Groundswell
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) software
Corporate volunteering platforms
Grant management software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$4,500 per year
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Free version
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What is Groundswell
Groundswell is an employee giving and volunteering platform used to run corporate social impact programs such as volunteering events, donation matching, and employee-led fundraising. It supports program administrators with tools to create campaigns, manage participation, and track impact metrics for internal and external reporting. The product emphasizes employee engagement workflows and configurable program rules rather than broad ESG ratings or supplier assessment use cases.
Unified giving and volunteering
Groundswell supports common employee impact motions in one place, including volunteering opportunities, donations, and company matching. This reduces the need to manage separate tools for volunteering sign-ups and giving workflows. It also helps standardize participation tracking across different program types for reporting.
Configurable program administration
Administrators can configure campaigns, eligibility rules, and matching parameters to align with company policies. The platform is designed around repeatable program operations (e.g., annual giving drives, ongoing volunteer events) rather than one-off initiatives. This can simplify governance and reduce manual processing for common requests.
Participation and impact reporting
Groundswell provides reporting focused on employee participation and program outcomes (e.g., volunteer hours, donation totals, engagement by team). These outputs are typically used for CSR/DEI communications and internal dashboards. The reporting focus aligns with employee engagement programs rather than supplier ESG scoring or sustainability lifecycle management.
Limited ESG and supplier scope
Groundswell is primarily oriented to employee impact programs, not end-to-end ESG management. Organizations looking for capabilities such as supplier sustainability assessments, ESG ratings, or broader sustainability data management may need additional systems. This can create gaps for teams that want a single platform for both CSR engagement and ESG compliance workflows.
Not a full grantmaking system
While it can support corporate giving workflows, it is not typically positioned as a comprehensive grants management system for complex application intake, peer review, multi-stage approvals, and post-award compliance. Companies running formal grant programs with high volumes and detailed reporting requirements may require specialized grant management functionality. Integration or parallel processes may be needed for advanced grant lifecycle management.
Integration depth varies by stack
Employee impact platforms often depend on integrations with HRIS/SSO, payroll giving, and nonprofit databases for smooth administration. If required integrations are not available out of the box, implementation may require custom work or process changes. This can affect time-to-launch and ongoing data reconciliation.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $0 per month | Free personal tier: web + mobile access, giving goal tracking, tax receipts, international giving. Distribution fee: 1%. |
| Benefactor | Starts at $4,500 per year | For growing teams: tax-advantaged giving accounts (DAFs), web + mobile app, unlimited giving campaigns, instant matching and next-day distribution, admin-free payroll giving. Distribution fee: 1%. |
| Philanthropist | Starts at $12,500 per year | Everything in Benefactor plus volunteer event management, volunteer hours tracking, calendar integrations, post-event surveys, charitable impact reporting. Distribution fee: 1%. |
| Visionary | Custom pricing (Contact sales) | Enterprise plan for global scaling: white-labeling, employee segmentation, multi-language support, enterprise reporting API, designated account manager. Distribution fee: 1%. |
Additional add-ons (official site):
- Groundswell Grants Management — Contact sales for pricing. Features include embedded self-service application builder, unlimited grant opportunities and admins, fee-free grant disbursement, unified program management.
- Employee Assistance Funds (add-on) — Starts at $200 per applicant; contact sales for bulk pricing. Includes program design, integration with existing Groundswell program, independent grant review, real-time analytics.
- Other add-ons available: Program Strategy, Volunteer Database (VolunteerMatch integration), Custom Reporting (contact sales).
