November 4, 2024
The end of the year is a critical time for nonprofits, as donors often feel increasingly inspired to give back and make a difference before the calendar resets. But how can you make the most of this season of generosity? Matching gifts offer an incredible opportunity to double—or even triple—the impact of each donation, significantly boosting your donations overall.
In this post, we’ll explore seven actionable tactics to help you drive matching gifts, increase donor engagement, and reach your fundraising goals before the year ends.
These include the following:
Matching gifts offer a lot of value in campaigns throughout the year—but at the year’s end, their potential stands out even more. With a few key strategies, you can maximize matching gift participation, engage your supporters, and fuel your nonprofit’s success through year-end.
Let’s begin to find out how your team can do so.
To successfully promote matching gifts, it’s essential to ensure your entire team understands the importance of these programs and how they can help raise additional funds.
Educate your team members about how matching gifts work, share key talking points, and provide any resources they’ll need to effectively communicate with donors. By aligning your team around matching gift goals, you’ll create a more coordinated and enthusiastic approach to engaging donors during year-end.
Double the Donation provides a lot of free and low-cost educational resources to get teams up to speed on matching gifts in no time—including an online Matching Gift Academy!
Your donation page is one of the most visible and influential points of interaction with donors—including at the end of the year. Therefore, we recommend integrating clear calls to action about matching gifts directly within your giving forms, such as with a company search tool to check for employer eligibility, emphasizing the potential for donations to be doubled. This should include any campaign-specific giving forms, such as Giving Tuesday, too.
Promoting matching gifts directly on donation pages helps donors understand the impact of matching programs and encourages them to take action during the donation process. Plus, this is generally where they’re at the height of their engagement overall!
You’re likely going to receive a significant number of donations in the year-end giving season. Make sure each one is reminded of the opportunity to pursue a matching gift by implementing tailored follow-up outreach in the hours or days after an individual makes a donation.
These personalized messages can include a link to check their employer’s match eligibility and instructions on how to submit a match request for their specific company if the information is available. Personal follow-ups make it easy for donors to double their impact, and the personalized touch can motivate them to act quickly.
For donations made earlier in the year, consider sending retroactive reminders to let those donors know they may still be eligible to submit a matching gift request. Include a note about the impact their matched gift would have on your year-end goals—even without asking the individual to reach back into their wallet to give more.
After all, many employers allow up to 12 months to submit a match request, while many structure their deadlines in line with the end of the calendar year. That said, reminding past donors about their eligibility helps capture match revenue that may have otherwise been missed.
This can include recurring donations that have yet to be submitted for matching, too!
Social media is an effective channel for building awareness about matching gifts and inspiring immediate action. During the giving season, post regularly about matching gift opportunities, and share stories of donors who’ve doubled their impact through matching.
Use visuals, hashtags, and a clear call to action with a link to your matching gift page. Meanwhile, social sharing extends the reach of your message, potentially bringing in new supporters to your cause.
Interested in expanding your matching gift potential? Consider reaching out to corporate partners or local businesses to establish a one-time matching gift offering for the year-end season. These partnerships allow you to match donations from their employees (usually during a specific time period), even if the company doesn’t offer a full matching gift program.
Plus, it’s a great way to incentivize more gifts from new and returning donors alike. Promoting these partnerships also shows that companies are actively backing your cause, adding credibility and encouraging donor participation.
We know that the end-of-year giving season is a busy time for fundraising teams, which is the reason matching gift automation can make a big difference. And lucky for you, integrating your fundraising tools with a dedicated matching gift platform goes a long way.
With a tool like Double the Donation, which integrates seamlessly with GivingFuel, you can streamline the donor experience and make it easier for supporters to find matching gift information, often triggering action to complete the match process.
Integrated tools can also automatically trigger matching gift follow-ups, embed employer search functions on donation pages, and provide your team with data insights on potential matches. This seamless experience ensures that your organization is capturing as many eligible matches as possible—all without lifting a finger!
Doubling your match revenue at year-end can be a game-changer for your organization’s impact and funding. By incorporating these seven strategies—like leveraging social media, personalizing donor outreach, and involving corporate partners—you can create an effective, engaging matching gift campaign.
As you implement these tactics, you’ll make it easier for supporters to maximize their donations, helping your nonprofit end the year—and start the new one—strong. So, take advantage of the momentum this season brings, and watch your year-end success multiply with every matched gift. Good luck!
