Across the nonprofit healthcare sector, organizations face a perfect storm: financial pressures are intensifying, workforce burnout is reaching historic highs, and traditional fundraising strategies are under strain. Amid all this, employee giving often gets overlooked — but it shouldn’t.

When implemented with intention, employee giving is more than just a fundraising tactic. It’s a flywheel—fueling culture, deepening connection, and unlocking new sources of capital.

That’s why it matters.

The Untapped Potential Behind Low Participation Rates

Unfortunately, most healthcare systems never even come close to realizing the benefits of employee giving—because participation rarely climbs beyond 10%.

So what’s holding them back?

Most programs rely on templated campaigns that don’t reflect the reality on the ground: email blasts, intranet links, and year-end reminders that land in inboxes no one checks. They’re designed for desks and conference rooms—not for nurses wrapping up night shifts or support staff who move all day without ever seeing their mailboxes.

It’s not a lack of goodwill. Healthcare professionals are among the most mission-driven people in any industry. The real barrier is friction—too many steps, poorly timed asks, and tools that weren’t built with frontline realities in mind. So even when employees want to give, the system makes it harder than it needs to be.

But when hospitals remove that friction and reach 50%+ participation, the impact is transformational:

  • Up to $3 million in additional donations directly from employees*
  • Stronger major gift cases, using participation data to build donor trust
  • A 5% drop in employee turnover across the system

* Based on benchmarking for 30,000-employee health systems

The Power of Internal Participation

Employee giving isn’t just about philanthropy—it’s about belonging.
When staff are invited to contribute to the mission, they start to see themselves as part of it. They feel heard. Seen. Valued.

That sense of connection doesn’t just lift morale—it shapes behavior.

We’ve seen hospitals with 30,000 employees go from raising $600K internally to over $3.8 million—simply by removing friction and making giving part of the everyday culture.

And when that culture of giving takes root, the ripple effects go far beyond the dollars raised.

It becomes visible—to donors on the outside.

Major donors don’t just invest in a hospital’s vision. They invest in confidence and credibility. When thousands of employees voluntarily give to their own institution, it sends a powerful signal: “Our people believe in this place.”

It becomes a story your development team can back with data—and lead with conviction.

But the impact isn’t just external.

The hidden ROI of participation shows up in retention.

When staff feel a deeper connection to the organization, they’re more likely to stay. In fact, hospitals that reach 50%+ participation in employee giving have seen system-wide turnover drop by 5%.

The financial impact of that change is staggering.

Let’s break it down:

  • The average cost of losing a single healthcare employee: $50,000
  • In a 30,000-person system with 23% turnover, that’s 6,900 exits per year
  • Total annual cost: $345 million

A 5% reduction in turnover = 345 fewer exits
That’s over $17 million in annual savings—from participation alone.

This isn’t just about generosity. It’s about strategy.

Because when employees give, they’re not just donating—they’re anchoring themselves to your mission. And that’s a competitive advantage you can’t afford to ignore.

When Goodwill Gets Stuck in the System

Employee giving efforts are often powered by email blasts, offline ambassador programs, poster campaigns, and a mess of manual spreadsheets. In many cases, each facility runs its own campaign, resulting in fragmented efforts that don’t scale.

Participation can swing wildly—from 5% in one facility to 20% in another—depending on whether one or two passionate staff members decide to champion the cause.

So why is employee giving still stuck in outdated, labor-intensive processes?

Because the platforms out there weren’t built for healthcare.
They were made for corporate ESG teams—not for the complexity of multi-location, multi-shift hospital systems.

As a result, most Foundation teams end up running everything manually—on their own, across locations, with no real infrastructure. It’s time-consuming, fragmented, and exhausting.

That’s why we built Ribon—an employee giving platform made specifically for nonprofit hospital systems.

With Ribon, employee giving stops being a scrappy side project—and becomes a streamlined, scalable part of your fundraising strategy.

Our hospital partners typically run the platform with just 1–2 staff members from the Foundation or Annual Giving team.
No IT bottlenecks. No HR dependencies. Launch in weeks.

We handle the tech and the rollout.
You focus on what matters: driving engagement.

A Simple Shift That Changes Everything

Instead of asking employees to give first, our proprietary Reverse Matching Gift model flips the script:

Each employee receives a pre-funded donation ticket, paid from the hospital’s unrestricted budget, which they can use to support a nonprofit cause they care about—before being asked to give a dime of their own.

This small psychological shift rewires the entire experience.

  • It removes pressure.
  • It gives employees control over where their impact goes.
  • It builds emotional connection.
  • And it often sparks spontaneous giving—from people who had never donated before.

Some of our partners have reached participation rates of 50% or more, not by pushing harder—but by lowering the barrier to entry and leading with trust.

Because when employees feel like they already belong, they’re far more likely to give back.

Employee Giving Isn’t Overhead—It’s Opportunity

For Chief Development Officers, employee giving isn’t just an internal engagement metric—it’s a strategic lever. When employees give, it strengthens your fundraising narrative, builds donor confidence, and reinforces a culture of generosity that starts on the inside and radiates outward.

It tells a story funders want to hear: “We believe in this mission—and we’re invested in it ourselves.”

And when that message comes from within the hospital walls, it carries more weight than any marketing campaign ever could.

If you’re ready to shift employee giving from “optional” to essential, we’re here to help.

Let’s turn participation into momentum—starting with the people already on your team.