A company's greatness has many measures. Beyond profits and rising value, most business leaders also gauge success based on their ability to attract and retain top talent, improve brand recognition, and foster customer loyalty.
This partly explains the current focus on workplace giving initiatives. With 71% of employees favoring employers that support giving and volunteering,1 and 45% of consumers more likely to buy from a brand that gives to charity,2 many companies are looking for ways to re-align their philanthropic efforts with their core business priorities. A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) may help.
Focused Giving
Joan Steinberg, Morgan Stanley's Global Head of Philanthropy and President of the Morgan Stanley Foundation, has spent almost 30 years directing Morgan Stanley’s giving efforts. During her tenure, Steinberg has seen philanthropy evolve from “a nice thing for companies to do” to a fundamental pillar that underpins corporate culture and helps drive transformative change.
"It’s not just consumers who expect the company to be a good neighbor. It’s also employees, " she says.
Under Steinberg's leadership, Morgan Stanley employees have collectively logged over 2.6 million service hours through the firm’s Global Volunteer Month program since 2006.3 She and her team also coordinate year-round employee volunteerism and all firm and employee giving, grant-making and scholarships.
Companies of all sizes can take a strategic page from Steinberg's playbook by deeply integrating giving into their corporate identity.
“These should be integrated programs that directly align with the brand," Steinberg says. "We designed our structure around criteria that are specific to the firm's culture, to our brand attributes and to what we do.”
If your organization is reconsidering the focus of its workplace giving strategy, a good place to start is by asking why, who and how.
Why Give?
Corporate giving typically serves a dual purpose: to drive business benefits while simultaneously meeting the needs of the community.
For instance, under Steinberg’s direction, the firm launched the Morgan Stanley Global Alliance for Children’s Mental Health. Dedicated to fighting stress, anxiety and depression in young people, the organization has helped over 25 million children, families, and educators globally since 2020.
By benefiting customers, investors, and society at large, these types of initiatives can help companies unlock unique rewards. These may range from boosting your corporate image and enhancing market competitiveness to bolstering recruitment efforts and increasing employee engagement.
“Community engagement creates so much value for employees,” Steinberg notes. “It makes employees feel good about themselves, which makes them feel good about your firm.”
In today’s business environment, this matters more than ever. Companies with higher employee engagement experience 78% less absenteeism, 18% higher sales and 23% greater profitability.4
Who Should Benefit?
Charitably minded businesses and individuals can generally agree on the value of workplace giving. Yet, they may not agree on which organizations should benefit.
According to Steinberg, when charities are selected based solely on founders' or CEOs' passions, employees may not feel ownership of the cause. Donor advised funds (DAFs) may help bridge that gap.
A DAF is a type of account designed to manage charitable giving. Whenever donors fund the account by contributing cash or other financial assets, they can potentially receive an immediate tax deduction, like with any other charitable contributions. Unlike other donations, however, funds added to a DAF stay invested until the donor recommends making a grant to the qualified charity of their choice.
Companies interested in setting up DAF accounts through the Morgan Stanley at Work Charitable Giving Program can open a corporate and/or individual giving account:
- A corporate giving account allows companies to determine how the funds will be allocated or enable your employees to recommend how the funds will be used.
- An individual giving account puts the decision-making in employees’ hands by allowing them to recommend how the funds are disbursed.
By simplifying giving, a DAF strategy can empower both businesses and employees to pursue their philanthropic goals.
How to Make it Happen?
Workplace giving is on the rise among companies of every size. Many large enterprises, for instance, are developing year-round workplace giving strategies5 to both heighten employee engagement and make a meaningful difference in the communities where they operate.
Small and mid-sized enterprises are also encouraging philanthropy by matching employee donations. In recent years, companies have begun to match employee donations at higher ratios,6 accelerating the impact of their contributions.
Donor advised funds are similarly growing in popularity thanks to their flexibility and potential tax benefits. Companies or individuals that donate to a DAF are potentially eligible for an immediate tax deduction and may save on capital gains taxes if they donate long-term appreciated assets. Money in a DAF also grows tax-free, which may provide donors with more funds to give to the charities of their choice.
As an added benefit, companies can simplify workplace giving through a streamlined digital experience. The Morgan Stanley at Work Charitable Giving program features a digital donation portal that makes it simple to open a corporate giving account for your organization or let individual employees open their own. The portal allows users to view their account, set up granting preferences, view their grant history, access tax information, track investment performance and more.
“Philanthropy and charity bring out the best in people,” Steinberg says.
By making charitable giving simple and accessible, and tying it back to corporate goals, a DAF strategy may help both businesses and their employees amplify their impact.
