on experiences
NASHVILLE, Feb. 24, 2020 -- Nashville-based nonprofit Play Like a Girl® will host #GirlsRockSTEM, it’s 10th Annual Summit to educate and empower middle school girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through mentoring and hands-on experiences. Mentors and speakers include leading women scientists like bat conservationist Kristen Lear who will be featured in #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit, a new monumental exhibit of the most women statues ever assembled in one location, at one time. This first-of-its-kind, life-sized 3D printed statue exhibit celebrating the contributions of more than 120 AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors, contemporary female STEM professionals and role models from a variety of industries, is set to debut in May.
“It is critical that our girls have role models and early, positive experiences in STEM so that they’re able to see the unlimited possibilities available to them,” said Dr. Kimberly Clay, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Play Like a Girl. “Our ability to connect girls with women in a wide range of STEM careers is essential to growing a robust and diverse talent pipeline that will drive meaningful growth in our economy both locally and nationally. And we’re so excited and thankful to have employees from local companies including AllianceBernstein, Amazon and Asurion serve as industry mentors and event volunteers.”
The 2020 STEM+ Summit on March 7 will convene 150 girls and their mothers and teachers from across Greater Nashville. Together with industry mentors, they will explore STEM careers through inspiring talks, hands-on activities and interactive makerspace workshops like coding, robotics, virtual reality and so much more. Chief Meteorologist Danielle Breezy will open the conference and serve as event host throughout the day. Dr. Feyi Aworunse, an optometrist at Nashville General Hospital, will deliver the keynote presentation using a series of optical illusions to engage girls in an exciting and impactful conversation about the power of vision. Also speaking at the event are U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn; Deborah Knoll, Tennessee Director of K-12 Programs & STEM Initiatives; and, Sharonese Henderson, UPS IT Solutions Provider and Board member for the Women in STEM Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
Registration for #GirlsRockSTEM is now open through March 3 for all middle school girls grades 5-8 at www.iplaylikeagirl.org. Registration includes admission to all educational sessions, breakfast, lunch, snacks and dessert as well as a celebratory dance party to commemorate Women’s History Month. Girls will also enjoy a live DJ, LUNAFEST® short films and a screening of CBS’s hot new show Mission Unstoppable, photo booths, sponsor goodies and limited edition #GirlsRockSTEM merchandise on sale at the event. A parent or adult chaperone is required to attend the event with each girl or group of up to 8 girls. Scholarships are available by calling (615) 601-1864. Wells Fargo is event sponsor.
The Play Like a Girl STEM+ Summit will be held at Middle Tennessee State University’s Student Union Center in Murfreesboro. For more information, visit www.iplaylikeagirl.org.
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ABOUT PLAY LIKE A GIRL
Play Like a Girl is a Nashville-based national 501(c)3 charitable organization founded in 2004. Our mission is to ensure that every girl reaches her full potential by providing girls ages 9-13 an opportunity—and in many cases, their only chance—to participate in sport and physical activity. We offer programs and resources designed to transform girls’ motivation into an “I am unstoppable” attitude. It is our goal to help girls everywhere find the courage to do things beyond the field of play that they never thought possible. Ultimately, we seek to harness the natural properties of sport to propel young women into competitive, male-dominated careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We believe that girls given the opportunity to play on a team become women who have the confidence to stand on their own. For more information, visit iplaylikeagirl.org, and join us on social media @iplaylikeagirl.