Smart VTO Marketing: Recruiting Corporate Volunteers

We all know the struggle. Maybe you have a critical volunteer shift open on a Tuesday morning. Perhaps you have a fundraising committee meeting at 2:00 PM on a Thursday. Or you need help setting up for the gala on a Friday afternoon. But when you look at your roster of reliable supporters, they all have one thing in common: they are stuck at work.

It is the classic nonprofit dilemma. Your needs operate on a 24/7 cycle, but your volunteer force is largely restricted to evenings and weekends.

But what if I told you that for millions of employees, being “stuck at work” actually includes paid time to come help you? What if the barrier wasn’t their job, but rather their awareness of a benefit they already possess?

Enter Volunteer Time Off (VTO).

VTO is a corporate benefit where companies pay their employees to volunteer during regular business hours. It is one of the fastest-growing trends in corporate social responsibility (CSR), with approximately 60% of major companies now offering paid release time. For the corporate world, it is a tool for volunteer retention and morale. For nonprofits, it is a game-changer.

In this comprehensive guide, we will move beyond the basics of posting a shift and hoping for the best. We will explore how to actively market to the corporate sector, design opportunities that appeal to professionals, and turn one-time VTO days into long-term partnerships.

We’ll cover:

What Volunteer Time Off is
How to identify volunteers with corporate benefits
Multi-channel VTO marketing playbook
“VTO-Friendly” events and opportunities
Leveraging technology for VTO marketing
Stewardship strategies for VTO participants

Let’s dive in and turn those corporate benefits into community impact.

What Is Volunteer Time Off (VTO)?

Before you can market it, you must understand exactly what Volunteer Time Off is—and what it isn’t. VTO is a policy where an employer grants employees paid days (or hours) to volunteer with nonprofit organizations.

Think of it like vacation time or sick leave, but with a charitable purpose. The employee logs the time as “VTO,” and they receive their regular paycheck for those hours. The average corporate policy offers 20 hours per year. That is 2.5 full workdays per employee that could be dedicated to your mission.

VTO vs. Volunteer Grants

It is vital to distinguish VTO from volunteer grants (often called “Dollars for Doers”), as your marketing messaging for each will differ.

Volunteer Time Off (VTO): The company gives the employee time. The financial benefit to the nonprofit is the value of the labor (and the absence of a need to pay staff to do that work).
Volunteer Grants: The company gives the nonprofit money. This is a cash donation triggered after an employee logs a certain number of volunteer hours.

While VTO doesn’t put cash directly into your bank account immediately, it is often the gateway to securing volunteer grants. An employee uses VTO to volunteer 20 hours with you, and those 20 hours then trigger a $500 volunteer grant. By marketing VTO, you are effectively filling your volunteer pipeline and your grant pipeline simultaneously.

Why Marketing VTO Matters

If you aren’t actively marketing VTO, you are leaving resources on the table. Most employees view VTO as a “nice to have” perk rather than a mandate. Without a nudge from a nonprofit they care about, those hours often go unused.

By marketing VTO, you solve three problems at once:

Weekday Coverage: VTO is the solution to the “no volunteers on weekdays” problem.
Corporate Partnerships: A successful VTO event is often the gateway to a deeper corporate relationship, leading to sponsorships or major gifts.
Volunteer Retention: 79% of people who volunteer also donate. Engaging them through their workplace builds a stickier relationship.

Did You Know? VTO usage is highly seasonal. Many employees rush to use their hours in Q4 (October, November, December) before they expire. However, savvy nonprofits market VTO in January and February to capture hours early in the year when volunteer calendars are typically empty.

Identifying VTO-Eligible Volunteers

You cannot market to those you don’t know. The first step in your strategy is identifying which of your current supporters have access to VTO. You likely have hundreds of eligible volunteers in your database right now who have never thought to use their hours with you.

1. The “Employer” Field

If you aren’t already collecting employment data, start today. Add a field for “Employer” to your volunteer registration forms, donation pages, and event sign-ups.
Pro Tip: Use a tool with an autocomplete search function (like Double the Donation) to ensure you get standardized company names. If one person types “MSFT” and another types “Microsoft,” your data will be messy. Autocomplete fixes this.

2. The Direct Question

Update your intake forms with a specific checkbox or drop-down menu. Instead of just asking for the employer name, ask:
“Does your employer offer paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO)?”
“Are you interested in using your VTO hours with us?”
Many volunteers know they have the benefit but never thought to use it with you because you never asked. By planting the seed during registration, you prime them to look for weekday opportunities.

3. Data Screening

If you have a large email list but sparse employment data, you can use a data append service. These services scan public records and social media (like LinkedIn) to match email addresses with current employers. Alternatively, you can do a manual scan for corporate domains.
Look for: @salesforce.com, @deloitte.com, @google.com, @target.com.
Action: Tag these records in your CRM as “VTO Eligible.”

Building Your VTO Marketing Strategy

Once you have identified your target audience, you need a strategy to reach them. Your goal is to position your nonprofit as the “easy button” for using their VTO hours. You want them to think of you first when they decide to take a day out of the office.

1. Create a “Corporate Volunteering” Webpage

Do not bury this information in a general FAQ. Create a specific landing page dedicated to corporate engagement and VTO. This page serves as a resource for employees who need to justify their time off to their managers.

Headline: “Use Your Volunteer Time Off (VTO) with Us!”
The Pitch: Explain the benefits of volunteering with your organization (team building, skill development, community impact).
Employer List: List local employers known to offer VTO (e.g., “Calling all Salesforce, Disney, and Target employees!”). This signals that you are familiar with their programs.
Call to Action: “Book a Team Day” or “Find a VTO Shift.”
Search Tool: Embed a corporate giving widget that allows visitors to check their eligibility instantly.

2. Email Marketing: The “Use It or Lose It” Campaign

As mentioned earlier, VTO hours often expire at the end of the calendar year. Use this urgency to your advantage with a targeted email campaign.
The Q4 Push: In October or November, send an email to your “VTO Eligible” segment.
Subject Line: “Don’t let your paid volunteer days expire!” or “You have unused vacation days (sort of).”
Body Copy: Remind them that they likely have hours to burn before December 31st. Provide a link to a calendar of weekday shifts specifically designed for end-of-year giving opportunities (like holiday meal prep or toy sorting).

The “Lunch & Learn” Pitch: Remote workers often struggle to use VTO. Send a targeted email to employees at specific companies inviting them to a virtual “Lunch & Learn” about your mission.
Why it works: Many companies count educational sessions related to philanthropy as VTO. It is a low-barrier way to engage professionals during their lunch hour.

3. Social Media: The “Tag & Brag”

Social proof is powerful. When a corporate volunteer (or team) joins you, take a high-quality photo and tag the company on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Example Post: “Huge thanks to the team from @HomeDepot for spending their VTO day building our new community garden! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72×72/1f6e0.png" alt="

source https://gettingattention.org/vto-marketing/