February 9, 2023
In recent years, an increasing number of companies have started to participate in corporate philanthropy, which often results in elevated funding opportunities for nonprofits like yours.
One of the most popular examples of this key nonprofit-corporate partnership is employee matching gifts. When qualifying individuals make donations to their favorite charities, their employing companies agree to match those gifts with generous contributions of their own.
However, research shows that only 7% of match-eligible donors actually go on to submit matching gift requests to their employers, leading to significant amounts of unclaimed matching gift fundingΩ
In other words, your nonprofit is likely missing out on potential matching gift revenue. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best ways to increase match revenue that your team can employ.
These include the following practices:
Let’s walk through each key method and see how your nonprofit can finetune your corporate-matching strategy to raise more for your mission with ease.
Before launching into a donor-facing matching gift campaign, it’s important to ensure your internal team is on the same page with matching gift opportunities. After all, your fundraising team can be some of your greatest advocates of corporate donation-matching, but they have to have the knowledge and understanding to best position the programs to supporters.
We recommend providing your staff and key volunteers with educational resources on the subject. Consider hosting regular internal training sessions dedicated to matching gift strategies, and don’t forget to include gift-matching in new team member onboarding materials going forward, as well!
Top tip: Our partners at Double the Donation offer a wide range of free learning resources—including a constantly updated blog, in-depth eBooks, and live and on-demand webinar trainings—on matching gifts and other corporate giving topics.
Diving into your donor-facing materials, one of the first steps we recommend taking to drive matching gifts for your organization is to highlight program opportunities in your upcoming donation asks.
A survey of donor behavior reports that mentioning matching gift opportunities in fundraising appeals can not only result in elevated matching gift revenue but also increased individual giving. In fact, 84% of participants indicated an increased likelihood of donating if a match is offered, while 1 in 3 donors stated they’d increase their initial gift size if matching is applied to their donation.
Overall, this results in an average 71% increase in response rate—and a 51% increase in donation amount. That’s not even including the additional fundraising revenue produced through corporate donation matches themselves. But when you increase donor giving, to begin with, that just means more match-eligible donation funding in the end!
In order to identify corporate matching opportunities, it helps to have a record of the companies your donors work for. One of the easiest ways to locate this information is by simply asking—and during the donation process is a quick and easy chance to do so.
We recommend adding an optional donation form field that prompts donors to enter their employer’s name. And if you provide context as to why you’re looking to collect this data point (e.g., Enter your company name here to uncover matching gift eligibility!), donors will be more likely to do so!
Top tip: When you power your fundraising efforts with best-in-class donation tools (like GivingFuel, which partners with Double the Donation), incorporating this step with an intuitive company search tool in the giving experience is as simple as can be.
Each employer that hosts a donation-matching program is able to determine its own company-specific matching gift guidelines. This criteria determines eligible matching gifts and typically includes:
However, many eligible donors do not know how to locate this information on their own, which ultimately results in tons of unclaimed matches. That’s why we recommend providing relevant details to your donors—which, again, are made available through your matching gift software provider with ease.
One of the best opportunities for doing so? Immediately after they submit their initial donation on the confirmation screen. This encourages donors to take the next steps directly following their personal contributions while they still maintain some of that elevated giving momentum.
Hopefully, many donors ultimately take steps to submit their matches after being prompted to do so from their gift confirmation screens. Realistically, though, not all supporters will choose to do so. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a strategy in place for following up on unclaimed matches.
We recommend getting started on matching gift follow-ups within 24 hours of the initial gift being made. And with your matching gift software, you can continue to track unclaimed corporate matches—and trigger automated follow-up cadences as needed—until the donor’s steps are taken to complete the match.
When it comes to driving matching gifts, another key digital communications strategy has to do with your organization’s social media profiles.
Social media is a top online method for increasing awareness of matching gift opportunities to your entire audience of supporters and more. And since the vast majority of match-eligible donors have never even heard of the programs, it can be a great way to get the ball rolling regarding participation in corporate donation-matching initiatives.
For the best social-posting results, consider eye-catching visuals such as images and videos and linking out to additional resources to learn more about the programs.
Our final recommended practice is arguably one of the most important—making your organization’s website a comprehensive hub of corporate matching gift information. After all, your website is likely where donors, prospects, and other supporters go to learn more about how they can get involved with your cause. That said, it’s the perfect location for information about corporate donation-matching opportunities and how individuals can participate.
Specifically, there are a few key ways to leverage your website in particular. This includes:
Successful matching gift strategies can go a long way—including elevating Giving Day initiatives, peer-to-peer fundraising efforts, and more. By incorporating these tried-and-true tips in your nonprofit’s fundraising plan, you can be sure to maximize available funding sources for your cause. Good luck!
