Matching Gifts Archives

1. Make it easy for donors to find more information

In an ideal world, all of your donors would work for companies that double their donations and they would all submit matching gift requests without your nonprofit having to do anything.

But alas, our world is imperfect, and many donors are unaware that their employers even offer matching gift programs, much less what the process is for submitting a request.

Your nonprofit’s job, therefore, is to make matching gift information easily accessible to your supporters.

You can let donors know about matching gifts:

On your website.

Throughout the donation process.

Within your social media posts.

In email newsletters.

In thank-you letters and emails.

The possibilities are endless. When you give donors the chance to learn more about matching gifts, you’re enabling some of them to potentially double their donations.

2. Track your progress

You won’t know how effective your matching gift marketing strategies are unless you track your progress over the course of months or years.

While there are numerous metrics you should be measuring in general, taking the initiative to keep up with the number of matching gifts you receive is crucial to determine your matching gift success.

We won’t go too far in depth here, but the basic metrics you’ll need to measure include:

How many matching gifts you receive from donors’ employers.

The value of those matching gifts.

The percentage of matching gifts you received out of the total number of donations that came in.

The percentage increase in value of matching gifts over time.

Measuring these metrics will help you plan for the future and adjust your marketing strategies as you go along.

3. Attend a nonprofit conference for more inspiration

Sometimes, it’s useful to get out of the office and take a walk.

But it’s even better to get out of the office to attend a nonprofit conference! These conferences are a great place to learn about anything from stewardship to donor acquisition to — you guessed it — matching gifts.

Find a local conference that you and members of your team can attend to learn more about how to incorporate matching gifts into your fundraising efforts. Not only will you gain many new insights, but you’ll also expand your network of colleagues that can share their own tips and tricks.

These matching gift tips are great to keep in mind when you’re planning your matching gift marketing strategy. By reaching out to donors in different ways, tracking your progress over time, and attending a nonprofit conference to get a fresh perspective, you can achieve matching gift success!

If your nonprofit isn’t looking to corporate matching gifts to help give your fundraising a boost, you should be! Matching gifts are a way for companies to demonstrate their corporate philanthropy to the organizations that their employees care deeply about.

Your nonprofit benefits by receiving twice as many donations from some of your donors! While not all of your supporters work for companies that match their donations, your organization can still promote matching gift programs to your contributors to boost your fundraising.

Even though everyone isn’t eligible, it’s still worthwhile for your nonprofit to promote matching gifts to all of your donors.

Here are the top four ways your nonprofit can start raising more money from matching gifts.

Within the donation process
On a dedicated matching gift page
In your email newsletters
Across your social media communications

1. Within the donation process

The most obvious time to let donors know about matching gifts is when they’re in the middle of giving to your organization. They’re already invested and interested in your nonprofit’s work enough to donate. Why not encourage them to maximize their donations right then and there?

There are a couple of places you can let donors know about matching gifts within the donation process.

On a donation page

When donors take the initiative to find their way to your donation page, they clearly care about your organization. If you tell them that their current donation might go twice as far, they’ll be immediately inclined to research matching gifts.

You could follow the lead of the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. On their donation page, they tell supporters about the different projects that their donations support. They then follow up with information about supporters doubling their contributions with a link that leads donors to a tool to check if their employer offers a matching gift program.

On an acknowledgment page

The acknowledgement page that appears after donors have finalized their contribution is the perfect place to let them know about matching gifts in case they didn’t see the information on the donation form.

The American Cancer Fund offers a great example. Their acknowledgement page lets donors know that their donation has been received and that an email will be sent out in a few days.

They also encourage donors to look into matching gift programs. The tool on the acknowledgement page allows supporters to see if their employers offer matching gift programs that they can take advantage of.

When you market matching gifts throughout the donation process, you capture the attention of supporters who are already interested in your nonprofit. These people will be more willing to look into doubling their existing donations, potentially leading to more contributions to your organization!

2. On a dedicated matching gift page

If individuals are thinking about giving to your organization but haven’t committed to donating yet, they might be looking on your website for more information about ways to give.

By placing a dedicated matching gift page on your website, you can educate individuals about making their donation go further.

The ASPCA’s matching gift page gives donors all the relevant information they need to know about doubling their donations. They also tell donors that they can submit their matching gift forms to the ASPCA by mail.

Having comprehensive matching gift information on a dedicated matching gift page can help your nonprofit receive twice as many donations from your donors’ companies. The more educated your supporters are about matching gifts, the more likely they will be to submit the appropriate paperwork to their employers.

3. In your email newsletters

Donors who have given to your cause and care about the work that you do like to stay updated on the current and future projects that you have lined up.

The best way to do this is in an email newsletter. These newsletters are also fantastic opportunities to let your donors know about doubling their donations!

You can either dedicate an entire newsletter to matching gifts and give donors comprehensive information…

You can mention matching gifts in a newsletter that gives recipients normal updates on your current projects.

Either way, provide donors with links to more information or a tool that lets them find out if their employers provide a matching gift program.

4. Across your social media communications

Market matching gifts throughout your social media communications to make the most of the audiences that are on these sites.

It’s important to keep the matching-gift message short and sweet.

Let donors know that their donations can potentially be doubled.
Provide them a link to more information or a matching gift search tool.
Include an eye-catching image or infographic.

Followers will scroll right past a post that is dense with jargon.

The beauty of using social media to let donors know about matching gifts is that the content is interactive. Donors can like, comment, and share the posts with their friends and family members. This increases the chances that you’ll acquire more donors and the matching gifts that might come along with them.

Using these four strategies can help you promote matching gifts to as many donors as possible. Track your nonprofit’s performance metrics as you implement these tactics.