Matching Gifts Basics: 4 Steps To Kickstart Your Program

Fundraising is a big part of running any nonprofit organization. After all, it’s how you gather the support necessary to pursue your goals, garner relationships with key donors, and share your mission with the community.

So what happens when the world takes an unexpected turn toward economic uncertainty in the midst of a global pandemic? How can you keep your organization afloat and ensure that you’re still able to make a positive impact?

As a nonprofit professional, you’re likely well-acquainted with tight budgets and limited resources. Especially in the face of a global crisis, it’s more important than ever that you take advantage of every resource you have.

As we continue to navigate the unpredictable effects of the Coronavirus throughout the nonprofit sector, it’s crucial that you make every fundraising dollar count. One of the most effective ways to do that is through matching gift programs— a simple way to leverage corporate philanthropy and get two donations in one!

If your organization has yet to leverage corporate matching gifts, now is the perfect time to do so. To get your matching gift program up and running, just follow these key steps:

1. Find a matching gift database.
2. Promote matching gift programs in donor communications.
3. Start an email campaign to market matching gifts.
4. Leverage current events.

Ready to get started and double your donations? Let’s jump in.

1. Find A Matching Gift Database

The first step in boosting your matching gift revenue is finding the perfect matching gift database. The biggest concern facing matching gift programs today is the lack of awareness, and an effective database of corporate philanthropy programs addresses this issue head-on.

An effective database allows users to quickly search their employer, see the results, and be presented with suggested next steps all in a matter of seconds. An ineffective database, on the other hand, provides more questions than answers, and may even overwhelm the user.

Look for a matching gifts resource with these essential features:

• Comprehensive database: Make sure to choose a database with thousands of employers’ program information for the best chance of your donors finding their company. A database containing few companies will be of little to no use to your donors, and you don’t want to disappoint them and lose an eligible match!

• Up-to-date employer information: You’ll want a database that is constantly updating with new employers, relevant information, and up-to-date policies regarding matching gift programs. You don’t want to risk your donors seeing outdated information, using old or broken links, or anything else that may discourage them from submitting a match.

• Easy-to-use search tool: Find a database that is user-friendly and highly accessible to the donor! Don’t make your donors do their own research or scroll through thousands of participating companies. Instead, databases should include easy-to-use search tools to save the user time when the majority of the hard work is done automatically.

Check out this matching gifts guide from re:Charity for more useful information on selecting the right searchable database for your organization.

2. Promote Matching Gift Programs In Donor Communications.

Once you have the right database picked out, you have to decide how to best deliver the tool to your donors for use. You’re likely already familiar with the world of online fundraising, and hopefully you have a solid stream of revenue coming in through your donations website. That’s why it’s the perfect place to promote your matching gift programs.

Promoting your matching gift database on donation pages can lead to:

• More donations. According to Double the Donation’s matching gift statistics, 84% of potential donors are more willing to give if a match is being offered! When you encourage donors to check their eligibility to have their gift matched, those donors are much more likely to complete their donation (and submit a match request!).

• Larger donations. Similarly, 1 in 3 donors report that they’d make a larger contribution if a match is applied. After all, donors love knowing their gifts are going twice as far— and thus making an even greater impact!

Especially in a time of economic uncertainty, many donors might need that little nudge to send them over and make their donation— and knowing their gift can be matched might be just the way to do it.

Even after the donor moves on from the initial donation page, it’s important to keep up with the reminders. If, for whatever reason, the individual submitted a donation without checking their matching gift eligibility, you still have a few key ways to reach them via various donor communications methods.

Be sure to promote your matching gift programs in these places as well:

• Confirmation page: Right after a donor clicks submit on the online donation form, they should be brought to a basic confirmation page. On this page, not only is it important to thank the donor for their generous gift, but also to take the opportunity to direct them right to your matching gift search tool. It’s important that your donors know it’s not too late to submit a request!

• Emailed receipts: Within the 24 hours following a donation, each donor should receive a personalized thank-you email to let them know how much you appreciate each and every gift. This receipt, which can also be useful for tax purposes, is another great opportunity to encourage donors to check their match eligibility.

• Request letters: Matching gift request letters can go out to inform both recent donors who have already made their donations and supporters who have not recently given about the excellent opportunity that is matching gifts. Check out a few examples of effective matching gift letters here, and download templates that can be used for either email or snail mail.

• Social media: Don’t forget about using your social media platforms to spread the word about matching gift programs and all the good that can do for your community! Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are currently the three most popular channels, although you may choose to get creative with smaller, more niche networks as well.

Remember, your relationship with the donor isn’t over after they’ve made their donation. Follow-up messages are just as important to boosting donor retention levels, showing your appreciation, and promoting opportunities for matched gifts.

3. Start An Email Campaign To Market Matching Gifts

While targeting current and previous donors with your matching gifts promotion efforts is essential, it can also be important to blast more generalized messaging to your entire supporter base.

For example, consider starting an email campaign specifically to educate your audience about the importance of matching gift programs. You already know that the offer of a donation match is more likely to result in an increased number and size of gifts.

In order to craft an effective email campaign, consider these key tips:

• Build a solid email network. Collect email addresses from every avenue you can, including event registration and sign-ups, website popups, resource downloads, and more. Then, segment your growing email list for increasingly targeted messages.

• Show your appreciation. Let your donors, volunteers, and other key supporters know how grateful you are for their contributions to the organization.

• Tell your organization’s story. Storytelling strategies are a great way to illustrate the work that you do for your community through success stories, history, and data insights.

• Use images to demonstrate impact. Images can grab the reader’s eye and tell your story in mere seconds. After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words!

• Include a link to your search tool. Finally, you want to constantly direct supporters to your matching gift database and encourage them to check their own eligibility.

As you inform your audience about the wide availability of matching gift programs and the overall mission your organization is striving toward, you can garner increased support and boosted desire to help your nonprofit and its constituents. Just be sure to direct individuals to your easy-to-use search tool whenever discussing donations or matching gifts.

4. Leverage Current Events

A nonprofit organization needs to remain in sync and connected with the world around it, so being involved in current events is essential.

In the first few months of 2020 alone, we have come to see the effects of:

• COVID-19: With a global health pandemic at play and the potential of an economic downturn, supporters and constituents want to see that you are engaged and looking to help those who have been impacted by the events.

• Presidential election: Especially if your nonprofit deals with social, political, or economic issues, the election effect is likely in full swing. Donors give to the organizations that they see doing the work that is most important to them.

With these two huge concerns in 2020, along with whatever else comes your way in the future, supporters need to see that you care about your community and that you are doing what you can to improve it. And as a result, donors can know that their hard-earned money is going towards such a good cause as well.

Online advocacy and awareness campaigns are another great way to boost donor engagement during this time. Even if you don’t raise donations directly through those campaigns, you can still get your message out and significantly grow your audience in the process. Then, engage those new supporters and steward them toward increased fundraising involvement— for instance, by researching their matching gift availability!

As we step further into quite an unpredictable year, it’s important to do all that you can to keep solid foundations in place to sustain your nonprofit operations. Although we face economic uncertainty, many businesses are still looking to positively impact society through corporate giving programs. Therefore, it’s important that you, your team, and your donors know how to make the most of this generous assistance. Best of luck!

This post is authored by Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation.