How One Business Surged From 1% to 50% in Employee Giving

It didn’t make sense. How could an organization with a core value of “giving back to others” only have a participation rate of 1 percent in its matching-gift program?

Arthur M. Blank, the philanthropist who co-founded Home Depot, built the Blank Family of Businesses on the idea that employees should live and breathe a culture of giving. He implemented our matching-gift program in 2004 to encourage them to donate to their favorite charities and have that contribution matched in full. Among companies with a matching-gift program, the average employee participation rate hovers around 10 percent — and we were falling far short. We set out to improve our record and beat the average.  

First we conducted a listening tour. We asked organizations with strong programs, like the Home Depot Foundation and Morgan Stanley, how they achieved their success. We studied peer foundations. And we took a long, hard look at our own program, committing ourselves to reimagining everything from program design to internal communications, from incentivization to measuring progress.

Here’s what we learned and how we changed.

We made giving more visible — and more generous.

Recognizing the power of buy-in from the top, we asked our own leaders to participate in the program and promote it with their teams.

For the first time, leaders set goals for their business units and received monthly updates about their progress. During team meetings and milestone moments, like all-staff town halls, leaders directly encouraged associates to participate throughout the year. 

What began as a benefit that no one seemed to know or care about has evolved into a keystone of our organizational culture.

We also increased the match amount from 1:1 to 2:1 — transforming a $10 individual gift into a $30 donation to their chosen charity.

We made participation frictionless.

We needed to make it easier for people to give. We lowered the match minimum from $25 to $10 and introduced a payroll deduction option so employees could donate directly from their paychecks to the antihunger charity Feeding America. We also expanded the scope of the program to match donations to religious organizations as well as contributions to the foundation’s Family Fund, through which associates can help their co-workers who are experiencing unexpected life events.  

Streamlining the process, broadening eligibility, and defining clear giving goals have popularized participation over the past few years. What began as a benefit that no one seemed to know or care about has evolved into a keystone of our organizational culture. Employees are now reaping the emotional rewards of charitable giving, identifying as part of a broader community of donors.  

We invited colleagues to share the stories behind their gifts.

Each quarter, we now hold a drawing and select one participant to direct $5,000 to the charity of their choice. All of the winning associates and their nonprofits are featured in our newsletter, putting their story in front of nearly 1,000 colleagues and opening the door for others to give.

One past winner chose to give to the Love, Chloe Foundation, which supports families facing childhood cancer. The gift was especially meaningful and deeply personal: The associate’s sister created the foundation in honor of her daughter, who had died of a rare childhood cancer.  

People responded compassionately to their colleague’s family story. We took it a step further: Working with a production company, we selected four associates from the matching-gift program to film unscripted testimonial videos. These stories brought real heart and authenticity to the program, spotlighting the nonprofits and why their missions matter. We then amplified these videos in our company newsletter, extending their reach and impact.

When colleagues see the faces and hear the stories of their colleagues about the “why” behind their gifts, generosity spreads.

Leveraging creative communications has been a catalyst for real change. When colleagues see the faces and hear the stories of their colleagues about the “why” behind their gifts, generosity spreads. Leaders model giving from the top, internal ambassadors excite their peers, and rallying points like GivingTuesday and community drives become shared celebrations.  

In just three years, engagement in the program has skyrocketed. The participation rate among all our entities has risen to above 50 percent, and 63 percent of our businesses have participation rates above 80 percent. Together, associates have directed more than $2 million in matched gifts to hundreds of nonprofits, benefiting everything from homeless shelters to cancer research.   

These donations touch so many members of our community, and behind the numbers lies something deeper: belonging. Matching gifts remind us that impact isn’t just measured in funds raised but in the sense of connection they create — between employees and their communities.

By removing barriers, amplifying personal stories and making workplace giving personal, we transformed an abysmally low participation rate into a culturewide movement.