Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) platforms play a critical role in empowering companies to give back, engage employees, and make a meaningful impact on their communities. Choosing the right platform can make or break the success and adoption of your CSR program. We’ve reviewed the top 5 CSR platform’s benefits and challenges so you can make the right choice to help your company achieve their giving goals.
1. Millie
Millie’s mission is to build a home for giving by connecting companies, their teams, and nonprofits in a way that really drives engagement and creates a true culture of giving.They have built their platform with UX in mind and prioritize the needs of their customers, with ongoing platform improvements and regular check-ins with their account management team.
Benefits:
- Affordable: Millie offers budget-friendly pricing without compromising on core functionalities, making it accessible to companies of all sizes.
- Easy To Use: The platform is designed to be intuitive, requiring minimal training for admins and employees. There’s no “Millie University” for a reason!
- Robust Features: Automated corporate donation matching, employee-led volunteer events, donation drives, giving campaigns, and reporting to tell the story of the impact your organization is making.
- Giving Madness: Gamify giving and let employees decide where your company donates. This experience makes participating in your impact program accessible to all employees, even those without extra monetary funds or extra time for volunteering.
- Customer Support: Millie does better than most. Every account at Millie gets a dedicated account management team that helps with onboarding, support, program management, and strategizing to help you build the most effective and engaging program with minimal time from your team.
Challenges:
- Sometimes the charity you’re looking for might not be in the system, but reviewers say they add 501c3’s very quickly when there is a request.
“Millie has provided an easy and centralized way to administer donation efforts. The front-end setup has mostly allowed me to set it and forget it but make updates as needed. The Giving Madness has been a team favorite and allows us to gamify the voting process. We also greatly appreciate the partnership and customer service provided. Their team members proactively reach out regularly for feedback and updates on features. It feels very personalized.” – G2 user review
2. Benevity
One of the most established in the CSR space, Benevity works with enterprise companies to provide a comprehensive suite of tools that create an effective CSR program.
Benefits:
- Enterprise experience: Benevity works with over 60% of companies on the Fortune 50 list; they’ve built software specifically for the largest companies in the world.
- Comprehensive Suite: Includes giving, volunteering, grant management, and community impact reporting.
- Global Reach: Benevity considers themselves the most global team and platform amongst competitors, offering multiple languages and global giving and volunteer opportunities.
- Integrations: Many reviewers say their integrations are great and seamlessly connect with HR software and payroll systems.
Challenges:
- Cost: Their prices are some of the highest in the industry.
- User Interface: Benevity’s platform is a suite of multiple tools and products, this requires integration, training, and a dedicated admin to build a custom experience.
- Customer Support: Many reviewers state it’s tough to get in touch with someone when you need support.
- Reporting: Benevity’s reporting suite is a separate solution that requires extensive data and analytics knowledge to generate reports.
“Communication is not direct so some questions/ conversations are not as quick and easy as I think it could be.” – G2 user review
3. YourCause by Blackbaud
Another established CSR software, YourCause was established in 2008 YourCause was acquired by Blackbaud in 2019, making integration with one of the leading nonprofit software seamless.
Benefits:
- Experience: They have been in the CSR space for a long time and understand the complexities that can arise when running a CSR program.
- Integrations: Because of its Blackbaud, it provides a seamless experience for companies using Blackbaud products.
- Pricing: They have a more flexible pricing structure that can support companies of all sizes. Global Reach: Supports international nonprofits and employee engagement initiatives. Reporting: Provides detailed analytics to measure program effectiveness and ROI.
Challenges:
- User Interface: Many reviewers say the tool feels outdated and is difficult to use.
- Blackbaud Dependency: Reviewers report that, while there are lots of integration options, it’s not all-inclusive and can be cost prohibitive.
- Customer Support: Getting questions answered may be a challenge, as many reviewers state that it’s hard to get a hold of someone when you need questions answered.
“Limited features, without additional costs, is one of the downfalls. We have a lot of international employees and it would be great to add least include them in the volunteer elements of the application. The reporting feature also needs a little attention.” – G2 user review
4. Bonterra
Bonterra is a self-proclaimed “champion the doers”. They are passionate about helping companies build a culture driven by DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging). In 2021, CyberGrants became part of the Bonterra family as “Bonterra Strategic Philanthropy”.
Benefits:
- Robust Features: Reviewers enjoy seeing increased features and customizations.
- Analytics and Reporting: Tracking and reporting features are excellent and provide the flexibility needed to track the goals of your unique program.
Challenges:
- Learning Curve: While the UX is reportedly nice, the learning curve may be steep due to the amount of features which requires lots of training and education.
- Cost: Although they provide a free trial, their costs generally sit at a higher price point which can impact smaller companies.
- Customer Service: Reviewers have shared that getting a response from their customer service team has been a challenge.
“The online customer service chat feature is not very responsive and it makes it difficult to resolve our issues at times.”- G2 user review
5. Deed
Deed is a venture capital-backed company, focused on growing by building a more modern CSR solution. In their own words, “Deed is a workplace giving and volunteering platform that puts people first, because user experience should never stand between you and doing good.”
Benefits:
- Easy to Use: Their UX is great and is designed to encourage employee engagement.
- Robust Features: Deed helps companies to empower employees to donate time, money, and skills.
- Customer Service: They have customer service representatives available to answer customer questions.
Challenges:
- Functionality: Reviewers state that although Deed has wonderful design, there are challenges with platform efficiencies, integrations not working and other non-functioning features.
- Reporting: Some users have felt disappointed at their analytics and reporting.
- Integrations: Their integrations are lacking compared to competitors in the space.
- Pricing: Non-transparent / consistent pricing – often varies based on organization size.
“Platform looks like it has great UX and features, if it worked.” – G2 user review
How to Choose the Right CSR Platform
It’s important to find the CSR platform that’s the right fit for your company. Here are some factors to consider when choosing your giving partner:
- Features: Identify what features will help you accomplish your giving goals. Match? Grants? Volunteering? Employee engagement? Analytics?
- Budget: Determine the budget your organization has set aside for this cause.
- Service: Consider how having an account lead supporting you can help you accomplish your goals and make the most of your CSR program.
- Analytics: What data will be needed to showcase the success of your program?
Why choose Millie?
Millie stands out from the competition in many ways. First, it’s more affordable than industry giants like Benevity and YourCause – see for yourself. It also offers an account manager, no matter the size of your business. You will always have a team member to talk with to ensure your CSR program is successful. Plus, you cannot beat the UX and analytics Millie offers. Its ease of use, combined with robust reporting makes for a seamless experience.
Ready to make an impact? Schedule a demo today!
