January 24, 2020
As a nonprofit professional, you are always looking for fresh ways to tap into new donation opportunities. With our innovative employer matching feature, we can offer the chance to double donations with little to no added effort required of your team. That’s thanks to a seamless integration with Double the Donation’s industry-leading solution, 360MatchPro, that allows you to place an employee matching option right on your giving page for easy donor access.
And it’s a win-win situation, too. Donors love getting their gifts matched because it allows them to magnify the impact of their contributions without reaching back into their own wallets for a cause they obviously care about. Meanwhile, your organization receives two gifts for the cost of soliciting one, empowering you to do more for your mission. Not to mention, donors are more likely to give (and to give more) when matching opportunities are offered, resulting in a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
Interested in elevating your organization’s corporate match revenue? Here are five things your team needs to know about employee matching programs and how to effectively use them for your cause;
The end of one year, going into the beginning of the next, is one of the most lucrative opportunities for organizations looking to drive matching gift revenue.
Starting in November and really getting into it on Giving Tuesday, nonprofit fundraisers reap the benefits of the year-end giving season. This tends to be a time when donors feel particularly generous with their dollars—not to mention the tax benefits. In fact, fundraising research reports over 30% of annual giving comes in December each year, with about 10% of all donations funneling in within the final three days. Then, in January, there is a lasting effect of end-of-year giving as donating big is still on the minds of many donors.
So why not make the most of corporate matching during this time as well? Make sure you hype up employee match opportunities within the end of the year and new year giving seasons.
Even better? Tons of companies align their matching gift request deadlines with the end of the calendar year, while many more opt for a limit that falls a bit beyond the end of the calendar year with a grace period into the new one. As such, many donors’ matchable gifts will be reaching the end of their eligibility period come December, January, and even February each year, even if they were made many months beforehand. Use this information wisely to establish a sense of urgency and drive more matches to completion before it’s too late.
Some people give just to give, but more will be willing to support your cause when they know their donations are being applied to a tangible objective. As such, it’s important to set specific fundraising goals for your organization. Then, make an effort to communicate this goal—and the ways in which corporate matching gifts can help you reach it—to your donors.
Here’s an example:
“Get your donation matched by your employer to help us build a new roof for the local school! Each match will double the number of shingles we can provide until we have all the materials we need to ensure ongoing learning for years to come.”
This type of language will aid donors in visualizing how their donations are making a real impact and will give them additional inspiration to follow up with their employers for matching program availability.
Matching gift software, like GivingFuel’s integration with 360MatchPro, enables organizations to determine the most impactful match opportunities and follow up with them to produce grand results. For example, consider some of the top matching gift companies listed by Double the Donation. Though these are certainly not all the companies that match gifts, it can be a great place to begin your search. You may even include them on your website, framing the information as such: “These are some major employers that match donations! Does your company have one too? Find out here.”
This setup allows donors to click the link to your dedicated matching gift page. From there, individuals can navigate to an embedded company search tool to easily uncover program information for their own employers. Eligible donors will be led directly to their companies’ matching gift guidelines and request forms for increasing accessibility and ease of use.
If you want corporate matching gifts to be as impactful as other types of giving, it’s important that you continue to prioritize accessibility in many ways.
For example, you’ll likely want to include a prominently placed call to action button on your nonprofit website that provides additional information on corporate matching—such as your dedicated match page. Unfortunately, millions of people who work for companies with matching gift programs remain unaware of the initiatives put in place by their employers, which means nonprofits like yours must take on the responsibility of informing donors.
Take a look at this sample CTA text: “Want to take advantage of matching gifts today? Click here to do so!”
For this reason, we also recommend including your matching gift page fairly high up on your website navigation menu. After all, it hardly matters if you have the most detailed and well-built-out matching gift page that anyone has ever seen if nobody knows how to find it in the first place!
Other top strategies for getting the word out about matching gift programs in an accessible way include making the most of all of your marketing channels. This may include your social media, email, direct mail, online blogging, fundraising appeals, and more.
Did you know that some of your best matching gift opportunities can begin with the connections you already have?
Make a note of your major donors. Don’t make the mistake of overlooking your board members, either. Or those mid-level supporters who give to support your organization on a regular basis. Even your small-dollar donors can be eligible to participate in corporate matching, thanks to low match minimums put in place by thousands of companies.
Take a look at the companies these individuals are working for (and if you don’t know where these people are employed, now is the time to begin collecting this information). They’re already giving to your organization, so you might as well take advantage of a possible match. After all, you know they believe in your mission and will do what they can to magnify their impact when possible!
Promote and implement employee matching as an integral part of your fundraising efforts. Use employee matching today to begin deepening the conversation with your donors and see what opportunities are hiding right around the corner.
Ready to make the most of employer matching programs for your organization? Learn more here or request a personalized demo—just be sure to mention you use GivingFuel in the demo request form!
