Study shows ‘reactionary giving’ on the rise as election nears

• Published date: 01 March 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30730
• Date: 01 March 2020

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR MARCH 2020

6© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Nonprot Research

Study shows ‘reactionary giving’ on the rise

as election nears

The latest research from corporate social respon-

sibility and employee engagement company Benevity

shows that “reactionary giving”—cash donations or

volunteer support that employees make in response

to real-world events like mass shootings, the immi-

gration crisis at the southern border or the push to

limit abortion rights—is likely to surge as the 2020

presidential election draws near.

Benevity’s recent 2020 Giving Trends Report notes

that a similar spike in donations followed the 2016

election, which spurred many companies to rethink

their giving strategies and employee engagement

programs with an eye toward making it easier and

more enticing for workers to show their support for

their favorite causes through workplace giving and

volunteerism. According to Bryan de Lottinville,

founder and CEO of Benevity, the 2020 election will

create fresh opportunities for businesses to reevaluate

their CSR and philanthropy programs.

“As human resource and CSR professionals rec-

ognize the power of employee programs to attract,

retain and engage their key asset, companies are

increasingly moving away from a top-down, ‘write a

check for the annual fundraiser’ approach to a more

open, year-round, technology-enabled approach,” de

Lottinville told Nonprot Business Advisor.

“People are more apt to participate in giving, vol-

unteering programs and purpose-driven behavioral

development programs when they can support the

causes and organizations that they are most passion-

ate about, whether it’s because a cause is near and

dear to their heart or because they read something

in the news that has them red up and ready to take

action,” de Lottinville said.

According to de Lottinville, the most forward-

thinking companies in the area of employee en-

gagement recognize that the “current sociopolitical

climate requires them to create diverse and inclusive

workplaces in which people feel a sense of belong-

ing in a world rife with tension, and feel supported

in their desire to make a positive impact. The best

corporate cultures are those that prioritize purpose

and personal efficacy as much as they prioritize

prot, and that recognize and empower their people

as agents of change.”

To that end, he said, companies are looking at a

more expansive list of ways in which their employees

can support a cause or issue they care about.

“They can give money, volunteer their time—

whether using their professional skills or other-

wise—or take actions like biking to work to help the

environment or purchasing clothes from a sustainable

brand. Ideally, they are doing all of the above. More

and more, we see companies combining traditional

approaches to charitable giving, volunteering and

grant making with initiatives that emphasize things

like education, activism, mentorship and behavioral

change,” he said.

According to de Lottinville, nonprots can take a

variety of steps to make themselves more attractive

to companies as they try to navigate these changes

in employee giving.

“One of the fundamental changes in the corporate

mindset is to recognize that engagement is the funda-

mental goal, rather than fundraising. If companies

(and nonprots) get the engagement piece right, do-

nations of money, time, product, skills, etc., will be

productive incidents of those successful programs,”

he said.

He added, “It is important for nonprots to con-

sider this changing context in their approach to both

corporations and their people. In other words, chal-

lenge the status quo in everything they do.

“Similar to corporations, nonprots should take

care to make participation in giving and volunteer-

ing easy, integrated and inclusive, but within the

framework of their unique needs and requirements.

Meaningful and impactful volunteering events, where

possible, are a great way to start people on what

should be a sustainable journey of multipronged

investment in that nonprot.”

As the election gets closer, de Lottinville said he

expects people to “vote with their donation currency”

in addition to voting at the polls. And that means that

the more activism-driven nonprot organizations

might gain signicant public visibility.

“In the case of 2016, increased donations followed

the election as policy and direction started to change,

but we are starting from a different baseline in 2020,”

(See ELECTION on page 8)