Give Smart, Episode 1
Corporate giving can take a lot of forms, from employee matching and grants to checkout donations, round-ups, and purchase-linked campaigns.
In the first episode of Give Smart, corporate giving and compliance leader Vikki Karan joins Change to talk about what companies should think through when building a giving program, and why the decisions behind the scenes matter just as much as the customer experience.
One of the biggest themes in the conversation is that “corporate giving” can mean very different things depending on the company.
A business might donate its own money, invite customers to contribute, match employee gifts, direct a percentage of sales to charity, or build giving directly into a product.
Each model creates a different experience for the company, the nonprofit, and the donor, so the first step is being clear about how the program is actually supposed to work.
Before choosing a vendor or designing a campaign, Vikki talks about the importance of defining what the company wants to accomplish.
Which causes make sense for the business? Who should be eligible to receive funds? Who decides which nonprofits participate? How will the company talk about the program publicly?
Those questions shape everything that follows, from the customer experience to the systems needed to manage donations and payouts.
Giving programs often touch more teams than expected.
Impact or CSR may own the strategy, while marketing handles the message, product builds the experience, finance tracks the money, and legal or compliance helps make sure the structure works.
That makes alignment especially important. A simple customer-facing message can require a surprising amount of coordination behind the scenes.
The conversation also highlights the difference between launching a one-time campaign and building a program that can grow.
As a company adds more nonprofits, more campaigns, or new ways for customers and employees to give, the operational work can grow quickly too.
Change helps companies manage the infrastructure behind those programs, including nonprofit verification, donation processing, disbursements, and compliance.
Learn more about Change for companies.
Watch the full episode above to hear Vikki discuss the foundations of corporate giving, the decisions companies need to make early, and how to build programs that can scale.
Explore more conversations with leaders across giving, fundraising, legal, and social impact in the Give Smart video series.
