5 Ways to Incorporate Matching Gifts Across Your Fundraising

What if every time you bought a candy bar, the store gave you a second one for free? While you might quickly become sick from eating so much sugar, you would still have two delectable snacks for the price of one!

Although matching gifts don’t taste quite as good as a bar of chocolate, the principle is still the same. Matching gifts are donations made by your donors’ employers after the donor submits a matching-gift request. While companies often institute matching-gift caps and deadlines, your nonprofit stands to generate twice as much revenue with the help of corporate matching-gift programs.

Your nonprofit could rely on companies to educate its employees about matching gifts, but the reality is that many donors simply don’t know how they can double their donations. The task of matching-gift promotion, therefore, falls to your organization.

Take a look at the top five ways to incorporate matching gifts across your nonprofit’s fundraising.

There are many other ways to use matching gifts in your organization’s fundraising efforts. These five tips are just good starting points!

1. Incorporate matching gifts into your annual fund
The first and most obvious way to incorporate matching-gift promotion into your fundraising efforts is to fit them into your annual fund campaign. Whether you’re asking for donations using direct mail, email, or through phone calls and one-on-one meetings, make sure that your team is letting donors and prospects know about matching-gift programs.

Regardless of whether you’re communicating with brand new donors or regular contributors, keeping matching gifts fresh in their minds at all stages of the donation process will help ensure that your nonprofit receives twice as many donations as it normally would.

Check out NonProfit PRO’s 11 tips for your annual fund.

2. Keep planned-giving donors in mind
Planned-giving donors are contributors who plan in the present to make a donation in the future, usually through the use of a will or trust. More often than not, these donors are already making contributions to your organization.

Since these individuals care enough about your nonprofit to give gifts now and in the future, it’s worth your while to let them know about matching-gift programs that their current or former employers might offer. They may not know that many companies extend their matching-gift programs to include retirees.

Your planned-giving prospects can stand to double or even triple their donations to your nonprofit. Make sure that your organization is reaching out to them about these programs!

3. Make matching gifts a part of your fundraising events
Fundraising events are a great way for your nonprofit to directly interact with donors and give them a chance to mingle and meet one another. However, you can also use the opportunity to promote matching gifts!

When you have the collective attention of your donors at your next walkathon, gala, auction or other event, use the time wisely and mention matching gifts. Let donors know that they can make their donations go twice as far when they submit matching gifts to their employers, and give them examples of a few top-notch corporate matching-gift programs.

Fundraising events are the perfect place to give donors updates about your organization and its current projects. But don’t forget to remind donors about matching-gift programs!

4. Remember peer-to-peer giving
Peer-to-peer fundraising, also known as crowdfunding, can be extremely effective in helping your organization raise more money and acquire new donors for your cause.

Essentially, your existing donors reach out to their network of friends, family members and colleagues to raise money for your nonprofit. How do matching gifts fit into this equation, though?

Well, when your existing donors who have already taken advantage of their employers’ matching-gift programs reach out to their coworkers for donations, you already know that the new donor has the ability to have his or her donation matched.

Some of your donors’ friends and family members might also work for companies that match donations. Make sure that your existing donors mention the fact that their friends’ donations can go twice as far with the help of matching gifts.

5. Incorporate matching gifts in your donor-acquisition strategies
Your nonprofit is probably already doing its fair share of donor acquisition. While it’s important to retain the donors you already have, donor acquisition plays an equally vital role in a nonprofit’s success.

Whenever you acquire new donors, make sure that your earliest communications educate them about matching-gift programs. If donors make their first donations online, use the donation process to let donors know that they can easily double their contributions.

If a new donor joins your nonprofit’s fold, he or she should be immediately aware of matching-gift programs. When new donors realize that they can maximize their donations very simply, they will be more likely to continue giving to your nonprofit.

These are just a few of the many ways that your nonprofit can make the most of matching gift programs. Use each of these tips in conjunction with one another to ensure that your organization achieves matching-gift success!