Creative Ways Companies Can Give Back

Companies have more to give than they sometimes realize: money, yes, but also expertise, time, relationships, purchasing power, and access.

A useful corporate giving program starts by asking: What do we already have or do that could help someone else?

Here are practical ways to turn that question into action.

Turn team building into a giving opportunity

You can add a charitable component to almost any team activity. Choose a cause, set a company-funded contribution, and explain how participation connects to the gift.

Try these DIY formats:

• Trivia with a shared goal Commit $500 upfront, then add $5 for every correct answer, up to another $500.
• An escape room that unlocks support Each solved puzzle releases part of a predetermined donation. Guarantee a base gift so the nonprofit benefits regardless of the team’s puzzle skills.
• A recipe swap with a community connection Donate $10 per contributed recipe to a food-access organization, then compile an employee cookbook.
• A talent show with charitable prizes Give every performer a company-funded donation to direct to an eligible nonprofit. Audience favorites receive an additional allocation.
• A collective activity challenge Let employees contribute through walking, reading, creative projects, or learning. Each completed activity counts equally toward a company-funded giving goal.

Keep personal donations optional, publish the budget cap, and offer an asynchronous participation option.

Give employees a say in company donations

Matching gifts are one option. You can also give employees a company-funded giving allowance, invite teams to nominate community organizations, or celebrate work anniversaries with a donation employees help direct.

These approaches make participation possible for people who cannot contribute personal funds.

To build a lightweight, daily culture of giving, platforms like GOOD Today integrate directly into your team's Slack or email. The company sets a daily giving budget, and employees simply click to vote on which of the day’s vetted charities receives their portion of the funds—turning corporate philanthropy into an effortless, engaging routine.

For larger programs, corporate giving platforms can organize the logistics:

• Benevity supports employee giving, matching, volunteering, grants, and reporting.

• Bonterra CyberGrants supports corporate giving and grant management, including donation matching and volunteer activity tracking.

Choose based on your actual needs: nonprofit eligibility, geographic coverage, employee access, administration, and reporting.

Donate the skills your team uses every day

A nonprofit might need a clearer website, a hiring process, or a usable budget template.

Host a “solve one thing” session around a request the organization has identified:

• Marketing improves an email campaign.
• Finance creates a cash-flow template.
• HR helps structure interviews.
• Designers improve a donation page.
• Operations simplifies volunteer onboarding.

Catchafire connects nonprofits with skills-based volunteering and pro bono support.

Agree on one deliverable, a realistic deadline, and a handoff.

A finished template the nonprofit can maintain is more useful than an ambitious project that disappears when employees get busy.

Make professional development useful to someone else

Turn learning into a community contribution.

• Employees practicing presentations could help a nonprofit refine its pitch.
• A manager training cohort could offer mock interviews through a workforce-development partner.
• Colleagues studying another language could contribute translations when their proficiency meets the organization’s standards.

Build in qualified review and recipient feedback. The organization should receive useful work, and employees should leave with stronger skills.

You can also sponsor training seats for nonprofit staff or invite them into relevant company workshops, with their interest and availability guiding the format.

Give access to your resources and relationships

Look beyond the volunteer calendar.

Create a small resource menu and share it with existing partners. Let them request what helps.

Other possibilities include offering product credits with onboarding, donating refurbished devices with technical support, or sharing an exhibition booth with a nonprofit partner. Include the support needed to make the resource usable.

Put everyday purchasing to work

Your existing spending can support community goals.

• Consider social enterprises for catering, client gifts, printing, or event supplies.
• Invite local vendors into company events and pay their standard rates.
• Ask whether a nonprofit partner operates a shop, café, or service your company could become a repeat customer of.

This is purchasing with social value rather than a charitable donation. Track it separately, and evaluate suppliers for quality and fit.

A recurring order can create a steadier relationship than a single seasonal purchase.

Offer small contributions people can make remotely

Some employees can give twenty minutes more easily than an entire afternoon.

Through organizations with established programs, teams could review résumés, caption videos, transcribe historical records, offer career conversations, or help test a nonprofit’s website.

Run an optional virtual session where colleagues work alongside one another, or let people participate independently during paid work time.

Share the task, instructions, time commitment, and intended use upfront. Small contributions work best when the recipient already has a process for using them.

Make the contribution meaningful and repeatable

Before launching, answer five questions:

1. Who benefits, and what have they asked for? Start with an actual need.
2. What is the company contributing? Specify the money, paid time, expertise, resources, or access.
3. Can employees participate comfortably? Offer accessible choices without pressure to donate or disclose personal beliefs.
4. Who owns the follow-through? Assign responsibility for payment, delivery, and partner communication.
5. What happened afterward? Track completed contributions and ask the recipient what was useful.

For a simple first month, choose one partner, one existing team activity, and one contribution your company can sustain.

Afterward, share a short update: what employees contributed, what the partner received, and what you learned. Ask whether continuing would be helpful.