Matching gifts can double your donations, but only if you know how to use them effectively. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the eight most common questions nonprofits ask about matching gifts – with clear answers and actionable tips for each.
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Did you know there are billions of dollars left unclaimed by nonprofits every year?
Unfortunately, it’s true – up to 10 billion potential fundraising dollars are left on the table annually. Fortunately, though, there’s a way that we can start to change that.
How? By pushing to maximize donations through the power of matching gifts!
In this article, we’ll go over the basics of matching gifts and show you how your nonprofit can benefit from these programs.
Coming up with exciting and fresh fundraising ideas can be a challenging task. Luckily, the process of matching gifts is both easy and profitable.
If you’re unfamiliar with matching gift programs, the concept is simple:
Companies match their employees’ gifts to eligible nonprofits. In many cases, that means the employer will literally double the gift. Your donor’s $50 becomes $100, $200 becomes $400, and so on.
Matching gift programs can be a great way to boost your general fundraising abilities, and they can also play a strategic part in helping you reach specific targets. Especially if you’re chipping away at large-scale projects (like a capital campaign), these additional funds can really add up!
Employers establish these programs to encourage their employees to engage in charitable giving. They’re great for nonprofits (who get an instant boost to their fundraising) and they’re also beneficial for the companies offering them.
Employees of companies with matching gift programs tend to be more engaged with their workplace and therefore more likely to stay at the company. Companies also receive tax benefits and a boost to their philanthropic reputation. It’s no surprise, then, that more than 65% of Fortune 500 companies have matching gift programs in place!
Bottom Line: Corporate matching gift programs are a simple way to double employees’ donations to eligible nonprofit organizations. Many companies already have these programs in place, but most nonprofits don’t take advantage of them.
The process of matching gifts is simple, but there are a few basic components that you should understand as you get started.
First, it’s vital that you know the ratio at which a company will match donations. By and large, most companies will match donations at a 1:1 (or dollar-for-dollar) rate, thereby doubling their employees’ contributions.
However, while that may be the most common ratio, it’s not the only ratio you may encounter! Some companies match at .5 to 1, while others are so generous as to triple or even quadruple donations. There is no universal ratio, so you’ll have to work with companies on an individual basis.
While we’re talking numbers, you should also be aware of minimum and maximum matching gift limits. In other words, companies set minimum and maximum donation thresholds for the gifts they’ll match. The average minimum is around $25, while the maximum amounts are generally between $10,000 and $25,000.
Bottom Line: The matching gift process is straightforward; however, several key elements should be taken into consideration. For the best results, you’ll want to be aware of companies’ varying match ratios, as well as minimum and maximum donation amounts.
Whether you’re a well-established organization or just starting out, you’re probably eligible to take advantage of these excellent corporate giving programs.
The good news is that the majority of registered nonprofit organizations are eligible for matching gift programs. Educational, social, environmental, cultural, and healthcare-focused organizations or institutions are generally qualified for corporate matching gifts.
Note that here are some organizations that are generally not eligible. These organizations include religious groups without a community-service component or organizations with a political affiliation.
Additionally, some companies narrow their focus to include only specific types of nonprofits. For example, a corporation may prefer to match gifts only to educational institutions, such as private universities or K-12 schools.
Since these restrictions may vary by company, the best way to determine if your nonprofit is eligible is to check with each business individually.
Bottom Line: Most registered 501(c)(3) organizations can participate in matching gift programs, but some companies limit the kind of organizations they donate to at their own discretion.
Now that you’re aware of the basics of gift matching, let’s take a more detailed look at the process from start to finish.
The first step to matching gifts is the gift itself – your donor must make a contribution before their employer can match it.
Following the initial donation, the donor can check to see if their employer has a matching gift program in place. If the nonprofit has a matching gift search tool on its website, this step can be as simple as searching for the company name and following the instructions provided.
From there, the donor must complete the associated paperwork (or online form) to provide information about their gift. Usually, this includes:
At this point, it’s also essential to consider the matching gift deadlines that a company may have in place. While donors aren’t required to submit their requests immediately following their donation, there are general time constraints that must be followed.
Although these constraints vary by company, it generally means the request must be submitted within:
So, where does the nonprofit come in?
As you can see, the active player in this process is definitely the donor. The organization, meanwhile, is responsible for marketing matching gifts, confirming donations with employers, and acknowledging donors’ contributions.
Though your role might seem limited, it’s crucial that you know how this process works so you can properly educate and support your donors.
Bottom Line: The matching gift process is simple for donors, nonprofits, and companies alike. Your nonprofit should be aware of how these programs work, as well as the submission deadlines associated with them, in order to best promote them to donors.
So, you’re on board with matching gifts and you want your donors to be, too. But how do you get the word out about these fantastic programs?
Currently, only about 9% of eligible donors take advantage of matching gifts. The majority of potential donors aren’t looking into corporate giving, and it’s your job as a nonprofit to turn those facts around!
The most effective way to incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising strategy is to make sure that your donors are aware of this opportunity. There’s no end to the amount of matching gift marketing that you can do, but here are a few of our favorite places to promote these programs:
These tips are a good jumping-off point for where to advertise matching gifts, but you may also be wondering when you should focus your promotions on these programs. For the best results, keep your promotions rolling out on a regular basis. However, there are certain times of year that are especially ideal.
The end and beginning of the year can be a great time to remind donors of the gifts they contributed throughout the past year (and the year-end giving season). Additionally, this time of year is when many submission deadlines fall, so be diligent in ensuring that those match requests are submitted in time.
If you’re interested in sending more personal communications to specific donors, you can tailor your reminders depending on their individual deadlines. While this is a bit more intensive, it can pay off if you have donors whose larger contributions might be eligible to be doubled (or tripled!).
Bottom Line: Donors can’t maximize their donations through matching gifts if they don’t know how. By effectively promoting these programs at the right time and in the right place, your nonprofit can make the most out of donors’ gifts.
One of the most effective ways to promote matching gifts is to include a direct link on the donation form. The more information donors have when making their contributions, the more likely they are to submit matching requests.
Nonprofits using Donorbox can easily integrate Double the Donation’s matching gift tool into their donation forms. Plus, donors can search for their employer and receive information about their matching gift program in real time after confirming their donation.
Here’s how it works:
On the Donorbox-powered donation form, usually after donors select a gift amount, there is a field where they can search for their employers. If the company is in Double the Donation’s matching gift database, it will appear in the dropdown menu shown below.
Once the donation is confirmed, donors will be directed to their company’s matching gift page, which details the program along with its guidelines and restrictions. This matching gift page will be branded with your nonprofit’s logo, tax ID, and contact information.
Additionally, donors will receive an email reminder to submit their request. This email will also include a link to the matching gift page, so donors can quickly reference the information in the future.
If you’re interested in enabling this feature in your donation forms, you’ll need to:
Bottom Line: Integrating matching gifts into your donation forms is a great way to promote giving, and it’s simple thanks to Donorbox’s partnership with Double the Donation.
Being able to measure your nonprofit’s performance is essential if you want to grow your matching gift revenue. To evaluate your progress, you’ll need to track key metrics to help you determine how many donations are successfully making it through the matching process.
You can get started by tracking the following data points to help analyze your performance:
Once you have sufficient data tracking these metrics, you can use the information to analyze your performance – including the percentage of matching gifts received compared to eligible donations.
All this information will help you see if your efforts are increasing your overall matching gift revenue. Consequently, you’ll be able to improve your strategies and keep raising more!
Bottom Line: Tracking donations and measuring your success is a great way to determine which promotional methods are effective. It also helps you identify any donations that have slipped through the cracks.
Understanding, promoting, and tracking matching gifts is a huge endeavor that isn’t always easy. Every organization will face challenges when it comes to raising money through matching gifts. On the bright side, by becoming familiar with these challenges, your organization will be better prepared to navigate any bumps along the way.
Let’s discuss two of the most common challenges nonprofits of all shapes and sizes might encounter, and a few tips to help you overcome them.
In the last section, we talked about the importance of tracking and identifying eligible matching gifts, but we didn’t go into how your nonprofit can track that information. With different giving guidelines and restrictions for every company, there’s no simple way to identify a matching gift, short of manually checking every donation.
However, identifying these eligible gifts is important because it helps you pinpoint the most valuable matching gift opportunities. So, how can your nonprofit make the process a little easier?
First, your organization can hire a matching gift coordinator. This professional can focus on identifying eligible matching gifts and contacting donors to secure them.
Using a matching gift tool can also help your organization identify additional funding opportunities. By including the search tool in your donation forms and matching gifts page, you can learn more about where your donors work, which will make identifying donations much easier.
Many nonprofits still face difficulties in finding and implementing communication strategies to encourage donors to submit requests. Even with automated emails, it can still be challenging to determine which donors should receive specific messages.
Additionally, many nonprofits lack a method to track the success of their outreach or identify which step in the process donors are at.
You can fix this this by reaching out to donors multiple times to remind them to submit their requests. In your email, be sure to include:
Bottom Line: While these challenges are very real concerns, you can work to solve them by creating a strong communications plan. Plus, using the right tools and resources will help you identify donors and track submissions throughout the process.
If you’re looking for a buy-one-get-one deal on your supporters’ donations, consider adding matching gifts to your fundraising strategy. These programs are great for companies, even better for nonprofits, and extremely simple for donors to get started with.
Looking for even more information on how corporate giving works? We recommend checking out Double the Donation for all the matching gift resources you might need.
Plus, we’ve compiled a list of helpful resources to get you started:
Adam is the President of Double the Donation, the leading provider of tools for nonprofits to raise more money from corporate matching gifts and volunteer grant programs.
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