A donation matching campaign is one of the best ways for nonprofits to collect extra funds and multiply their impact. Matching donations can be made by a major donor, a sponsor company, or the donors’ employers. We’ll help you with the steps you must follow to host a successful matching campaign and double – or even triple – your donations.
A donation matching campaign is one of the best ways for nonprofits to collect extra funds and multiply their impact. Donations to this campaign can be matched by a major donor, a sponsor company, or the donors’ employers.
Most employers include this as part of their corporate responsibility program. As per Double the Donation, 65% of fortune 500 companies would match donations. And 1 in every 3 donors says that they’d make larger donations if their gifts were matched.
What does this mean for you? Your donations can be doubled – even tripled – if you host a successful donation matching campaign.
Indeed, there are steps you must follow – and this article will help you with that!
A donation matching campaign is a fundraising campaign for nonprofits to raise donations and have them matched by a sponsor or donors’ employers. These campaigns are great for urgent or capital fund needs as well as other forms of fundraising.
Usually, donation matching is done when a major donor or a company offers to match donations dollar-by-dollar within a set deadline or up to a certain amount.
However, the most effective (and simplest) form of a donation matching campaign is one that is held online and is mostly automated. It enables your donors to find out if their employers would match their donations. They will submit the matching request and that’s it – the employer will match the donation!
The whole process becomes effortless on your end – no looking for a sponsor or major donor!
But you’ll need an effective online tool that makes this happen for you. See how Donorbox can help.
Donorbox makes your donation matching campaigns simpler and hassle-free. It partners with Double the Donation to let you add a widget to your donation form or embed it on your website.
The donation form widget (as shown in the above example) highlights that all gifts will be matched by an anonymous donor. However, Donrbox also enables supporters to search for their employer while making the donation, like in this example:
After the donation, Donorbox gives donors a page link where they’ll find their employer’s donation matching guidelines. This will include the minimum and the maximum amount the company will match the match ratio and the submission process.
This donation matching page will be branded with your logo, tax ID, and contact information. The rest of the process will be done on the donor’s end.
Important note: Starting June 27, 2023, organizations that activate the “Employee Gift Matching” add-on on Donorbox won’t be billed by us. They need to sign up for 360MatchPro and pay through Double the Donation. Get connected with the Double the Donation team today to create an account!
Here are the 6 simple steps of setting up a donation matching campaign on Donorbox.
If you’re new to Donorbox, sign up for free.
Now log in to your account and set up your payment processor.
Next, update your nonprofit info.
Click “Integrations & Add-ons” in the left navigation and select “Employee Gift Matching” from the list.
The page on the right-hand side will open as you do that.
Toggle the switch as shown below to enable donation matching on Donorbox.
You’ll be provided with a matching search page link and a code. You can copy and paste this code into your website editor to embed the donation matching widget.
Here’s an example of how your matching search page looks. You can share it with your donors or add the link to your website.
Alternatively, the embeddable widget can also be added to your website. Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston, an organization using Donorbox, has embedded the widget on its donation page, as shown below.
Get Your Donation Matching Widget Now!
Now that you have enabled donation matching, time to set up a donation matching campaign on Donorbox.
Go to the “Fundraise” option in the navigation list and select “Campaigns”.
Click on “+New Campaign”.
Click “New Page” to start creating your campaign page.
Name your campaign and set a goal before clicking “Create Fundraising Page”.
Make basic customizations for your campaign page such as adding a logo, colors, campaign description, donor wall, social media buttons, etc., and click “Create Campaign”.
You have your basic campaign structure ready. Now, click “Continue Editing” on your campaign dashboard to add the donation matching option to your campaign.
Click “Donor Information” under the section “Your Donation Form”.
Toggle the switch “Enable company donation” on the page that opens. Click “Update”.
There you go – your donation matching campaign is ready!
On the Campaign Creator dashboard, click “Preview Campaign” and check out your donation matching campaign.
Here’s how your new donation matching campaign will look.
Bonus – Read our detailed step-by-step guide for customizing your fundraising page and donation form on Donorbox. A more customized and well-designed campaign page will enhance your donors’ gift-matching experience.
You’ve set up your donation matching campaign – now what?
Your supporters and potential donors must know about it. For some, the process can be completely new and confusing. Promoting the campaign along with the steps will be the right way to ensure your donations are indeed multiplied.
Here are 3 tips to help you get started.
A matched donation can easily double or triple the initial amount. This means by following a few simple steps, your supporters get to amplify your campaign impact by 2 to 3 times!
Help people realize this – what these few quick steps can do to help your organization and the cause they support! Your emails, social media posts, letters, the campaign description – all should include this detail about creating double impact.
For example, if $30 can pay for a care package for one elderly person in your care home, the matched donation amount i.e. $60 can provide for two.
Here’s how GREY2K USA Worldwide promoted its donation matching campaign on Twitter in the past.
Don’t keep people wondering how to have their donations matched or how difficult it might be. Create simple instructional images or videos to show them the steps.
Canva is an excellent tool for nonprofits to use for free. Add your campaign screenshots and step descriptions to explain the process. Your volunteers can help create them.
Now, post these on your social media or add them to your email messages. Even better, if you have an event coming up, take 2 minutes to present it on a screen for your attendees.
When people see it’s that simple, more of them will be willing to help.
Add a dedicated page to your website, that talks about your donation matching campaign. If your campaign page is outside of the website, add a catchy CTA button from this page to that one. You can also embed the donation-matching search widget on this page.
Leverage the power of storytelling – with heartwarming images and videos of impact. In addition to telling donors what it will be, show them what it will look like. Add past matched donations and their impact to this page. This will encourage more visitors to take action.
The role of this page will be to compel your supporters to explore this option and eventually, take the necessary steps to double their donation.
Make sure to add this page link to your top navigation bar that is available across the website.
Setting up an online donation matching campaign is easier than you might think. Just a few simple steps. And rather than going the traditional way, you should help your donors quickly search for a match with their employer and complete the process online.
Donorbox, in partnership with Double the Donation, ensures all this is a breeze – for you and your donors! We offer a range of other features that are as powerful and simple as this one. Learn about them on our website. If you’d like to leverage a custom success package including expert coaching and premium tools for your nonprofit, check out Donorbox Premium. Book your demo now for personalized pricing.
Read other insightful blogs and guides on donation matching on our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a curated list of our best resources in your inbox every month.
Chirasree Bose is the Content Editor at Donorbox. Apart from editing and writing, what holds her interest the most is reading books. Chirasree loves to explore the world of fiction and has authored some books herself. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
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Chirasree Bose